AWS Compute Optimizer Now Hunts Down Your Idle NAT Gateways

Here's a question that should make your finance team nervous: how many NAT Gateways are you paying for right now that aren't doing anything?

At $35 per month per gateway—plus data processing charges that add up fast—idle NAT Gateways are the kind of silent budget leak that compounds over time. One forgotten gateway in a sandbox environment? No big deal. Five scattered across regions from that multi-region experiment six months ago? Now we're talking real money.

Compute Optimizer Finally Shines a Light

AWS Compute Optimizer now identifies idle NAT Gateways automatically. This might sound like a small feature addition, but it's actually significant for anyone who takes cost management seriously.

NAT Gateways are easy to provision and even easier to forget. Unlike EC2 instances that show up in every dashboard, NAT Gateways tend to fade into the infrastructure background. You set them up, they work, and unless you're specifically looking for them, they stay there—billing you month after month.

Why This Matters

This is textbook low-hanging fruit for cost optimization. When you're in a quarterly review trying to demonstrate fiscal responsibility, finding and eliminating idle NAT Gateways is an easy, defensible win. No complex analysis required, no debate about whether the resource is "really" needed—if Compute Optimizer flags it as idle, you have data to back up its removal.

Even Corey Quinn (who literally makes a living finding AWS billing inefficiencies) called this one out specifically. When someone who professionally dissects AWS bills takes notice, you know it's worth paying attention to.

What to Do Next

If you're not already using Compute Optimizer, this is a good reason to start. It's free for basic recommendations, and now it's looking at more than just EC2 instances and EBS volumes.

Check your account this week. You might be surprised at what you find—and your CFO will definitely appreciate the savings.