If you're preparing for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02) exam, AWS Support plans are one of those topics that seem straightforward—until you sit down and realize there are five tiers, each with overlapping but distinct features, and the exam loves to test the specific differences between them. This guide cuts through the noise and gives you exactly what you need to know.
Support plans fall under Domain 4: Billing, Pricing, and Support, which accounts for 12% of your scored exam questions. It's one of the smaller domains, but the questions it contains tend to be very concrete and testable—making this a high-value topic to nail.
The Five AWS Support Plan Tiers
AWS offers five support tiers, listed here from least to most comprehensive:
- Basic (free)
- Developer
- Business
- Enterprise On-Ramp
- Enterprise
Each successive tier adds capabilities, faster response times, and more direct access to AWS expertise. Let's walk through each one.
Basic Support
Basic Support is included automatically with every AWS account at no additional cost. It gives you access to:
- AWS Trusted Advisor — but only the core checks (more on this below)
- AWS Personal Health Dashboard, which shows the health of AWS services and alerts you to issues that may affect your specific resources
- Documentation, whitepapers, and community forums
- Billing and account support
What Basic does not give you: any access to AWS support engineers for technical questions. If you open a technical support case, you simply won't get a response. This plan is fine for experimenting with AWS, but it's not suitable for production workloads.
Exam tip: Basic is the only plan with no paid technical support. Know this distinction cold.
Developer Support
Developer Support is the first paid tier. It's designed for individuals or teams who are actively building on AWS but aren't yet running production workloads at scale.
Key features: - Business hours email access to Cloud Support Associates (not engineers) - One primary contact can open an unlimited number of support cases - Response time for general guidance: within 24 business hours - Response time for impaired systems: within 12 business hours
Note that "business hours" here means AWS business hours—this is not 24/7 access. If your system goes down at 2 a.m. on a Sunday, you're waiting until Monday morning.
Business Support
Business Support is where things change significantly, and the exam frequently tests the jump from Developer to Business.
Key features: - 24/7 phone, email, and chat access to Cloud Support Engineers (a step up from Associates) - Unlimited contacts can open support cases (vs. one primary on Developer) - Full Trusted Advisor checks across all five categories - Response time for production system impaired: within 4 hours - Response time for production system down: within 1 hour - Access to Infrastructure Event Management (for an additional fee)
Business Support is the minimum tier recommended for production workloads. The 1-hour response for a down production system is a meaningful guarantee that lower tiers simply don't offer.
Exam tip: "24/7 phone and chat support" begins at Business, not Developer. This is a very common exam trap.
Enterprise On-Ramp Support
Enterprise On-Ramp is a relatively newer tier positioned between Business and Enterprise. It's aimed at organizations that need enterprise-grade support but aren't quite ready for the full Enterprise commitment.
Key features: - Everything in Business, plus: - Access to a pool of Technical Account Managers (TAMs)—note this is a pool, not a dedicated TAM - Consultative guidance and proactive reviews - Response time for business-critical system down: within 30 minutes (for business-critical issues) - Access to AWS Incident Detection and Response (for an additional fee)
The key distinction here vs. full Enterprise: you get access to a TAM from a shared pool rather than a dedicated one assigned to your account.
Enterprise Support
Enterprise Support is AWS's top tier, designed for organizations with mission-critical workloads that demand the highest level of attention.
Key features: - Everything in Enterprise On-Ramp, plus: - A dedicated Technical Account Manager (TAM) assigned to your account - Response time for business-critical system down: within 15 minutes - Proactive programs including Well-Architected Reviews, operational reviews, and training - Access to AWS Incident Detection and Response (included, not just available for a fee)
Exam tip: The TAM is the signature differentiator for the Enterprise tier. If an exam question asks which support plan includes a dedicated Technical Account Manager, the answer is Enterprise.
AWS Trusted Advisor and Support Plans
Trusted Advisor deserves its own mention here because the exam tests it in the context of support plans specifically.
Trusted Advisor automatically inspects your AWS environment and provides recommendations across five categories:
- Cost Optimization — Are you paying for things you don't need?
- Security — Are you leaving unnecessary doors open?
- Fault Tolerance — Is your architecture resilient?
- Performance — Are you getting the most out of your resources?
- Service Limits — Are you approaching AWS service quotas?
Here's the critical exam distinction:
- All plans (including Basic) get access to a limited set of core Trusted Advisor checks—a handful of foundational security and service limit checks.
- Business, Enterprise On-Ramp, and Enterprise plans get full access to all Trusted Advisor checks across all five categories.
If an exam question asks which support plan unlocks full Trusted Advisor checks, the answer is Business (the lowest tier that qualifies).
Not sure where you stand?
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Take the free diagnosticComparing the Plans Side by Side
| Feature | Basic | Developer | Business | Enterprise On-Ramp | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Paid | Paid | Paid | Paid |
| 24/7 Phone & Chat | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Full Trusted Advisor | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dedicated TAM | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ (pool) | ✓ |
| Critical response time | — | 12 hrs (biz hrs) | 1 hr | 30 min | 15 min |
How Support Plans Are Priced
AWS prices paid support plans as a percentage of your monthly AWS usage, subject to a minimum monthly fee. The percentage decreases as your spend increases, which means very large AWS customers pay a smaller percentage of their bill.
Rather than list specific percentages that are subject to change, the exam doesn't require you to memorize exact pricing percentages—it focuses on the features and response times associated with each tier. Always check the current AWS Support pricing page for up-to-date figures before making any real purchasing decisions.
What This Means for the CLF-C02 Exam
Support plans show up in Domain 4, which is 12% of the scored exam. That's a relatively small slice, but the questions are very direct—there's rarely ambiguity. They tend to follow these patterns:
- "Which support plan is the minimum that provides X feature?"
- "A company needs a dedicated TAM. Which plan should they choose?"
- "Which plan offers 24/7 phone support?"
Before your exam, make sure you've taken our diagnostic quiz to gauge how well you know Domain 4 topics. When you're ready to practice under realistic conditions, our practice questions include scenario-based support plan questions similar to what you'll see on exam day. You can also review the full topic breakdown in our exam guide.
FAQ
Does the Basic Support plan include any technical support?
No. Basic Support does not include access to AWS support engineers for technical issues. You can access documentation, community forums, and billing support, but you cannot open technical support cases.
Which AWS Support plan is the minimum tier for 24/7 phone and chat access?
Business Support is the minimum tier that includes 24/7 phone, email, and chat access to Cloud Support Engineers.
What is a Technical Account Manager (TAM), and which plan includes one?
A TAM is a dedicated AWS resource assigned to your account who provides proactive guidance, operational reviews, and advocacy within AWS. A dedicated TAM is exclusive to the Enterprise Support plan. Enterprise On-Ramp provides access to a shared pool of TAMs, not a dedicated individual.
Which support plans give access to full AWS Trusted Advisor checks?
Business, Enterprise On-Ramp, and Enterprise plans all include full access to Trusted Advisor checks across all five categories. Basic and Developer plans only include a limited set of core checks.
How are paid AWS Support plans priced?
Paid plans are typically calculated as a percentage of your monthly AWS usage, with a minimum monthly charge. The exact percentages vary by tier and usage level. Check the AWS Support pricing page for current rates, as prices are subject to change.
Is the CLF-C02 exam likely to ask about specific support plan pricing percentages?
Generally, no. The exam focuses on which features and response times belong to which tier, not on memorizing exact pricing percentages. Focus your study time on the feature differences between plans—especially around TAMs, Trusted Advisor access, and response times.