4.3 AWS Support Plans
Key Takeaways
The online CLF-C02 exam guide lists Basic Support (free), AWS Business Support+, AWS Enterprise Support, and AWS Unified Operations.
Business Support+ is the minimum plan with 24/7 phone, web, and chat access to engineers, the Support API, and the full set of Trusted Advisor checks.
Enterprise Support adds a designated Technical Account Manager (TAM) and a target of under 15 minutes for business-critical system-down cases.
Unified Operations adds designated Domain Specialist Engineers and Incident Management Engineers who target under 5 minutes for critical incidents.
Developer, Business, and Enterprise On-Ramp are discontinued on January 1, 2027 (they remain in AWS GovCloud (US)); older materials still use those names.
Quick Answer: The online CLF-C02 exam guide lists four AWS Support options: Basic Support (free), AWS Business Support+, AWS Enterprise Support, and AWS Unified Operations. Memorize three lines: Basic cannot open technical support cases, Business Support+ is the minimum plan with 24/7 access to engineers and the full set of Trusted Advisor checks, and a designated Technical Account Manager (TAM) starts at Enterprise Support.
Support Plan Comparison
| Feature | Basic | Business Support+ | Enterprise Support | Unified Operations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended for | Every account (included free) | Production workloads (AWS's minimum recommended plan) | Business-critical workloads that need expert guidance | Mission-critical workloads that need enhanced resilience |
| Technical support cases | No (account, billing, and quota help only) | Unlimited cases and contacts | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| 24/7 phone, web, chat, email | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Trusted Advisor | All Service Limits checks plus selected Security and Fault Tolerance checks | Full set of checks | Full set + Trusted Advisor Priority | Full set + Trusted Advisor Priority |
| Designated TAM | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Account and billing help | Customer service | 24/7 billing support | White-glove billing concierge | Designated Senior Billing and Account Specialist |
| Architectural guidance | No | Contextual to your use cases | Consultative reviews of your applications | Continuous reviews with designated domain specialists |
Response Time Comparison
These are human response-time targets for technical cases; AWS says it makes every reasonable effort to respond within them. Basic Support has no technical cases, so it has no column.
| Severity | Business Support+ | Enterprise Support | Unified Operations |
|---|---|---|---|
| General guidance | < 24 hours | < 24 hours | < 24 hours |
| System impaired | < 12 hours | < 12 hours | < 12 hours |
| Production system impaired | < 4 hours | < 4 hours | < 4 hours |
| Production system down | < 1 hour | < 1 hour | < 1 hour |
| Business- or mission-critical system down | < 30 minutes | < 15 minutes | < 5 minutes (Incident Management Engineer) |
Plan Details
Basic Support (Free)
Included for every AWS customer. You get 24/7 access to customer service, documentation, whitepapers, and AWS re:Post, one-on-one responses to account and billing questions, help with service quota increases, the AWS Health Dashboard, and the core Trusted Advisor checks. No technical support cases: you cannot open a case about a service issue.
AWS Business Support+
AWS calls it the minimum recommended plan for production workloads. It adds AI-assisted contextual recommendations, 24/7 phone, web, and chat access to Cloud Support Engineers, unlimited cases that any user with permissions can open, third-party software support, the AWS Support API, and the full set of Trusted Advisor checks. It starts at a $29/month minimum per account, and business-critical system-down cases get human engagement in under 30 minutes.
AWS Enterprise Support
Everything in Business Support+, plus a designated Technical Account Manager (TAM), a response target of under 15 minutes for business-critical system-down cases, AWS Security Incident Response at no additional cost, strategic business reviews, Well-Architected and proactive security reviews, AWS Countdown support for planned events, and a white-glove billing concierge. AWS lowered its minimum to $5,000/month (from $15,000).
AWS Unified Operations
The top plan, for mission-critical workloads. It adds designated Domain Specialist Engineers alongside the designated TAM, Incident Management Engineers who target under 5 minutes for critical incidents, 24/7 workload monitoring, critical workload reviews, infrastructure event management, and a designated Senior Billing and Account Specialist.
Key Roles in the Higher Plans
Technical Account Manager (TAM)
A TAM is a designated technical contact who provides proactive best-practice guidance, assists with architecture and operations reviews, and coordinates access to AWS specialist teams.
On the Exam: "Designated TAM" = Enterprise Support or higher. Basic Support and Business Support+ have no designated TAM. "Designated domain specialist engineers" = Unified Operations.
Billing and Account Help
Every plan gets account and billing help. Business Support+ adds 24/7 billing support, Enterprise Support adds a white-glove billing concierge, and Unified Operations adds a designated Senior Billing and Account Specialist.
Quick Decision Guide
| Scenario | Recommended Plan |
|---|---|
| Learning or experimenting; only account and billing help needed | Basic |
| Production workload that needs 24/7 engineer access | Business Support+ |
| Lowest-cost plan with full Trusted Advisor checks or the Support API | Business Support+ |
| Business-critical workloads, a designated TAM, 15-minute critical response | Enterprise Support |
| Mission-critical workloads, domain specialist engineers, 5-minute incident response | Unified Operations |
Older Plan Names (Developer, Business, Enterprise On-Ramp)
AWS is ending three older plans. Developer Support and Business Support (the plan without the plus) will be discontinued on January 1, 2027; customers can keep them until then or move to Business Support+. Enterprise On-Ramp is also discontinued on January 1, 2027, and throughout 2026 its customers are being upgraded automatically to Enterprise Support. All three remain available in the AWS GovCloud (US) Region.
The downloadable PDF version of the exam guide and many older courses still list the old tiers. The online exam guide lists the four options above, so study those. If older notes mention Developer or Business, map them to Business Support+; map Enterprise On-Ramp to Enterprise Support.
How Support Questions Are Phrased
Support-plan questions on the CLF-C02 usually test a single differentiator, so train yourself to spot the trigger in the scenario. If the scenario mentions a designated technical contact or a 15-minute business-critical response, the answer is Enterprise Support. If it mentions domain specialist engineers, 24/7 workload monitoring, or a 5-minute incident response, the answer is Unified Operations. If it mentions 24/7 phone support, all Trusted Advisor checks, unlimited cases, or the Support API at the lowest cost, the minimum answer is Business Support+.
If it mentions only billing questions with no technical cases, the answer is Basic.
Two facts catch many test-takers: Basic Support cannot open technical support cases at all (only account, billing, and quota requests), and Business Support+ does not include a designated TAM. Keeping the "minimum plan that provides X" phrasing in mind prevents over-selecting Enterprise Support when Business Support+ already satisfies the requirement, a deliberate trap in several questions.
Which is the lowest-tier AWS Support plan that includes a designated Technical Account Manager (TAM)?
Basic Support
AWS Business Support+
AWS Enterprise Support
AWS Unified Operations
What is the human response-time target for a business-critical system-down case on AWS Enterprise Support?
Under 1 hour
Under 30 minutes
Under 15 minutes
Under 5 minutes
Which is the MINIMUM Support plan that provides 24/7 phone, web, and chat access to Cloud Support Engineers?
Basic Support
AWS Business Support+
AWS Enterprise Support
AWS Unified Operations
The full set of AWS Trusted Advisor checks is available starting from which Support plan?
AWS Unified Operations only
AWS Enterprise Support
Basic Support
AWS Business Support+
Which TWO features are included in AWS Enterprise Support but NOT in AWS Business Support+? (Select TWO)
Select all that apply
Full set of AWS Trusted Advisor checks
Designated Technical Account Manager
24/7 phone, web, and chat support
AWS Security Incident Response included
AWS Support API access
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.