4.3 AWS Support Plans
Key Takeaways
- AWS offers four Support plans: Basic (free), Developer (\$29+/month), Business (\$100+/month), and Enterprise (\$15,000+/month).
- Only Business and Enterprise Support include 24/7 phone, chat, and email support AND full Trusted Advisor checks.
- Enterprise Support includes a dedicated Technical Account Manager (TAM) and a Concierge Support Team for billing and account issues.
- The Enterprise On-Ramp plan (\$5,500+/month) provides a pool of TAMs and all Business features with faster response times.
- Response times get faster with higher-tier plans: Enterprise provides 15-minute response for business-critical system down.
Quick Answer: The CLF-C02 tests the established AWS Support tiers — Basic (free), Developer, Business, Enterprise On-Ramp, and Enterprise — and their differentiators. Memorize three lines: a dedicated Technical Account Manager requires Enterprise, full Trusted Advisor requires Business or higher, and 24/7 phone/chat support requires Business or higher.
Support Plan Comparison (Exam Baseline)
| Feature | Basic | Developer | Business | Enterprise On-Ramp | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who Can Open Cases | None (billing only) | 1 primary contact | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| 24/7 Phone/Chat/Email | No | No (business-hours email) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Trusted Advisor | Core checks | Core checks | All checks | All checks | All checks |
| TAM | No | No | No | Pool of TAMs | Dedicated TAM |
| Concierge Support | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Infrastructure Event Mgmt | No | No | Extra fee | 1 per year | Included |
| Architecture Guidance | No | General | Contextual to use case | Contextual | Consultative |
Response Time Comparison
| Severity | Description | Developer | Business | Enterprise On-Ramp | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General guidance | General question | < 24 business hrs | < 24 hrs | < 24 hrs | < 24 hrs |
| System impaired | Non-critical impaired | < 12 business hrs | < 12 hrs | < 12 hrs | < 12 hrs |
| Production system impaired | Important functions impaired | — | < 4 hrs | < 4 hrs | < 4 hrs |
| Production system down | Significant business impact | — | < 1 hr | < 1 hr | < 1 hr |
| Business-critical system down | Business at risk | — | — | < 30 min | < 15 min |
Plan Details
Basic Support (Free)
Included for every AWS customer. You get 24/7 customer service for billing and account questions, access to documentation, whitepapers, and forums, the core Trusted Advisor checks, and the AWS Health Dashboard. No technical support cases — you cannot open a case about a service issue.
Developer Support
Best for experimentation and early development. Provides business-hours email access to Cloud Support Associates, with one primary contact able to open cases. General guidance under 24 business hours; system-impaired under 12 business hours.
Business Support
Best for production workloads. Adds 24/7 phone, chat, and email access to Cloud Support Engineers, unlimited contacts, full Trusted Advisor checks, the AWS Support API for programmatic case management, and guidance on third-party software interoperability. Production-system-down response under 1 hour.
Enterprise On-Ramp
Best for business-critical workloads needing faster help without full Enterprise cost. Includes all Business features plus a pool of Technical Account Managers (not dedicated) and one Infrastructure Event Management per year. Business-critical-system-down response under 30 minutes.
Enterprise Support
Best for mission-critical workloads. Includes all Business features plus a dedicated Technical Account Manager (TAM), the Concierge Support Team for billing/account optimization, included Infrastructure Event Management, operations and Well-Architected reviews, and 15-minute response for business-critical issues.
Key Roles in Enterprise Support
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: "Dedicated TAM" = Enterprise. "Pool of TAMs" = Enterprise On-Ramp. Developer and Business have no TAM.
Concierge Support Team
The Concierge team handles billing and account inquiries, cost-optimization advice, reservation guidance, and account consolidation.
On the Exam: Concierge = Enterprise only (not Enterprise On-Ramp).
Quick Decision Guide
| Scenario | Recommended Plan |
|---|---|
| Learning or experimenting | Basic or Developer |
| Single small production workload | Business |
| Multiple production workloads, fast response | Business or Enterprise On-Ramp |
| Mission-critical, needs a dedicated TAM | Enterprise |
| Needs a Concierge for billing optimization | Enterprise |
| Needs full Trusted Advisor checks | Business or higher |
2026 Plan Restructuring (Context)
AWS is modernizing its support lineup. The legacy Developer, Business, and Enterprise On-Ramp plans are scheduled to be discontinued on January 1, 2027, and remain available to existing customers through 2026. They are being replaced by Business Support+ (from $29/month minimum, with AI-assisted support), Enterprise Support (its minimum lowered to $5,000/month with a designated TAM and 15-minute response), and a premium Unified Operations plan.
Basic Support stays free. For the current CLF-C02 exam, study the established five-tier model above, since exam content trails product changes — but be aware the marketplace structure is shifting beneath it.
How Support Questions Are Phrased
Support-plan questions on the CLF-C02 almost always test a single differentiator, so train yourself to spot the trigger word in the scenario. If the scenario mentions a dedicated technical contact, operations reviews, or a 15-minute response, the answer is Enterprise. If it mentions a pool of TAMs or a 30-minute business-critical response, the answer is Enterprise On-Ramp. If it mentions 24/7 phone support, all Trusted Advisor checks, unlimited contacts, or the Support API, the minimum answer is Business.
If it mentions only billing questions with no technical cases, the answer is Basic, and a single contact doing early development on a budget points to Developer.
Two facts catch many test-takers: Basic Support cannot open technical support cases at all (only billing/account), and the Concierge team is exclusive to Enterprise, while a TAM pool already appears at Enterprise On-Ramp. Keeping the "minimum plan that provides X" phrasing in mind prevents over-selecting Enterprise when Business already satisfies the requirement — a deliberate trap in several questions.
Which AWS Support plan includes a dedicated Technical Account Manager (TAM)?
What is the fastest response time for a business-critical system down issue on the Enterprise Support plan?
Which is the MINIMUM Support plan that provides 24/7 phone, chat, and email technical support?
All Trusted Advisor checks are available starting from which Support plan?
Which TWO features are exclusive to the Enterprise Support plan (not available on Business or Enterprise On-Ramp)? (Select TWO)
Select all that apply