# Amazon WorkSpaces

> Amazon WorkSpaces bills each desktop on 1 of 2 modes: a flat AlwaysOn monthly price regardless of use, or hourly AutoStop billing plus a small monthly infrastructure fee. ZopNight tracks 90 days of WorkSpaces connection metrics, stops desktops on schedule via the WorkSpaces API, and flags unused desktops.

Source: https://zop.dev/integrations/aws/workspace
Updated: 2026-08-19

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Amazon WorkSpaces provides managed virtual desktops in the cloud. Desktops on always-on billing accrue hourly or monthly charges regardless of user activity, making unused or after-hours WorkSpaces a recurring cost leak.

## Two billing modes per desktop

Every WorkSpace runs in one of two modes. AlwaysOn bills a flat monthly price whether anyone connects or not. AutoStop bills per hour of running time plus a small fixed monthly infrastructure fee, and suspends the desktop after a configurable idle period. The mode is set per desktop and is reversible, and it is the main cost lever: a desktop used 20 hours a month is far cheaper on AutoStop, while a desktop in use all day every day favors the flat AlwaysOn rate.

## Desktops nobody signs into

Virtual desktop fleets accumulate leavers and role-changers: WorkSpaces provisioned for people who left, switched teams, or needed access for one project that ended. An unused AlwaysOn desktop bills its full monthly price for nobody. Connection metrics make this measurable. A desktop with zero user connections across 90 days is a delete candidate, not a scheduling candidate.

## Scheduling around the workday

ZopNight stops and starts WorkSpaces on schedule via the WorkSpaces API, which pairs naturally with hourly AutoStop billing: a desktop parked overnight and on weekends bills only its working hours plus the fixed fee. Mode mismatches are flagged in both directions by comparing each desktop's actual connected hours against how it is billed.

## Fleet visibility

WorkSpaces are discovered on the 6-hour cycle, with hourly CloudWatch metrics from the WorkSpaces namespace kept over a 90-day lookback and per-desktop cost from Cost Explorer or CUR 2.0. Recommendations cover off-hours scheduling and idle desktops.

## The fleet list in the console

WorkSpaces console, then WorkSpaces. Each row shows its running mode and status; per-desktop connection history lives in CloudWatch, which is where the unused desktops give themselves away.