How do I stop vs. terminate an EC2 instance?

AaravSingh

I would like to understand the difference between stopping and terminating an EC2 instance and when each option should be used. As cloud users manage virtual machines for development, testing, and production, what happens to compute resources, storage, and IP addresses when an instance is stopped versus terminated? How does stopping an instance help reduce costs while preserving configuration, and why does terminating permanently delete resources? Additionally, what are the best practices for choosing between stop and terminate, and how do these actions impact billing, data persistence, and recovery options?

BayuPratama

Amazon Web Services EC2, stopping and terminating an instance have very different outcomes. When you stop an instance, the virtual machine is shut down but its configuration and attached persistent storage (like EBS) are kept, so you can start it again later; compute charges stop, but storage costs may continue, and the public IP may change when restarted. Terminating an instance permanently deletes the virtual machine and usually removes attached instance storage, meaning you cannot recover it unless you created backups. Stopping is useful for temporary pauses such as development or testing, while terminating is best when the instance is no longer needed. Choosing correctly helps control billing, protect data, and manage recovery options effectively.