Short answer
Amazon QuickSight lists at $3 per user per month for a Reader, $24 for an Author and $40 for an Author Pro. A $250 per month per-account infrastructure fee applies when the account has any Pro user or has Q&A enabled. Source: AWS pricing page (aws.amazon.com/quick/quicksight/pricing/), checked November 5, 2026. AWS prices change, so confirm before you budget.
What Is Amazon QuickSight?
Amazon QuickSight is a scalable, serverless BI service built on AWS. It allows users to analyze data, build dashboards, and share insights across teams. QuickSight supports a wide range of use cases, from simple reporting to advanced analytics powered by machine learning and generative AI.
Key features include:
- Connecting to data sources like spreadsheets, databases, and cloud apps
- Building and sharing interactive dashboards
- Asking questions about data using natural language with Amazon Q
- Scheduling pixel-perfect reports
- Detecting anomalies and setting alerts for key metrics
QuickSight is available in two editions: Standard and Enterprise. The Enterprise Edition includes advanced features such as Amazon Q, administrative controls, and machine learning-powered insights.
Pricing Models: Per-User vs. Capacity
Per-User Pricing
This model is ideal for organizations with a predictable number of users. Pricing is based on user roles, which determine access and functionality.
- Reader: $3 per user per month. View dashboards and reports, receive email reports and alerts, download data, use Amazon Q for natural language queries, consume shared generative data stories.
- Reader Pro: $20 per user per month. Includes all Reader capabilities plus executive dashboard summaries, generative data stories, scenario analysis, and Amazon Q Business Pro entitlement.
- Author: $24 per user per month. Build and share dashboards, connect to data sources, use Amazon Q for natural language queries.
- Author Pro: $40 per user per month. Includes all Author capabilities plus natural language dashboard creation, Amazon Q Topics, executive summaries, generative data stories, scenario analysis, and Amazon Q Business Pro entitlement.
Administrative users are priced the same as Authors and Author Pros. When provisioned through AWS IAM Identity Center, Pro licenses offer consolidated billing across multiple AWS accounts under the same payer account.
A $250 per month per-account infrastructure fee applies when the account has at least one Pro user, Q&A enabled through topics, or dashboard Q&A enabled.
Capacity Pricing
Capacity pricing is designed for organizations with large or unpredictable user bases. It allows customers to purchase Reader sessions and Amazon Q question capacity in bulk without provisioning individual users.
- Reader Session Capacity: Starts at $250 per month for 500 sessions. Each session lasts 30 minutes. Annual plans start at 50,000 sessions for $20,000 per year, with lower per-session overage rates at higher volumes.
- Amazon Q Question Capacity: Starts at $250 per month for 500 questions. Annual plans start at 60,000 questions for $18,000 per year, with lower overage rates at higher volumes.
Capacity pricing is ideal for embedded analytics, public dashboards, and programmatic access for large screens or shared environments.
Additional Capabilities That Enhance QuickSight
Pixel-Perfect Reports
These reports allow users to create, schedule, and share highly formatted, multipage reports. They are ideal for regulatory reporting, executive summaries, and operational documentation.
| Plan Type | Included Units | Price | Additional Units |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | 500 | $500 | $1.00 per unit |
| Annual | 4,000 | $24,000 | $0.50 per unit |
One report unit equals up to 100 pages or 100 MB. For example, a 200-page report counts as two units.
SPICE (Super-fast, Parallel, In-memory Calculation Engine)
SPICE is QuickSight's in-memory data store that enables fast, consistent performance for thousands of users and datasets up to billions of rows.
- $0.38 per GB per month
- 10 GB included with each Author and Author Pro license
- Supports up to 1 billion rows per 1 TB dataset in Enterprise Edition
- SPICE capacity can be added or removed at any time
Alerts and Anomaly Detection
QuickSight supports threshold-based and machine learning-powered alerts to notify users of important changes in data.
| Metrics Evaluated | Price per 1,000 |
|---|---|
| 1–1,000,000 | $0.50 |
| 1,000,001–10,000,000 | $0.25 |
| 10,000,001–100,000,000 | $0.10 |
| Over 100,000,000 | $0.05 |
Amazon Q in QuickSight
Amazon Q is QuickSight's generative AI assistant that enables users to interact with data using natural language. It supports:
- Asking questions about data
- Viewing executive summaries
- Creating generative data stories
- Performing scenario-based analysis
Amazon Q is available to Pro users and requires the $250 per month per-account infrastructure fee. It is included in the 30-day Enterprise Edition free trial for up to four users.
Other Considerations
- QuickSight does not charge for background tabs unless the user actively interacts with the application
- Month-to-month billed Authors automatically convert to annual commitment plans when the billing period begins
- The $250 per month infrastructure fee applies once per account, even if the account spans multiple AWS regions
What It Really Costs to Run
The list prices above are only part of the bill. Your total depends on how many people author versus read, whether you need Pro features and the $250 per month infrastructure fee, how much SPICE capacity your datasets use, and whether capacity pricing suits an embedded or unpredictable audience better than per-user seats. Prices are AWS list prices, checked against the AWS pricing page on November 2, 2026. AWS now markets QuickSight as Amazon Quick Sight within Amazon Quick, and prices change, so confirm on the AWS pricing page before you budget.
If you want help sizing a deployment, Cruz Street offers AWS data analytics and Amazon QuickSight consulting: architecture, datasets, dashboards and rollout designed around the decisions your team makes.
Cruz Street: Making QuickSight a Reality for All
At Cruz Street, we are committed to helping organizations of all sizes harness the power of Amazon QuickSight. Our goal is to make enterprise-grade analytics accessible, cost-effective, and easy to adopt. Whether you are building your first dashboard or scaling analytics across departments, we are here to guide you every step of the way.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Amazon QuickSight cost per user?+
On AWS's published list prices, a Reader is $3 per user per month, an Author is $24 and an Author Pro is $40. Reader Pro is $20. Administrators are priced the same as Authors and Author Pros. Source: AWS pricing page (aws.amazon.com/quick/quicksight/pricing/), checked November 5, 2026.
What is the difference between QuickSight per-user and capacity pricing?+
Per-user pricing charges a monthly fee for each provisioned user role. Capacity pricing lets you buy Reader sessions in bulk without provisioning individual users, which suits embedded applications and audiences that are hard to size. A session is a 30-minute period. Monthly capacity starts at $250 for 500 sessions, and annual plans start at 50,000 sessions for $20,000 per year. Source: AWS pricing page, checked November 5, 2026.
What costs does QuickSight add beyond user licenses?+
Four items appear on the AWS pricing page beyond the user fees: a $250 per month per-account infrastructure fee when the account has any Pro user or has Q&A enabled, SPICE capacity at $0.38 per GB per month (10 GB is included with each Author), pixel-perfect reports, and alerts priced by metrics evaluated. Source: AWS pricing page, checked November 5, 2026.