AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner

Explanation

AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) is always available free of charge to users. Here's why:

IAM is Free

• No additional cost: IAM is a fundamental AWS service that enables you to manage access to AWS services and resources securely
• Core security service: As a foundational security service, AWS provides IAM at no extra charge to all AWS customers
• Essential functionality: IAM is required for managing user permissions, roles, and security policies across AWS services

Why Other Options Are Not Free

• Amazon Athena: Pay-per-query service with charges based on the amount of data scanned
• AWS Secrets Manager: Has a monthly charge per secret stored and API calls made
• Amazon ElastiCache: Charged based on node hours, data transfer, and backup storage

IAM's free availability makes it accessible for all AWS customers regardless of their usage level, ensuring that security and access management capabilities are available to everyone.