Amazon Extends Amount of Free Compute Time in Alexa Developer Incentive Program

March 16, 2017 |Voice Control

Amazon built incentives into the cost model for its Alexa developer program to extend free compute time for building and hosting Alexa skills using Amazon Web Services, said the company Wednesday. Currently, developers using the AWS free tier receive up to 750 hours of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud compute time per month at no charge but incur usage charges if they exceed the free-tier limits. Under the new program, developers with a published Alexa skill can apply to receive a $100 AWS promotional credit and also can receive an additional $100 per month in AWS promotional credits if they incur AWS usage charges for their skill, it said. The program is designed so that popular skills that hit more than 1 million calls per month are cost-effective to maintain, it said.