• The AWS Systems Manager CloudWatch Dashboard will no longer be available after April 30, 2026. Customers can continue to use Amazon CloudWatch console to view, create, and manage their Amazon CloudWatch dashboards, just as they do today. For more information, see [Amazon CloudWatch Dashboard documentation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/CloudWatch_Dashboards.html). 

# Choosing parameter tiers in Parameter Store
<a name="parameter-store-advanced-parameters"></a>

To control parameter storage attributes, Parameter Store includes *standard parameters* and *advanced parameters*. You configure each parameter individually for an account and Region. The parameter tier determines the maximum size of a parameter value, the number of parameters in a specific tier that you can create, whether you can use parameter policies, and whether charges apply.

Parameter tiers are different from parameter throughput. Tiers control parameter storage attributes, whereas throughput controls request rate.

## Standard and advanced parameter tiers
<a name="parameter-store-advanced-parameters-table"></a>

The following table describes the differences between the tiers.

The following table describes the differences between parameter tiers.


****  

| Feature or use case | Standard | Advanced | 
| --- | --- | --- | 
| Use case | Best for most configuration data and low-scale workloads. This is the default. | Best when you need higher limits, larger values, or parameter policies. | 
| Maximum parameters<br />(per AWS account and AWS Region) | 10,000 | 100,000 | 
| Maximum value size | 4 KB | 8 KB | 
| Parameter policies | Not supported | Supported<br />For more information, see [Assigning parameter policies in Parameter Store](parameter-store-policies.md). | 
| Shareability across AWS accounts | Not supported | Supported<br />For more information, see [Working with shared parameters in Parameter Store](parameter-store-shared-parameters.md). | 
| Upgrade and downgrade capability | Upgradeable | Not downgradeable | 
| Cost | No additional charge | Charges apply<br />For more information, see [AWS Systems Manager Pricing for Parameter Store](https://aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/pricing/#Parameter_Store). | 

For a complete list of Parameter Store quotas and limits, see [AWS Systems Manager endpoints and quotas](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/ssm.html#parameter-store) in the *AWS General Reference*.

## Default tier and individual parameter tier settings
<a name="parameter-store-tier-settings-overview"></a>

Parameter Store supports the following related settings:
+ Default parameter tier for your AWS account and Region

  This setting controls what tier Parameter Store uses when you create a new parameter and don’t explicitly specify a tier. You can set the default to `Standard`, `Advanced`, or `Intelligent-Tiering`.
+ Tier for an individual parameter

  You can specify the tier when you create or update an individual parameter. You can change a standard parameter to an advanced parameter, but you can't change an advanced parameter to a standard parameter.

The default parameter tier is separate from the tier of an individual parameter. Changing the default parameter tier affects only new parameters that you create without specifying a tier. Existing parameters aren't affected.

## Viewing parameter tier settings
<a name="parameter-store-view-tier-settings"></a>

You can view the default tier setting for your AWS account and Region, and the tier setting for each individual parameter.

### View the default parameter tier
<a name="parameter-store-view-default-tier"></a>

To view the default parameter tier for your AWS account and Region, use the `` action. The following example retrieves the default parameter tier.

```
aws ssm get-service-setting \
    --region us-east-1 \
    --setting-id arn:aws:ssm:us-east-1:111122223333:servicesetting/ssm/parameter-store/default-parameter-tier
```

The following example shows sample output.

```
{
    "ServiceSetting": {
        "SettingId": "/ssm/parameter-store/default-parameter-tier",
        "SettingValue": "Standard",
        "Status": "Default"
    }
}
```

### View the tier for a specific parameter
<a name="parameter-store-view-parameter-tier"></a>

To view the tier for a specific parameter, use the `` action. The following example returns the tier of parameter `/myapp/dev/log-level`.

```
aws ssm describe-parameters \
    --region us-east-1 \
    --parameter-filters "Key=Name,Option=Equals,Values=/myapp/dev/log-level" \
    --query "Parameters[0].Tier" \
    --output text
```

The command returns the parameter tier, such as `Standard` or `Advanced`.

**Topics**
+ [Standard and advanced parameter tiers](#parameter-store-advanced-parameters-table)
+ [Default tier and individual parameter tier settings](#parameter-store-tier-settings-overview)
+ [Viewing parameter tier settings](#parameter-store-view-tier-settings)
+ [Specifying a default parameter tier for your AWS account and AWS Region](ps-default-tier.md)
+ [Changing a standard parameter to an advanced parameter](parameter-store-advanced-parameters-enabling.md)
+ [Limitations on changing tiers for individual parameters](#parameter-store-tiers-limitations)

## Limitations on changing tiers for individual parameters
<a name="parameter-store-tiers-limitations"></a>

 You can change a standard parameter to an advanced parameter at any time. You *can't* change an advanced parameter to a standard parameter for the following reasons: 
+  Changing the parameter to the standard tier would truncate the parameter value from `8 KB` to `4 KB`, resulting in data loss. 
+  Changing the parameter to the standard tier would remove any policies attached to the parameter. 
+  Advanced and standard parameters use a different form of encryption. 

 If you no longer need an advanced parameter, or if you no longer want to incur charges for an advanced parameter, delete it and recreate it as a new standard parameter. 

 The default parameter tier is a separate setting. You can change the default parameter tier for an AWS account and Region from `Standard` to `Advanced`, and then change it back to `Standard`. The default tier setting affects only new parameters that you create without specifying a tier. Existing parameters aren't affected. 

 For example, you can create parameters while the default tier is `Standard`, and then set the default parameter tier to `Advanced`. New parameters that you create without specifying a tier use the `Advanced` tier. You can later change the default tier back to `Standard` without changing the tier of existing parameters. 

 Advanced parameters incur charges. For more information, see [AWS Systems Manager Pricing for Parameter Store](https://aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/pricing/#Parameter_Store).