Amazon ECS introduced the LiveTaskCount metric, which provides a detailed view of all tasks actively running in a service across multiple task states including activating and deactivating. This comprehensive metric assists users in autoscaling and capacity planning without additional costs. LiveTaskCount is available by default, independent of CloudWatch Container Insights enrollment.
Additionally, AWS removed the usage charge for the existing RunningTaskCount metric within CloudWatch Container Insights. This metric now remains free and continues to serve customers monitoring the stability and health of their ECS tasks. These updates were implemented across all AWS Regions offering ECS starting October 1, 2026.
Source & further reading
Amazon ECS adds LiveTaskCount and removes the charge for RunningTaskCount metric ↗Source published 2026-10-13. This report was prepared with AI assistance from the linked primary-source material. Claims and limitations should be checked against the original announcement or research.