How to delete QS users and stop being charged?

Q&A
,
1

I am managing an AWS account and use Quicksight as a service. I have customers that use Quicksight and I follow steps below to register them:

  1. Create an IAM user.

  2. Register this user via API

    quicksight_client=quicksight_client(

    aws_account_id=account_id,

    user_email=user_email,

    user_role=“AUTHOR”,

    iam_arn=f"arn:aws:iam::{account_id}:user/{user_name}",

    namespace_name=namespace_name,

    user_identity=“IAM”)

However, I sometimmes have to delete certain users as they do not want to continue their subscription. I then delete their IAM user from AWS console and also from Quicksight using API:
response = client.delete_user(
UserName=‘string’,
AwsAccountId=‘string’,
Namespace=‘string’
)

I have researched and checkeed that if I delete users this way, the users are considered inactive and deleted and there will be NO MORE CHARGES. To my surprise though, I seethat some “deleted” users are still being charged! Can you please explain this? Why such users are still being charged and how can I delete a user to stop being charged for?

Thx

Fotis

2

Hello Fotis,

When you delete an IAM user from the AWS console and use the QuickSight delete_user API, there are important timing considerations:

For QuickSight with IAM Identity Federation:

  • Deleted users continue to be charged until the end of the billing month in which they were deleted
  • Users deleted from IAM or removed from QuickSight appear in the “Inactive users” list until the first day of the following month, after which they are automatically removed

How to Properly Stop Charges

To ensure users are no longer charged:

  1. Delete from both IAM and QuickSight: You must delete the IAM user AND call the QuickSight DeleteUser API (which you’re already doing)

  2. Timing matters: The user will continue to be billed for the remainder of the month in which they were deleted. Charges stop at the beginning of the next billing cycle

  3. Verify deletion: Check that users appear in the “Inactive users” list in QuickSight console. They should automatically be removed from this list on the first day of the following month

  4. For fixed-price readers ($3/month): These are billed monthly, so deletion mid-month still results in charges for that full month

Additional Considerations

  • Active Directory/Identity Center users: If you’re using AD or IAM Identity Center, removing users from the associated group will deactivate their QuickSight access, but they’ll still appear as inactive until the next billing cycle

  • Check your pricing model: Verify whether you’re on fixed-price reader pricing or session-based pricing, as this affects how charges are calculated

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Deep

3

Hey @Deep Well that’s my problem, I delete them from both IAM and Quicksight (API) but users are still being charged and have a status “Active” although the deletion occurred >1 month ago. I created a support ticket to investigate in AWS cosole but days have passed and the ticket is still unassigned…

4

Hello Fotis,

This seems strange.

Please verify user deletion status, you can use the following API commands:

1. List all users in your QuickSight account:

bash

aws quicksight list-users \
  --aws-account-id <YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID> \
  --namespace default \
  --region <YOUR_REGION>

2. Check specific user details:

bash

aws quicksight describe-user \
  --aws-account-id <YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID> \
  --namespace default \
  --user-name <USERNAME> \
  --region <YOUR_REGION>

The describe-user API command will show you whether a user is active or inactive.

In addition, please do check within the Console if the user is active and for Last active timestamp if at all the user was active.

If nothing works to identify the root case. i would recommend to reach out to AWS support.

Cheers,

Deep

5

Hi @Fotis_flex,

Just checking back in since we haven’t heard from you in a bit. Were you able to see Deep’s reply and/or find a solution yourself in the meantime? If you still have any additional questions related to your initial post, please feel free to share them. Otherwise, any update you’re able to provide within the next 3 business days would be helpful for the community.

Thank you!

6

Hi @Fotis_flex,

Since we haven’t received any further updates from you, I’ll treat this inquiry as complete for now. If you have any additional questions, feel free to create a new post in the community and link this discussion for context.

Thank you!

7

Hi @WLS-Luis Thanks for writting back. Yes the reply is clear and I am in contact with AWS Support. Happy new year :))

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