This is true, but I will argue again that I am proficient enough with AWS to deploy a full stack with 10+ lambdas, DNS, certs, RDS, step functions, etc for < 5

This is true, but I will argue again that I am proficient enough with AWS to deploy a full stack with 10+ lambdas, DNS, certs, RDS, step functions, etc for < 5 dollars a month. You need to understand what to use and what not to. Most of that bill is from the nat gateway/private VPC, which you really dont need