The Complete AWS Well-Architected Review Checklist (2026)

Most Well-Architected Review guides describe the six pillars in broad strokes. Very few give you the actual questions you'll face in the AWS console - which is exactly what you need if you're preparing for a review, running one, or trying to convince your team to do one. In this guide, you'll find all 57 current review questions organized by pillar, the step-by-step process to run a review, and concrete CDK examples for fixing the most common High-Risk Issues (HRIs). I run WAFRs as part of Landing Zone and security review engagements, so this comes from practice, not from paraphrasing the AWS docs. The GitHub Gist that still ranks on the first page for this topic dates from 2018 - it's missing the entire Sustainability pillar and reflects a framework version that has since been significantly updated. This checklist is based on the November 6, 2024 framework revision, updated with 78 new best practices in April 2025. Jump directly to the checklist if you already know what a WAFR is. Wha