diff --git a/main.tf b/main.tf
index 0f8f2b4..720f2ce 100644
--- a/main.tf
+++ b/main.tf
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ module "api_server" {
   source = "./modules/api-server"
 
   enabled       = true
-  instance_type = "c5.large"
+  instance_type = "t3.large"
 
   vpc_id         = module.baseline.vpc_id
   public_subnets = module.baseline.public_subnets
diff --git a/modules/api-server/variables.tf b/modules/api-server/variables.tf
index 75a3233..e19629c 100644
--- a/modules/api-server/variables.tf
+++ b/modules/api-server/variables.tf
@@ -52,3 +52,14 @@ variable "additional_tags" {
   default     = {}
 }
 
+variable "cpu_credits" {
+  description = "CPU credit option for burstable instances (t2, t3, t4g). Use 'unlimited' for sustained CPU-intensive workloads to prevent throttling."
+  type        = string
+  default     = "standard"
+
+  validation {
+    condition     = contains(["standard", "unlimited"], var.cpu_credits)
+    error_message = "cpu_credits must be either 'standard' or 'unlimited'."
+  }
+}
+