Which AWS service helps you continuously audit your usage to assess risk and compliance?

The correct service for continuously auditing your usage to assess risk and compliance is AWS Audit Manager. This service is specifically designed to help you automate the process of auditing your AWS usage and evaluating it against regulatory requirements and best practices. It streamlines the auditing process by providing out-of-the-box frameworks that align with various compliance standards. With AWS Audit Manager, organizations can create audit reports that document how their AWS resources are configured and whether they adhere to established compliance frameworks.

This focus on compliance makes AWS Audit Manager particularly effective for organizations looking to maintain rigorous oversight of their cloud infrastructure and ensure they meet necessary regulations. It allows for continuous monitoring and gives stakeholders visibility into their compliance status, thus facilitating ongoing risk assessment.

In contrast, while AWS CloudTrail logs AWS account activity, it primarily focuses on auditing API calls and does not specifically address broader compliance requirements. Amazon Inspector is used for security assessment of applications or EC2 instances but does not provide a structured compliance audit process. AWS Cost Explorer assists in analyzing and visualizing AWS spending over time, but it is unrelated to compliance or risk assessment. These distinctions highlight why AWS Audit Manager is the most appropriate choice for the question.