Question: How much do AWS load balancers cost?

Answer

AWS load balancers are an integral part of managing traffic to your applications running on AWS. There are three main types of load balancers provided by AWS: Application Load Balancer (ALB), Network Load Balancer (NLB), and Classic Load Balancer (CLB). Each type has different pricing models based on its features and intended use cases.

Pricing Models

1. Application Load Balancer (ALB):

   • Pricing Components:
     • Hours of Load Balancer Usage: Charged on an hourly basis.
     • Processed Data: Charged per GB of data processed by the load balancer.
   • Use Case: Ideal for HTTP/HTTPS traffic and offers advanced routing capabilities (e.g., path-based and host-based routing).

2. Network Load Balancer (NLB):

   • Pricing Components:
     • Hours of Load Balancer Usage: Charged on an hourly basis.
     • Processed Data: Charged per GB of data processed by the load balancer.
   • Use Case: Suitable for TCP, UDP, and TLS traffic and offers low-latency and high-performance routing.

3. Classic Load Balancer (CLB):

   • Pricing Components:
     • Similar to the ALB and NLB, it's charged based on hours of usage and per GB of processed data.
   • Use Case: Designed for simple load balancing of traffic across EC2 instances.

Additional Considerations

• Costs for Cross-Zone Load Balancing: Depending on whether cross-zone load balancing is enabled, additional hourly charges may apply.

• AWS Free Tier: To help users try their services, AWS offers 750 hours of ELB with its free tier for the first 12 months.

• Data Transfer Costs: While the load balancer fees contribute to the overall cost, bear in mind data transfer fees, especially for traffic routed across AWS availability zones or regions.

For precise calculations, utilize the AWS Pricing Calculator. This can help estimate costs by entering specific configuration details based on your workload requirements.