AWS ALB was developed to simplify the management of modern web traffic while enhancing application scalability, security, and performance. Understanding AWS ALB pricing is essential for managing cloud costs effectively, especially as load balancer spend often compounds quietly across environments.
This guide offers a comprehensive overview of AWS ALB, detailing its key use cases and pricing structure, how ALB compares to other AWS load balancer types on cost, and a cost intelligence approach for optimizing your AWS spending.
What Is AWS ALB?
The Application Load Balancer (ALB) is an AWS service that distributes end-user traffic across multiple servers in the cloud. This helps to handle network loads, which is crucial for keeping applications responsive and available as they scale.
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How Does AWS ALB Work?
AWS ALB is a major load balancer of AWS’s Elastic Load Balancing suite and operates at the application layer of the OSI model (HTTP/HTTPS). This setup allows ALB to intelligently direct incoming traffic based on request content, such as the URL path or HTTP headers.
AWS ALB supports sophisticated routing rules that manage many ports per instance. It also directs traffic to IP addresses outside of AWS EC2. This flexibility is essential for modern architectures like microservices and containers, adapting well to complex application needs.
Other AWS ALB use cases include:
Here are several scenarios where AWS ALB can improve the performance and reliability of your services:
- Containerized applications. For applications running in containers, such as those managed by Amazon ECS or Amazon EKS, AWS ALB can direct traffic to specific containers based on demand.
- High-traffic websites. AWS ALB manages large volumes of user traffic, ensuring smooth performance and preventing server overload during peak times.
- Fault-tolerant applications. By automatically rerouting traffic away from failed instances to healthy ones, AWS ALB helps applications maintain high availability and reliability.
- Real-time applications. Applications requiring real-time interactions, such as gaming or financial services, benefit from AWS ALB’s ability to handle sudden spikes in traffic without disruption.
- Content-based routing. AWS ALB supports content-based routing, directing users to different backend services based on request content. This is crucial for dynamic web applications.
- Path-based routing for web applications. AWS ALB allows requests to be routed to different services within the same domain. This simplifies the architecture for multi-service web applications.
- Microservices architectures. AWS ALB can route traffic to different microservices based on URL paths. This makes it ideal for complex applications built using microservices.
- Health checks and monitoring. AWS ALB continuously checks the health of linked servers, routing traffic only to the operational ones. This minimizes downtime and service disruptions, ensuring a reliable user experience.
- SSL termination. AWS ALB offloads SSL processing from back-end systems, which can speed up data encryption and decryption processes.
- Support for modern protocols. With native support for HTTP/2 and WebSocket, AWS ALB can handle modern, real-time web applications. HTTP/2 improves performance by allowing multiplexed streams over a single connection. The WebSocket facilitates a continuous interaction between client and server.
- Security and authentication. AWS ALB supports authentication with identity providers via OpenID Connect and Cognito. This allows developers to build secure applications.
- AWS Integration. AWS ALB integrates with other AWS services including AWS Auto Scaling, Amazon ECS, AWS CloudFormation, and more. This ensures a cohesive and scalable infrastructure.
How Does ALB Pricing Work?
AWS ALB pricing is structured around several key components that collectively determine the overall cost.
Here’s a detailed look at each element:
1. Hourly Charges
Each ALB incurs a base hourly charge regardless of usage level, which covers the service’s operational readiness. The hourly rate for a standard ALB in the US East (Ohio) region is $0.0225 per hour, which works out to roughly $16.43 per month just to keep an ALB running.
2. Load Balancer Capacity Units (LCUs)
On top of the hourly charge, AWS ALB charges are based on LCUs, which measure the amount of resources the load balancer actually consumes. An LCU aggregates four dimensions of usage:
- New connections: Number of newly established connections per second.
- Active connections: Total number of active connections at any given time.
- Processed bytes: Volume of data processed, measured in gigabytes.
- Rule evaluations: Number of routing rules evaluated.
Key aspects of LCU charging
You are charged based on the dimension with the highest usage during any given hour, ensuring you pay only for the resources you use the most intensively. An LCU incorporates:
- 25 new connections per second.
- 3,000 active connections per minute, or 1,500 active connections per minute when using Mutual TLS, reflecting adjustments made for the added complexity of encrypted connections.
- 1 GB per hour for EC2 instances, containers, and IP addresses as targets, and 0.4 GB per hour for Lambda functions as targets. The reduced data capacity for Lambda functions considers the typical usage patterns of serverless computing.
- 1,000 rule evaluations per second, catering to dynamic and complex routing needs.
The US East (Ohio) region’s pricing is $0.008 per LCU-hour. These metrics ensure that billing is more aligned with actual usage rather than implementing a flat fee. This allows users to optimize their operational costs based on real demand.
3. Data Processing (LCU-based)
Unlike some other AWS services, the ALB does not have a separate “Data Processing” line item. Instead, data throughput is measured as one of the four dimensions of a Load Balancer Capacity Unit (LCU).
For most traffic, 1 GB of data processed per hour equals 1 LCU. Since an LCU costs $0.008 per hour (in most regions), processing 1 GB of data costs $0.008 only if data processing is your highest usage dimension for that hour.
4. Additional features
- SSL termination. If the SSL termination is handled by the ALB, managing SSL/TLS certificates incurs additional charges. This feature is crucial for secure data transmission and is priced based on the certificate management setup.
- Advanced routing. Utilizing sophisticated routing options such as host-based or path-based routing can increase LCU charges due to the complexity of rule evaluations.
- Integrated services. Integrating ALB with AWS services adds further costs based on the specific services used.
5. Elastic IP addresses
Assigning Elastic IPs to an ALB involves standard AWS charges for Elastic IPs, adding to the total cost.
Pricing example:
Consider a mid-size web application running an ALB in US East (Ohio) for a full month (730 hours). The application averages 50 new connections per second, 5,000 active connections per minute, processes 2 GB of data per hour, and evaluates 500 rules per second.
To determine LCU usage, calculate the consumption across each dimension:
- New connections: 50 / 25 = 2.0 LCUs
- Active connections: 5,000 / 3,000 = 1.67 LCUs
- Processed bytes: 2 / 1 = 2.0 LCUs
- Rule evaluations: 500 / 1,000 = 0.5 LCUs
Since billing is based on the highest dimension, this workload consumes 2.0 LCUs per hour.
- Base hourly charge: 730 hours × $0.0225 = $16.43
- LCU charge: 730 hours × 2.0 LCUs × $0.008 = $11.68
- Total estimated monthly cost: $28.11
In practice, LCU consumption fluctuates throughout the day. Workloads with predictable traffic patterns tend to stay under 3-4 LCUs on average, while applications with significant traffic spikes can see LCU usage jump considerably during peak hours.
ALB vs NLB vs Gateway Load Balancer: Pricing Compared
AWS offers three load balancer types under the Elastic Load Balancing umbrella, and each follows a different pricing model. Choosing the wrong type can quietly inflate your monthly spend, so understanding the cost differences matters as much as the technical ones.
Network Load Balancer (NLB) operates at Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) and is designed for extreme performance — millions of requests per second with ultra-low latency. NLB pricing in US East (Ohio) is $0.0225 per hour (the same base rate as ALB) plus $0.006 per NLB Capacity Unit (NLCU) hour. NLCUs are measured differently than LCUs: they account for new connections, active connections, and processed bytes, but not rule evaluations. For workloads that are purely TCP-based and don’t need content-based routing, NLB can be more cost-effective because the per-capacity-unit rate is lower and the dimensions tend to produce fewer billable units.
Gateway Load Balancer (GWLB) operates at Layer 3 and is built specifically for deploying and scaling third-party virtual appliances like firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and deep packet inspection tools. GWLB pricing in US East (Ohio) is $0.0125 per hour plus $0.004 per Gateway Load Balancer Capacity Unit (GLCU) hour — the cheapest per-unit rate of the three. However, GWLB serves a specialized use case and is not interchangeable with ALB or NLB for general application traffic.
When ALB costs more than NLB: If your application only needs TCP/UDP pass-through without HTTP-level routing, running an ALB means paying for Layer 7 capabilities you aren’t using. NLB’s lower per-capacity-unit cost and simpler billing dimensions make it the leaner option for those workloads.
When ALB is worth the premium: Any application that relies on content-based routing, host-based routing, or native HTTP/2 and WebSocket support needs ALB. The ability to consolidate multiple services behind a single ALB through path-based routing can also offset the higher per-LCU rate by reducing the total number of load balancers you run.
Calculating AWS ALB Costs with the AWS Pricing Calculator
The AWS Pricing Calculator allows you to estimate the monthly costs associated with using AWS services, including ALB.
Here’s how the AWS Pricing Calculator can assist with AWS ALB cost estimation:
- Input configuration. You can specify the number of new and active connections, the amount of data processed, and the expected traffic patterns. This helps in estimating the LCUs.
- Data processing. The calculator estimates the data transfer cost in and out of the ALB.
- Additional features. You can add configurations for any advanced features you plan to use with ALB.
- Region-specific pricing. Since AWS pricing varies by region, the calculator adjusts the cost estimates based on your selected region.
How To Reduce AWS ALB Costs
Managing AWS ALB costs is necessary to optimize cloud spending. Here are strategic ways to reduce unnecessary costs while maintaining optimal performance.
- Leverage AWS cost management tools. Utilize AWS cost management tools like AWS Cost Explorer to track and analyze your ALB costs. These tools can provide insights into usage patterns and help identify areas where you can reduce spending.
- Automate elasticity. Use AWS Auto Scaling to automatically adjust your AWS ALB capacity based on actual demand. This ensures you are not paying for unused capacity during low-traffic periods.
- Choose the right type of load balancer – Not every workload needs ALB. If your application only requires Layer 4 load balancing, NLB’s lower per-capacity-unit rate could save you money each month. Evaluate whether the HTTP-level routing features of ALB justify the cost for each environment.
- Right size your AWS ALB. Regularly analyze your load balancer’s performance metrics to ensure it’s appropriately sized for your needs. Use AWS CloudWatch to monitor traffic patterns and adjust configurations to prevent over-provisioning.
- Consolidate Load Balancers. If you have multiple underutilized ALBs, consider consolidating them into fewer instances. This can reduce hourly charges and simplify management.
- Use host-based and path-based routing. AWS ALB allows you to route many applications through a single load balancer using host-based or path-based routing. This reduces the need for multiple ALBs and cuts down on costs.
- Optimize connection management. Implement connection draining to ensure that connections close efficiently. This prevents your ALB from wasting resources on idle connections and helps in reducing the number of LCUs used.
- Turn off unused ALBs. For development or staging environments, turn off ALBs when they’re not in use, especially during off-hours or weekends. This can reduce costs as ALBs are charged per hour.
- Implement caching. Use Amazon CloudFront in conjunction with your ALB to cache static content. This reduces the load on your ALB, decreasing the number of requests it needs to handle directly, which can lower LCU charges.
- Review pricing options. Regularly review AWS pricing updates for changes in ALB pricing or new cost-saving features and services.
How To Manage, Control, And Optimize AWS ALB Costs With CloudZero
At the core of every AWS service, cost management is always a major concern for users.
CloudZero is a cost intelligence solution that enables organizations to monitor, analyze, and optimize their AWS spending, ensuring cost efficiency across all services.
CloudZero offers:
- Real time cost monitoring. CloudZero provides real-time visibility into your AWS costs. The platform allows you to track spending on AWS ALB and other services as it happens. This immediate insight helps identify unexpected charges and prevent cost overruns.
- Cost analytics. With CloudZero, you can dive deep into your cost data. The platform analyzes spending patterns, identifying trends and anomalies. It breaks down costs by service, team, environment and more, making it easier to understand where and why you spend money. This detailed analysis is crucial. It pinpoints areas where costs can be reduced without impacting performance.
- Cost optimization recommendations. CloudZero tracks and analyzes costs and provides actionable recommendations for reducing costs. It identifies underutilized resources and suggests changes to resource allocation. It also recommends alternative configurations that could save money.
- Alerts and notifications. Set up customizable alerts to keep track of your spending thresholds. CloudZero will notify you if your spending will likely surpass the set budget limits, enabling prompt adjustments. This functionality is crucial for keeping your budget on track and preventing unexpected costs in your cloud billing.
- Integration with AWS services. CloudZero integrates with AWS, providing a unified view of all AWS-related expenditures. For AWS ALB, it can track specific metrics related to usage and performance. This offers insights on how to optimize load balancing settings for cost-effectiveness.
- Collaborative cost management. CloudZero fosters collaboration across teams by sharing cost insights and enabling discussions about spending. This collective approach helps ensure that all stakeholders are aware of cost implications and contribute to cost-saving measures.
Drift saved $2.4 million off their AWS bill using CloudZero’s cost intelligence platform, while NinjaCat used CloudZero to gain cost-per-customer visibility that enabled smarter pricing decisions and revenue growth.
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AWS ALB Pricing FAQs
How is AWS ALB priced?
AWS ALB is priced based on the time it runs (hourly rate) and the LCUs consumed. LCUs are calculated based on new connections, active connections, processed bytes, and rule evaluations.
What can unexpectedly increase my AWS ALB costs?
Surges in traffic leading to high LCU usage, misconfigured routing rules, or underutilized ALBs can increase costs. Monitoring traffic and adjusting configurations can help manage these costs.
How can I reduce my AWS ALB costs?
To cut AWS ALB costs, consider consolidating load balancers, switching to NLB for workloads that don’t need Layer 7 features, optimizing connection management, and using CloudZero for cost management. You can also turn off ALBs when not in use, especially in development environments.
Are there any free-tier options available for AWS ALB?
Yes, AWS offers a Free Tier for new accounts. It includes 750 hours per month shared between Classic and Application Load Balancers, plus 15 LCUs for AWS ALB. This free tier is available for 12 months following your AWS sign-up date.
Does AWS charge for idle ALBs?
Yes, AWS charges for ALBs as long as they are running, regardless of traffic. Turning off unused ALBs can avoid these charges.
Where can I find tools to help manage AWS ALB costs?
AWS provides tools like the Cost Explorer and the AWS Pricing Calculator. CloudZero also offers advanced analytics and cost optimization recommendations for AWS services.
How does integrating AWS Lambda with AWS ALB affect costs?
Using AWS Lambda with AWS ALB lets you route traffic directly to Lambda functions, bypassing the need for EC2 instances. This can lower costs, as you pay only for Lambda execution and the data ALB processes. Remember, ALB charges still apply, including hourly rates and LCUs. You can reduce these costs by optimizing function execution times and efficient request routing.
What should I consider about ALB costs when using Amazon EC2 instances?
With Amazon EC2 instances, consider the active connections and data ALB processes. ALB spreads incoming traffic across EC2 instances, so using them efficiently is important. Auto Scaling helps match EC2 usage to actual traffic, cutting costs during low demand. Also, check EC2 performance often. This will help avoid directing traffic to slow instances, which can raise costs.
How does ALB pricing compare to NLB pricing?
ALB and NLB share the same base hourly rate ($0.0225/hr in US East Ohio), but their capacity unit costs differ. ALB charges $0.008 per LCU-hour while NLB charges $0.006 per NLCU-hour. NLB also uses fewer billing dimensions (no rule evaluations), which can result in lower capacity unit consumption for TCP/UDP workloads. For applications that need HTTP-level routing, ALB remains the better fit despite the slightly higher per-unit cost.
Software and pricing information last verified April 2026. Features, pricing, and availability may have changed. Please verify current details with vendors before making decisions.
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