Why is egress so expensive?

It is priced per gigabyte where ingress is usually free. That asymmetry is a real network cost and also raises the price of leaving, which is worth understanding before building on one provider.

Should I reserve capacity?

For anything running continuously, usually yes: thirty to sixty percent is typical. The risk is committing to capacity you stop needing, since unused commitment is spend with nothing behind it.

Technologycloud

Cloud Cost Calculator

Cloud bill broken into compute, storage, egress and managed services. Egress is the line that surprises people: data going in is usually free and data coming out is not, which is what makes leaving expensive.

Also called: aws cost calculator, cloud bill estimator.

Monthly cost

$45,620.00

$45,620.00 a month: $24,820.00 compute, $4,000.00 storage, $1,800.00 egress and 15,000 managed services. Compute is 54.41% of the bill, and reserving it would save $9,928.00 a month. Data in is usually free and data out is charged, which is both a real cost and what makes leaving a provider expensive.

Compute

$24,820.00

Storage

$4,000.00

Data transfer out

$1,800.00

Compute as a share

54.41%

Annual cost

$547,440.00

Saving from reservations

$9,928.00

Cost per VM

$6,205.00

On egress

Data in is usually free and data out is charged, which is both a real cost and what makes leaving a provider expensive.

On prices

Prices are inputs, not constants. Provider pricing changes continuously, so take the current rate from the provider calculator rather than relying on a default here.

How this is calculated

Method and background

How this is calculated

Each component prices on its own unit, so a blended monthly figure hides where the money actually goes. Compute is usually the largest line and the most reducible, through reservations or committed use discounts of thirty to sixty percent for workloads that run continuously. Egress is the line worth watching: ingress is typically free and egress is charged per gigabyte, which is both a real cost and the mechanism that makes migrating away expensive.

the components price on different units, which is why a single blended rate hides where the money goes

n: VM count
h: Hours
e: Egress GB

Method and limits

What it assumes

On-demand pricing with the rates you enter.

What it deliberately does not model

Provider pricing varies by region and changes continuously.
Committed use discounts require a commitment, and unused commitment is wasted spend.
Support plans are often a percentage of spend and are not included here.

Formula version 1.0.0 · definition 1.0.0 · United States · Report a problem with this calculator

Frequently asked questions

Why is egress so expensive?: It is priced per gigabyte where ingress is usually free. That asymmetry is a real network cost and also raises the price of leaving, which is worth understanding before building on one provider.
Should I reserve capacity?: For anything running continuously, usually yes: thirty to sixty percent is typical. The risk is committing to capacity you stop needing, since unused commitment is spend with nothing behind it.