Quick Answer
Last verified:
High confidence

AWS API Gateway costs Free to $3.50 per month as of July 2026, with 4 plans available including a free tier. Plan: Free Tier (free). Enterprise pricing is available on request. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.

Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.

  • Free tier: Yes

AWS API Gateway offers 4 pricing tiers: Free Tier, HTTP APIs, REST APIs, WebSocket APIs. The HTTP APIs plan is serverless applications, microservices, and cost-sensitive workloads requiring modern api features.

AWS API Gateway lists $0-$3.5/month, but hidden costs like implementation and support add to the total as of July 2026. Key hidden costs: api type selection, aws lambda integration, cloudwatch logs. Verified from 9 sources by CostBench.

Hidden Costs Breakdown

1

API Type Selection

high implementation

The choice between HTTP APIs ($1.00 per million requests) and REST APIs ($3.50 per million requests) results in a 250% price difference if advanced REST features are not utilized.

industry

HTTP APIs are considerably cheaper at $1.00 per million requests, compared to REST APIs at $3.50 per million requests, representing a 250% price difference for similar data flow if advanced REST features are not utilized.

2

AWS Lambda Integration

high addon

AWS Lambda, a related service, typically costs 2-3 times the cost of API Gateway itself, with charges around $0.20 per million requests plus $0.0000166667 per GB-second of compute time.

industry

Buyers must budget for integrated AWS services: * AWS Lambda: Typically 2-3 times the cost of API Gateway itself, with charges around $0.20 per million requests plus $0.0000166667 per GB-second of compute time.

3

CloudWatch Logs

high addon

Full execution logs in CloudWatch can double costs, with ingestion priced at $0.50 per GB.

industry

Costs are $0.25 per million connection minutes and $1.00 per million messages sent or received, with a 20% discount to $0.80 per million messages for high-volume applications.

4

AWS WAF

medium addon

AWS WAF, recommended for production environments, costs $5 per month per Web ACL, plus $1 per month per rule, and $0.60 per million requests.

industry

AWS WAF (Web Application Firewall): Recommended for production environments, it costs $5 per month per Web ACL, plus $1 per month per rule, and $0.60 per million requests.

5

Data Transfer Out

medium overage

Data Transfer Out can add 10-30% to the total cost, charged at standard AWS rates, typically $0.09 per GB for the first 10TB.

industry

Data Transfer Out: This can add 10-30% to the total cost, charged at standard AWS rates, typically $0.09 per GB for the first 10TB.

6

API Gateway Caching

high addon

API Gateway caching incurs additional hourly charges based on cache size, ranging from $146 to $2,774 per month, with a 6.1GB cache costing $146 per month.

industry

Buyers must budget for integrated AWS services: * AWS Lambda: Typically 2-3 times the cost of API Gateway itself, with charges around $0.20 per million requests plus $0.0000166667 per GB-second of compute time.

7

VPC Links for Private Integrations

medium addon

VPC Links, necessary for private APIs, can cost between $7.20 and $216 monthly, even with no requests.

industry

VPC Links for Private Integrations: These links, necessary for private APIs, can cost between $7.20 and $216 monthly, even with no requests.

8

WebSocket API Billing Model

medium implementation

WebSocket APIs have a dual billing model, charging $0.25 per million connection minutes and $1.00 per million messages sent or received, with a 20% discount to $0.80 per million messages for high-volume applications.

industry

Costs are $0.25 per million connection minutes and $1.00 per million messages sent or received, with a 20% discount to $0.80 per million messages for high-volume applications.

9

Failed and Retried Requests

medium overage

Even requests that fail or are retried are billable, contributing to unexpected costs.

industry

Failed and Retried Requests: Even requests that fail or are retried are billable, contributing to unexpected costs.

10

WebSocket Idle Time

medium overage

Open WebSocket connections accrue connection-minute charges even without message traffic.

industry

WebSocket Idle Time: Open WebSocket connections accrue connection-minute charges even without message traffic.

11

Large Response Payloads

low overage

Large response payloads increase data transfer out costs.

industry

Large Response Payloads: These increase data transfer out costs.

12

Public Exposure Traffic

high overage

Unexpected or automated traffic from public exposure can lead to cost spikes.

industry

Public Exposure: Unexpected or automated traffic from public exposure can lead to cost spikes.

Frequently Asked Questions

01 What hidden costs should I budget for with AWS API Gateway?

Beyond the license fee, budget for: API Type Selection (250%); AWS Lambda Integration (2-3 times the cost of API Gateway); CloudWatch Logs (double costs); AWS WAF ($5 per month per Web ACL, $1 per month per rule, $0.60 per million requests); Data Transfer Out (10-30%); API Gateway Caching ($146 to $2,774 per month); VPC Links for Private Integrations ($7.20 to $216 monthly); WebSocket API Billing Model ($0.25 per million connection minutes, $1.00 per million messages). Exact totals depend on your deployment size and negotiated terms.

02 Does AWS API Gateway charge for implementation?

AWS API Gateway implementation is not included in the license cost. The choice between HTTP APIs ($1.00 per million requests) and REST APIs ($3. Estimated impact: 250%.

03 How much does AWS API Gateway support cost?

Premium support pricing for AWS API Gateway depends on your tier and contract terms. See the sourced cost breakdown above for any verified figures we have.

04 Are there overage or storage costs with AWS API Gateway?

Data Transfer Out can add 10-30% to the total cost, charged at standard AWS rates, typically $0.09 per GB for the first 10TB. Estimated impact: 10-30%.

05 What add-ons cost extra with AWS API Gateway?

Add-on pricing for AWS API Gateway varies by feature. The sourced cost breakdown above lists any verified add-on costs we have.

Check current AWS API Gateway pricing

Prices and terms change; verify against the live pricing page.

See AWS API Gateway Pricing