Price checkUsage-based
Application Load Balancer (ALB)CustomNetwork Load Balancer (NLB)CustomGateway Load Balancer (GWLB)Custom
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All AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) Plans & Pricing

Plan Monthly Annual Best For
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Application Load Balancer (ALB)

  • $0.0225 per ALB-hour (~$16.20/month) in US East
  • $0.008 per LCU-hour
  • Layer 7 load balancing (HTTP/HTTPS)
  • Path-based and host-based routing
  • WebSocket and HTTP/2 support
  • AWS WAF integration
  • Native container support (ECS, EKS)
  • Lambda function targets
  • gRPC support

Network Load Balancer (NLB)

  • $0.0225 per NLB-hour (~$16.20/month) in US East
  • $0.006 per NLCU-hour
  • Layer 4 load balancing (TCP/UDP/TLS)
  • Ultra-low latency (<100 microseconds)
  • Millions of requests per second
  • Static IP per Availability Zone
  • Elastic IP support
  • Preserve source IP
  • PrivateLink support

Gateway Load Balancer (GWLB)

  • $0.0125 per GWLB-hour (~$9/month) in US East
  • $0.004 per GLCU-hour
  • Layer 3 gateway + Layer 4 load balancing
  • Deploy virtual appliances (firewalls, IDS/IPS)
  • GENEVE protocol encapsulation
  • Gateway Load Balancer Endpoints
  • Transparent network traffic flow
  • High availability for security appliances

Classic Load Balancer

  • $0.025 per CLB-hour (~$18/month) in US East
  • $0.008 per GB of data processed
  • Layer 4 and Layer 7 load balancing
  • Basic HTTP/HTTPS and TCP load balancing
  • EC2-Classic support (deprecated)
  • Legacy option - not recommended for new apps
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Quick Answer
Last verified:
Medium confidence

AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) costs $0.02 to $0.02 per per month (varies by usage) as of July 2026, with 4 plans available. The median contract is $1,945/year based on 5 third-party buyer reports.

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

  • Free tier: No free tier available

AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) offers 4 pricing tiers: Application Load Balancer (ALB), Network Load Balancer (NLB), Gateway Load Balancer (GWLB), Classic Load Balancer. The Network Load Balancer (NLB) plan is high-performance tcp/udp workloads.

Compared to other load balancers software, AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) is positioned at the budget-friendly price point.

  • Median contract: $1,945/yr from 5 buyer reports Directional
  • 10 documented hidden costs beyond list price
  • G2 rating: 4.5 out of 5 from 95 reviews (as of Jul 2026)
Last verified: | Sources: 1 pricing pages and reviews

How much does AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) cost?

AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) pricing starts at $0.02/per month (varies by usage) across 4 plans, with enterprise pricing available on request. Plans include Application Load Balancer (ALB) (custom pricing), Network Load Balancer (NLB) (custom pricing), Gateway Load Balancer (GWLB) (custom pricing), Classic Load Balancer (custom pricing).

AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) Pricing Overview

AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) has 4 pricing plans ranging from $0.02 to $0.02/per month (varies by usage). The Application Load Balancer (ALB) plan requires contacting sales for a custom quote and is designed for http/https applications with advanced routing. The Network Load Balancer (NLB) plan requires contacting sales for a custom quote and is designed for high-performance tcp/udp workloads. The Gateway Load Balancer (GWLB) plan requires contacting sales for a custom quote and is designed for deploying third-party network appliances. The Classic Load Balancer plan requires contacting sales for a custom quote and is designed for legacy applications (migration to alb/nlb recommended).

The median AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) customer pays $1,945/year based on 5 verified purchases.

There are at least 10 documented hidden costs beyond AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB)'s list price, including implementation, training, and add-on fees.

This pricing was last verified in May 9, 2026 from 1 independent source.

See AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) Plans

How AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) Pricing Compares

Compare AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) pricing against top alternatives in Load Balancers.

F5 BIG-IP $0/per year Compare → Kemp LoadMaster $0/per year (subscription) or perpetual + support Compare → NGINX Plus $849-$2099/per instance per year Compare →

Compare AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) vs Alternatives

Before committing to AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB), compare pricing with these 3 alternatives in the same category.

VSF5 BIG-IP
Free

Basic load balancing needs

Full comparison
VSKemp LoadMaster
Free

Small deployments

Full comparison
VSNGINX Plus
From $849/per instance per year

General users and teams

Full comparison

All AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) alternatives & migration guides

What Companies Actually Pay for AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB)

The median AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) buyer pays $1,945/year based on 5 verified purchase transactions.

What companies actually pay $1,945/yr Median across 5 third-party buyer reports Directional
Review scores
TrustRadius 9.3out of 10 (738)
G2 4.5out of 5 (95)
Third-party review aggregates, as of Jul 2026
Top pricing complaints
Complexity and High Learning CurveCostConfusing InterfaceComplex Configuration
Source: aggregated from 5 third-party buyer reports for this quote-only vendor. Indicative market pricing — not official vendor pricing or contract-grade data.

How AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) Pricing Compares

Software Starting Price Top Price
AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) $0.0225/per month (varies by usage) $0.0225/per month (varies by usage)
F5 BIG-IP Custom Custom
HAProxy Enterprise $995/per instance per year $4995/per instance per year
Kemp LoadMaster Custom Custom
NGINX Plus $849/per instance per year $2099/per instance per year
Cloudflare Load Balancing $5/mo $5/mo

Detailed pricing comparisons:

Browse all Load Balancers pricing →

10 AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) Hidden Costs Beyond the List Price

Beyond the listed price, AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) has at least 10 documented hidden costs that can significantly increase total cost of ownership.

Watch for 10 hidden costs
  • Cross-Availability Zone (AZ) Data Transfer $0.01 per GB in each direction
    high 1 source
    industry "When traffic crosses between AZs, a transfer cost of $0.01 per GB in each direction is incurred"
  • Default Cross-Zone Load Balancing (ALB)
    medium 1 source
    industry "ALBs always have cross-zone load balancing enabled at the load balancer level by default, which can lead to these charges, though it can be disabled per target group"
  • Internet Egress Data Transfer $0.05 and $0.09 per GB
    medium 1 source
    industry "Internet Egress: Sending data from AWS to the public internet costs between $0.05 and $0.09 per GB for the first 10TB per month"
  • Load Balancer Capacity Unit (LCU/NLCU) Usage Charges $0.008 per LCU-hour
    medium 1 source
    industry "Load Balancer Capacity Units (LCUs/NLCUs): * ALBs and NLBs are charged hourly plus a usage-based charge per LCU (for ALB) or NLCU (for NLB)"
  • ALB LCU Calculation Complexity
    medium 1 source
    industry "ALB LCU: An LCU for ALB aggregates four dimensions: new connections per second (up to 25), active connections per minute (up to 3,000), processed bytes per hour (up to 1 GB), and rule evaluations per second (up to 1,000, with the first 10 rules free)"
  • Data Transfer Charges $0.05 to $0.09 per GB
    high 1 source
    industry "Data Transfer Charges: Standard AWS data transfer fees apply for data flowing in and out of the load balancer."
  • Elastic IP Address Charges approximately $0.005 per hour per IP
    low 1 source
    industry "Elastic IP Address Charges: While AWS typically allows one Elastic IP per load balancer for free if attached and in use, additional or unused Elastic IP addresses may incur a fee (approximately $0.005 per hour per IP in us-west-1)."
  • SSL/TLS Certificates and Security Features
    medium 1 source
    industry "SSL/TLS Certificates and Security Features: Businesses requiring advanced security measures like SSL/TLS certificates may incur associated hidden costs."
  • Hourly Load Balancer Base Rate $0.0252 per hour
    low 1 source
    industry "Hourly Load Balancer Cost: * ALB: Approximately $0.0252 per hour per ALB in regions like N. California (us-west-1)"
  • ALB LCU Usage $0.008 per LCU-hour
    medium 1 source
    industry "An LCU for ALB is determined by the highest usage across four dimensions: 25 new connections per second, 3,000 active connections per minute (1,500 with Mutual TLS), 1 GB of processed data per hour (0."
Tip

Ask your AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) sales rep about these costs upfront. Getting them in writing before signing can save you from surprise charges later.

Full hidden costs breakdown →

Intelligence sourced from 3 independent sources
industry TrustRadius Enterprise reviews G2 B2B reviews
Key claims include inline source attribution. Data verified against multiple independent sources. 11 source citations total.

AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB) Pricing FAQ

01 How are ALB and NLB costs calculated?

You pay an hourly rate (approximately $0.0225/hour or $16.20/month) plus usage-based charges per Load Balancer Capacity Unit (LCU). LCUs measure new connections, active connections, processed bytes, and rule evaluations. You're charged for the dimension with the highest usage each hour.

02 What's included in the AWS Free Tier for load balancers?

Starting July 15, 2026, new AWS customers receive up to $200 in Free Tier credits for 6 months, applicable to ELB and other services. Credits must be used within 12 months of account creation. Regular usage charges apply after credits are exhausted.

03 When should I use ALB vs NLB?

Use ALB for HTTP/HTTPS traffic requiring Layer 7 features like path-based routing, host headers, or Lambda targets. Use NLB for ultra-low latency, static IPs, TCP/UDP traffic, or handling millions of requests per second. NLB preserves source IPs and offers higher performance.

04 What additional AWS charges should I expect?

Beyond ELB charges, expect data transfer costs (especially cross-AZ at $0.01/GB), public IPv4 address charges ($0.005/hour per IP), CloudWatch metrics/logging, and potential WAF costs. Data transfer charges can significantly exceed base ELB costs for high-traffic applications.

05 Can I reduce my ELB costs?

Yes, strategies include: consolidating multiple ALBs using path-based routing, minimizing cross-AZ traffic, optimizing rule evaluations, using IPv6 to avoid IPv4 charges, right-sizing capacity by monitoring LCU usage, and deleting unused load balancers. Region selection also impacts costs.

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