Estimate your Amazon S3 storage costs based on storage class, data transfer, and request volume.
S3 Cost Estimator
Enter the total amount of data you plan to store in S3.
S3 Standard
S3 Intelligent-Tiering
S3 Standard-IA
S3 One Zone-IA
S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval
S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval
S3 Glacier Deep Archive
Select the most frequently accessed storage class. Intelligent-Tiering automatically optimizes.
Estimate data transferred out from S3 to the internet or other AWS regions.
Number of write operations (e.g., uploading files).
Number of read operations (e.g., downloading files).
US East (N. Virginia)
US East (Ohio)
US West (N. California)
US West (Oregon)
Asia Pacific (Mumbai)
Europe (Frankfurt)
Europe (Ireland)
Europe (London)
South America (São Paulo)
Select the AWS region where your S3 bucket is located. Pricing varies by region.
Estimated Monthly Costs
$0.00
Storage Cost:$0.00
Data Transfer Out Cost:$0.00
Requests Cost:$0.00
Total Estimated Cost:$0.00
Formula Used: Monthly Cost = (Storage GB * Storage Price per GB) + (Data Transfer Out GB * Data Transfer Out Price per GB) + (PUT Requests * PUT Request Price per Request) + (GET Requests * GET Request Price per Request). Note: Intelligent-Tiering has additional monitoring fees. Glacier tiers have retrieval fees.
Monthly S3 Cost Breakdown by Storage Class (Example)
Storage Class
Price per GB (USD)
Price per 1,000 PUT Requests (USD)
Price per 1,000 GET Requests (USD)
Estimated Monthly Cost Distribution
What is AWS S3 Pricing?
AWS S3 (Simple Storage Service) pricing is a model used by Amazon Web Services to charge customers for storing and retrieving data from its highly scalable object storage service. Understanding this pricing is crucial for managing cloud expenses effectively. S3 offers various storage classes, each with different cost structures, performance characteristics, and availability levels, designed to suit diverse data access patterns and durability requirements. Customers are typically billed based on four main components: storage volume, data transfer, request counts, and features like replication or access logs. This comprehensive approach allows users to optimize costs by choosing the most appropriate storage class for their specific needs, from frequently accessed data to long-term archival.
Who should use it: Anyone using or considering Amazon S3 for storing data. This includes developers building cloud-native applications, businesses hosting static websites, data scientists managing large datasets, media companies storing video assets, and organizations performing backups and disaster recovery. Essentially, any entity needing reliable, scalable, and cost-effective object storage benefits from understanding S3 pricing.
Common misconceptions: A frequent misconception is that S3 pricing is a flat rate per GB. In reality, it's a multi-faceted model. Another is that all data is stored in "S3 Standard," overlooking the significant cost savings offered by other storage classes like S3 Glacier for archival purposes. Some users also underestimate the cost impact of data transfer out and the sheer volume of requests (GET, PUT, etc.), which can become substantial for high-traffic applications.
AWS S3 Pricing Formula and Mathematical Explanation
The core AWS S3 pricing model can be broken down into several key components. The total monthly cost is generally the sum of costs for storage, data transfer, and requests. Advanced features like S3 Intelligent-Tiering, S3 Lifecycle policies, and S3 Replication add further cost considerations.
1. Storage Cost: This is the primary cost component and is calculated based on the average amount of data stored per month, multiplied by the price per GB for the specific storage class used. Different storage classes (e.g., S3 Standard, S3 Standard-IA, S3 Glacier) have vastly different price points per GB.
2. Data Transfer Cost: Data transfer out from S3 to the internet or to different AWS regions incurs a cost per GB. Data transfer into S3 is generally free. Data transfer within the same AWS region between S3 and other AWS services (like EC2) is also typically free.
3. Request Cost: Every operation performed on S3 objects incurs a cost. These are categorized into two main types:
PUT, COPY, POST, LIST Requests: These are write operations that add or modify data.
GET, SELECT, and all other Requests: These are read operations that retrieve data.
The cost is usually priced per 1,000 or 10,000 requests.
4. Additional Features: Costs can also arise from features like S3 Intelligent-Tiering monitoring and automation fees, S3 Inventory, S3 Analytics, S3 Object Tagging, S3 Replication, and S3 Storage Lens.
The General Formula:
Total Monthly Cost = Storage Cost + Data Transfer Out Cost + Requests Cost + Additional Feature Costs
Where:
Storage Cost = (Average Storage in GB) * (Price per GB per month for Storage Class)
Data Transfer Out Cost = (Data Transfer Out in GB) * (Price per GB for Data Transfer Out)
Requests Cost = [(PUT/COPY/POST/LIST Requests / 1000) * (Price per 1,000 PUT Requests)] + [(GET/SELECT Requests / 1000) * (Price per 1,000 GET Requests)]
Variables Table:
S3 Pricing Variables
Variable
Meaning
Unit
Typical Range / Notes
Storage GB
Total volume of data stored.
Gigabytes (GB)
0.001 GB to Petabytes (PB)
Storage Class
Type of S3 storage used (e.g., Standard, IA, Glacier).
Note: Retrieval fees for Glacier Deep Archive are separate and depend on the amount and speed required. This calculation focuses on storage and transfer.
Interpretation: S3 Glacier Deep Archive offers extremely low storage costs for data that is accessed very infrequently. The cost is dominated by the storage volume itself. Retrieval costs, while not included in this monthly estimate, must be considered when planning for access.
How to Use This AWS S3 Pricing Calculator
Our AWS S3 Pricing Calculator is designed to provide a quick and easy estimate of your monthly S3 costs. Follow these steps:
Enter Total Storage (GB): Input the total amount of data you expect to store in your S3 bucket(s).
Select Primary Storage Class: Choose the storage class that best fits your data access needs. If you use multiple classes, estimate the largest portion or use S3 Standard as a baseline. For mixed access patterns, consider S3 Intelligent-Tiering.
Estimate Data Transfer Out (GB): Provide an estimate of how much data you anticipate transferring out of S3 to the internet or other AWS regions per month.
Input Request Counts: Estimate the number of PUT/COPY/POST/LIST (write) requests and GET/SELECT (read) requests your application will make monthly.
Choose AWS Region: Select the AWS region where your S3 bucket is located, as pricing can vary slightly between regions.
Calculate: Click the "Calculate Costs" button.
How to read results: The calculator will display a primary highlighted result for the total estimated monthly cost. Below that, you'll see a breakdown of costs for storage, data transfer, and requests. The table provides a reference for pricing across different storage classes, and the chart visually represents the cost distribution.
Decision-making guidance: Use the results to compare the potential costs of different storage classes or to identify areas where costs might be higher than expected. For instance, if data transfer costs are high, explore options like CloudFront CDN or optimizing data retrieval patterns. If request costs are significant, consider batching operations or using S3 Select to reduce data scanned.
Key Factors That Affect AWS S3 Pricing Results
Several factors significantly influence your AWS S3 bill. Understanding these allows for better cost optimization:
Storage Class Selection: This is arguably the most impactful factor. S3 Standard is the most expensive per GB but offers the lowest latency and highest availability. Archive classes like Glacier Deep Archive are significantly cheaper per GB but have higher retrieval times and costs. Choosing the wrong class for your access pattern can lead to overspending or performance issues.
Data Volume: Simply put, the more data you store, the higher your storage costs. Efficient data management, including deleting obsolete data and using lifecycle policies, is key.
Data Transfer Out Volume: Transferring data out of AWS regions or to the internet is a significant cost driver, especially for applications serving large amounts of data globally. Utilizing services like Amazon CloudFront (CDN) can reduce these costs by caching data closer to users.
Request Frequency and Type: While seemingly small per request, a high volume of GET or PUT requests can add up. Applications making millions or billions of requests per month will see a noticeable cost impact. S3 Intelligent-Tiering also has a small per-object monitoring and automation fee.
AWS Region: Pricing for storage, data transfer, and requests varies by AWS region. Some regions are inherently more expensive due to infrastructure costs. Choosing a region closer to your users or other AWS resources can sometimes optimize both performance and cost.
Object Size and Count: While the calculator uses total GB, the cost of requests is per operation. Storing many small files can lead to higher request costs compared to storing a single large file of the same total size.
Lifecycle Policies & Intelligent-Tiering: Implementing lifecycle policies to automatically move data to cheaper storage classes (e.g., from S3 Standard to S3 Standard-IA, then to Glacier) or using S3 Intelligent-Tiering can significantly reduce costs for data with changing access patterns.
Additional Features: Features like S3 Replication (cross-region or same-region), S3 Object Lock, S3 Access Logs, and S3 Storage Lens incur their own costs, which need to be factored into the total S3 spend.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q1: Is data transfer into S3 free?
Yes, generally, data transfer IN to Amazon S3 from the internet is free. Data transfer within the same AWS Region to other AWS services like EC2 is also typically free.
Q2: What is the difference between S3 Standard and S3 Standard-IA?
S3 Standard is for frequently accessed data with low latency requirements. S3 Standard-IA (Infrequent Access) is for data accessed less frequently but requires rapid access when needed. S3 Standard-IA has a lower storage cost per GB but a higher retrieval cost per GB and a minimum storage duration charge.
Q3: How does S3 Intelligent-Tiering work and what are its costs?
S3 Intelligent-Tiering automatically moves data between access tiers (frequent and infrequent) based on usage patterns to optimize costs. It has a small monthly monitoring and automation fee per object, in addition to the storage costs for the tier the object resides in.
Q4: Are there minimum storage durations for S3 storage classes?
Yes. S3 Standard-IA, S3 One Zone-IA, S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval, S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval, and S3 Glacier Deep Archive have minimum storage duration charges (e.g., 30 days for IA classes, 90 days for Glacier IR, 180 days for Glacier FR, 180 days for Glacier DA). Deleting data before this duration incurs charges for the full minimum period.
Q5: What are S3 Glacier retrieval fees?
Glacier storage classes (Instant Retrieval, Flexible Retrieval, Deep Archive) have retrieval fees based on the amount of data retrieved and the retrieval speed option chosen. Deep Archive has the lowest storage cost but the highest retrieval fees and longest retrieval times (hours).
Q6: How can I reduce my S3 costs?
Reduce costs by: choosing the right storage class, implementing lifecycle policies to transition or expire data, deleting unnecessary data, using S3 Intelligent-Tiering for variable access patterns, optimizing request patterns (e.g., batching), and leveraging CloudFront for content delivery to reduce data transfer out costs.
Q7: Does S3 pricing include durability or availability guarantees?
S3 pricing covers the storage and retrieval of your data. Durability (e.g., 99.999999999% – 11 nines) and availability (e.g., 99.99% for S3 Standard) are built-in features of the service, not separate charges, though they influence the cost structure of different storage classes.
Q8: What is S3 Storage Lens?
S3 Storage Lens is a storage analytics feature that provides visibility into your object storage usage and activity across your entire organization. It helps identify cost optimization opportunities, data protection risks, and storage access patterns. There's a free tier, with advanced metrics available in a paid version.