AWS Global Accelerator and AWS Direct Connect have different pricing models reflecting their distinct networking services.
AWS Global Accelerator Pricing:
- You pay a fixed hourly fee for each accelerator you provision, regardless of whether it is enabled or disabled. This fee includes AWS-provided static IPv4 addresses.
- In addition to the fixed hourly charge, there is a data transfer fee based on the volume of data transferred through the accelerator. This incremental data transfer charge depends on the AWS Region serving the request and the AWS edge location where responses are directed.
- The data transfer fees are additional to standard EC2 data transfer out charges.
- For example, a 24/7 application running for 30 days transferring 10,000 GB might cost around $128 monthly.
- The pricing is designed around the number of accelerators deployed and the data volume processed, with regional variation in rates[3][4][5][9].
AWS Direct Connect Pricing:
- Pricing is based on three main components: port hours, capacity (bandwidth), and data transfer out (DTO).
- Port hours are charged for the time a port is provisioned, even if no data is transferred. Dedicated connections cost about $0.30 per hour for 1 Gbps ports and $2.25 per hour for 10 Gbps ports, with slight regional differences (e.g., Japan).
- Hosted connections, provisioned via AWS partners, offer a range of bandwidth from 50 Mbps to 10 Gbps with varying hourly rates.
- Data transfer out pricing depends on the source AWS Region and the Direct Connect location, with rates starting as low as $0.02 per GB for some regions, which is generally cheaper than standard internet data transfer rates.
- Data transfer into AWS via Direct Connect is free.
- Additional charges may apply for features like SiteLink and partner services.
- AWS Direct Connect is typically used for dedicated, high-bandwidth, low-latency connections between on-premises networks and AWS, with a pay-as-you-go model but with ongoing port hour charges regardless of usage[6][7][8][10][11][12].
Comparison Summary:
- AWS Global Accelerator charges a fixed hourly fee per accelerator plus data transfer fees based on traffic volume and region, focusing on improving application availability and performance globally via the AWS edge network.
- AWS Direct Connect charges based on port hours (capacity reserved), bandwidth, and data transfer out, designed for private, dedicated network connections with generally lower data transfer costs but ongoing port reservation fees.
- Global Accelerator is better suited for improving global application performance with static IPs and intelligent routing, while Direct Connect is aimed at enterprises needing dedicated network links with predictable bandwidth and lower data transfer costs.
In essence, Global Accelerator pricing is more focused on per-accelerator and data transfer costs with edge routing benefits, whereas Direct Connect pricing involves port reservation fees, bandwidth capacity, and data transfer costs optimized for private connectivity.
Citations:
[1] https://aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/pricing/
[2] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/latest/dg/introduction-pricing.html
[3] https://aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/
[4] https://cloudchipr.com/blog/aws-global-accelerator
[5] https://www.nops.io/glossary/what-is-aws-global-accelerator/
[6] https://www.stormit.cloud/blog/aws-direct-connect/
[7] https://dgtlinfra.com/aws-direct-connect-gateway-locations-partners-pricing/
[8] https://www.cloudforecast.io/guides/aws-data-transfer-cost/
[9] https://elasticscale.com/reduce-aws-global-accelerator-costs/
[10] https://aws.amazon.com/directconnect/pricing/
[11] https://www.pump.co/blog/aws-direct-connect-pricing
[12] https://blog.orixcom.com/aws-direct-connect-pricing