Cloud Network Cost
Estimate cloud networking costs from data transfer, NAT gateway and load balancer usage.
Inputs
730 hrs/month for an always-on gateway
Combined hourly rate for VPN gateway and load balancer, assumed always-on (730 hrs/month)
Total Monthly Cloud Networking Cost
$267.60
Data Transfer (Egress) Cost
$180.00
NAT Gateway Cost
$32.85
Projected Annual Cost
$3,211.20
Step by step
Values used
Monthly Data Transfer (Egress) = 2,000 GB; Data Transfer Rate = 0.0900 $/GB; NAT Gateway Hours = 730 hrs; NAT Gateway Rate = 0.0450 $/hr; Combined VPN + Load Balancer Rate = 0.0750 $/hr
Monthly cost
monthly = data_transfer_GB × $/GB + nat_hrs × $/hr + (vpn_hrs + lb_hrs) × $/hr
Total Monthly Cloud Networking Cost
= 267.60
Data Transfer (Egress) Cost
= 180.00
NAT Gateway Cost
= 32.85
Projected Annual Cost
= 3,211.20
How it works
Cloud networking cost is rarely a single line item — it's the sum of metered data transfer (usually egress-only, since most providers don't charge for inbound traffic), hourly charges for always-on NAT gateways that let private-subnet resources reach the internet, and hourly charges for VPN gateways and load balancers that typically run continuously (730 hours/month). Data transfer costs scale with actual usage while the hourly-billed services accrue cost simply by existing, which is why idle or over-provisioned NAT gateways, VPNs, and load balancers are a common source of unexpected cloud networking spend.
Formula
Monthly cost
monthly = data_transfer_GB × $/GB + nat_hrs × $/hr + (vpn_hrs + lb_hrs) × $/hr
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do cloud providers usually only charge for data egress, not ingress?
Cloud providers want to make it easy to bring data into their platform (encouraging adoption and stickiness) but the ongoing cost of running the network is recovered on outbound traffic, since egress is what actually traverses expensive internet peering/transit links — this asymmetric pricing model is standard across major providers.
Why does a NAT gateway cost money even with minimal data transfer?
NAT gateways are billed with an hourly charge for simply existing/running (in addition to a smaller per-GB data processing charge), reflecting the managed, highly-available infrastructure the provider maintains for it — this hourly cost accrues whether or not the gateway is actively processing significant traffic, so idle or redundant NAT gateways are a common cost optimization target.
How can I reduce cloud networking costs?
Common levers include using VPC endpoints/private links to avoid NAT gateway traffic for provider-internal services (e.g. object storage), consolidating NAT gateways across availability zones where the availability tradeoff is acceptable, using a CDN to reduce origin egress for cacheable content, and right-sizing or consolidating load balancers rather than running one per small workload.