AWS Direct Connect pricing and breakeven
Direct Connect (DX) drops outbound data transfer to $0.02/GB (versus $0.09/GB internet egress) but adds $0.30 to $22.50 per port-hour. The volume threshold where DX becomes cheaper than internet egress depends on port speed and contract.
Port-hour pricing (Dedicated connections)
| Port speed | Per hour | Per month | Egress at port saturation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Gbps | $0.30 | $219 | 324 TB / mo capacity |
| 10 Gbps | $2.25 | $1,643 | 3,240 TB / mo capacity |
| 100 Gbps | $22.50 | $16,425 | 32,400 TB / mo capacity |
Hosted Connections (sub-1G, via partners) start at $0.03/hr for 50 Mbps. Cross Connect fees at the colocation are separate (~$200-400/month per cross-connect).
Breakeven: when does DX beat internet egress?
Internet egress in us-east-1 averages $0.085/GB across the first 50 TB tier ($0.09 first 10 TB, $0.085 next 40 TB). Direct Connect is $0.02/GB plus port fees. The breakeven calculation: monthly volume where (port + DX-egress) equals (internet egress).
Above the breakeven volume, every GB saves $0.067 versus internet egress. At 100 TB / mo through a 10G DX, you save ~$5,500 / month vs internet.
Caveats and hidden costs
Cross-connect fees
The fibre patch at the colo (Equinix, CoreSite, Digital Realty) is billed separately, typically $200-400/month per cross-connect. Redundant cross-connects double this.
Telco circuit
If your origin is not in the colo, you need a circuit from your data centre or office to the colo. This is a third-party telco bill (Lumen, Zayo, AT&T) and can run $1k to $10k+/month depending on distance and speed.
Letter of Authorization
Cross-connects require an LOA-CFA from AWS and from the colo. Provisioning takes 2-4 weeks. Plan ahead.
BGP and VLAN setup
DX uses BGP. You will need a network engineer to peer with AWS, manage VLANs (private VIF + public VIF + transit VIF), and handle failover. This is not a click-and-go service.
Egress only, not ingress
Ingress is free over the internet AND over DX. DX only saves money on egress and on consistent latency. If your workload is ingress-heavy (uploads, log shipping in), DX adds cost without saving.
Region scope
A DX port terminates in one AWS region. To use DX traffic across regions, you need a Transit Gateway ($0.05/GB processing) or a separate DX port per region.