The 2026 Data Transfer Rate Card
The starting point for any conversation about AWS data egress is the rate card. Data transfer out to the internet is tiered and falls as volume rises: roughly $0.09/GB for the first 10TB per month, $0.085/GB for the next 40TB, $0.07/GB for the next 100TB, and $0.05/GB above 150TB. The first 100GB per month is free, aggregated across services and regions — a tier AWS raised from just 1GB in 2025. Inter-region transfer runs around $0.02/GB within the same geography and $0.05–$0.08/GB cross-continent, and cross-availability-zone transfer costs $0.01/GB in each direction.
| Transfer type | Indicative rate | Where it bites |
|---|---|---|
| Internet egress (first 10TB) | $0.09/GB | Public APIs, media delivery, downloads |
| Internet egress (150TB+) | $0.05/GB | High-volume content platforms |
| Inter-region (same geo) | ~$0.02/GB | Multi-region replication, DR |
| Inter-region (cross-continent) | $0.05–$0.08/GB | Global data sync |
| Cross-AZ (each direction) | $0.01/GB | Chatty microservices, multi-AZ databases |
Cross-AZ transfer is the silent killer. At $0.01/GB each way it looks trivial, but chatty microservices and multi-AZ database replication can generate more billable transfer internally than your entire internet egress — and it never appears in a headline rate negotiation.
Architecture: The Biggest Lever
The largest transfer savings come from architecture, not price negotiation. Routing internet traffic through Amazon CloudFront waives the data-transfer charge from your S3 origin to the CDN (same-account distributions) and drops the delivered rate — a 50TB workload served through CloudFront prices at roughly $0.085/GB across the whole volume. For traffic between AWS and your own data centres, AWS Direct Connect is the decisive move: it can cut the effective rate from $0.09/GB to around $0.02/GB, a reduction of roughly 77% on that traffic. Eliminating avoidable cross-region replication and consolidating chatty services into a single availability zone removes cost that no discount would ever have touched. These are the same efficiency-then-commercial steps we set out in the cloud contract complete guide.
Private Bandwidth Pricing
For high-volume workloads, transfer pricing is negotiable. AWS itself invites customers transferring more than 500TB per month to discuss custom bandwidth rates, and committed data-transfer pricing can be folded into an Enterprise Discount Program or Private Pricing Agreement. The mechanics mirror the compute commitment trade covered in our EDP vs Private Pricing Agreement analysis: you commit to a volume floor in exchange for a lower per-GB rate. The discipline is the same as with any commitment — size to the floor of your transfer profile, not the peak, and review it against the laddered approach in our Reserved Instances and Savings Plans portfolio strategy.
The Exit-Fee Waiver
Since March 2024, AWS waives data-transfer-out fees for customers migrating off the platform to another provider or back on-premises. The process is explicit: you contact AWS Support requesting "free data transfer to move off AWS", supply migration details, and on approval receive a temporary credit covering egress on your stored data, with 60 days to complete the move. The waiver applies to a genuine exit, not to ongoing operational egress — but its existence is itself a negotiation signal. The credibility of a documented multi-cloud or repatriation plan strengthens every transfer-cost conversation, just as a competitive alternative does in any AWS enterprise agreement negotiation.
The EU Data Act 2027 Deadline
For European enterprises, regulation is now a live lever. The EU Data Act removes switching charges entirely — including data egress charges — from 12 January 2027. During the transitional period running to that date, providers may charge only the actual direct costs of assisting a switch, not the headline egress rate. One reported case saw an AWS customer secure around $250,000 in compensation in a 2025 egress-fee dispute. The regulatory direction is unambiguous, and it strengthens the buyer's hand on transfer terms today — European buyers should be writing the 2027 position into multi-year agreements signed now, not waiting for the deadline. The broader commitment design sits in our multi-year cloud discount structures guide.
Putting It in the Contract
A disciplined transfer-cost programme runs in three steps. First, instrument and attribute — most enterprises cannot say which workloads drive their egress, and you cannot negotiate what you cannot measure. Second, re-architect the avoidable cost: CloudFront for internet delivery, Direct Connect for on-premises links, single-AZ consolidation for chatty services. Third, take the residual high-volume transfer to the table as committed bandwidth pricing inside your EDP or PPA, with an explicit clause reserving your EU Data Act switching rights from 2027. For an independent review of your transfer profile and the right contractual position, request a confidential briefing, explore the AWS vendor intelligence hub, or download the AWS EDP Negotiation Playbook.