Prices, bill drivers and 2026 rules
Egress, data transfer, IP addresses and load balancers: the network side of a cloud bill
How outbound data transfer, inter-zone and inter-region traffic, public IPv4 addresses, load balancers, NAT gateways and CDNs are charged, with an illustrative traffic estimate.
On most public clouds, data coming in is free and data going out costs money. Outbound data transfer to the internet (egress) is charged per GB, usually in falling tiers, and traffic between availability zones or regions can be charged too. Around it sit hourly charges for public IPv4 addresses, load balancers and NAT gateways, some with a per-GB processing fee on top. Shared hosting and many VPS plans instead include a monthly data allowance and charge for the excess. For a small business website the network lines are often modest; for anything serving video, large downloads, backups to another provider or a busy API, they can rival the server cost. Estimate them from your own traffic before you choose.
This guide belongs to the pricing overview. For storage see storage, backups and snapshots; for the cost of moving data out when you leave, see cloud exit costs and lock-in. Figures are illustrative, ex GST.
Where network charges arise
| Traffic or resource | Usually charged? | How |
|---|---|---|
| Data in from the internet | Usually free | – |
| Data out to the internet | Yes | Per GB, tiered; sometimes a free monthly allowance |
| Between availability zones in one region | Often | Per GB, sometimes in both directions |
| Between regions (e.g. Sydney to Melbourne, or to overseas) | Yes | Per GB, rate depends on the pair |
| To a CDN from the cloud origin | Varies | Some providers discount or waive it; the CDN then charges its own egress |
| Public IPv4 address | Increasingly yes | Per hour per address, attached or idle, depending on the provider |
| Load balancer | Yes | Per hour plus a usage unit (connections, requests or GB processed) |
| NAT gateway | Yes | Per hour plus per GB processed |
| VPN connection | Yes | Per hour per connection, plus data transfer |
| VPS or shared plan | Included up to an allowance | Overage per GB or a throttle |
Public IPv4 addresses have become scarce, and some large providers now charge for every public IPv4 address, not only idle ones. Check the current pricing page for your provider; using IPv6 or a single load balancer in front of several servers can reduce the count.
Estimating your outbound data
You can estimate monthly egress from figures you already have:
- Website traffic. Monthly page views × average page weight. Your analytics tool or browser developer tools show page weight.
- Downloads and media. Number of downloads × file size.
- API or app traffic. Requests a month × average response size.
- Backups or replication to another provider or your office. GB copied a month.
- Staff access. Remote desktop and file sync from the server to staff devices.
Illustrative example: 60,000 page views a month at 2.5 MB = 150 GB; 2,000 brochure downloads at 8 MB = 16 GB; a nightly 10 GB copy to an off-site backup provider = about 300 GB; staff file access about 40 GB. Total ≈ 506 GB a month.
At an illustrative $0.14 per GB with the first 100 GB free, egress costs (506 − 100) × $0.14 = $56.84 a month. Without the off-site copy it would be (206 − 100) × $0.14 = $14.84. The backup copy, not the website, is the largest network cost; a cheaper approach might be incremental backups that copy only changed data.
Load balancers, NAT gateways and IPs: the fixed network floor
These charge even when traffic is low, so they set a floor under your bill.
Illustrative monthly floor (730 hours):
| Item | Basis | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| One load balancer | $0.03 an hour + $8 usage | $21.90 + $8 = $29.90 |
| One NAT gateway | $0.06 an hour + 50 GB × $0.06 | $43.80 + $3.00 = $46.80 |
| Three public IPv4 addresses | 3 × $0.007 an hour | $15.33 |
| Network floor | $92.03 |
For a small setup, ask whether you need each item. A single small web server may not need a load balancer. Servers that only need outbound internet for updates may be cheaper with a single public IP and a firewall than behind a NAT gateway, depending on your security design. Do not remove security controls to save a few dollars; redesign instead.
Ways to cut network costs without hurting service
- Use a content delivery network (CDN) for images, scripts and downloads. It caches content closer to visitors and often prices egress differently from the origin.
- Compress and resize. Smaller images and compressed responses reduce GB out.
- Keep chatty services in one zone where resilience allows. Cross-zone traffic is charged on many clouds; balance this against the resilience benefit of multiple zones.
- Keep data and compute in the same region. Reading data in Melbourne from a server in Sydney is inter-region traffic.
- Send backups incrementally. Copy changed blocks, not full images, to off-site storage.
- Check allowances on VPS plans. A plan with a generous included allowance can beat a cloud server for high-traffic but simple workloads.
Frequently asked questions
Why is data out charged but data in free?
It is the providers' pricing choice. The effect is that putting data in is cheap and taking it out, including when you leave, costs more. Factor that into exit planning.
Is traffic between Sydney and Melbourne regions free?
Generally not. Traffic between regions is usually charged per GB even within Australia. Check the provider's data transfer page.
Do I pay for traffic to my own office?
Yes, if it leaves the cloud over the internet or a VPN. A private connection may have its own port and data charges.
Can I get a fixed monthly network price?
VPS, dedicated and shared plans often include an allowance. Public cloud is usually metered, but some providers offer bundles or flat-rate egress plans. Read the fair-use terms.
Sources
- Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD) — network security guidance for small businesses
- Office of the Australian Information Commissioner — cross-border handling of personal information
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission — unfair contract terms in standard-form contracts, including fair-use clauses
- business.gov.au — getting your business online
