AWS egress costs too high? We compare traffic allowances, overage charges and the current invoice before quantifying savings potential. Cloud exit assessment for a full move · Free initial consultation
Price basis: Hetzner values checked on 3 August 2026, net and excluding VAT. Hyperscaler plans, regions and exchange rates can change; validate every example against current calculators and the actual invoice before making a decision.
AWS is known for its hidden costs – and Data Transfer Out (DTO) is one of the biggest surprises on the monthly bill. In this article, we analyze the AWS egress pricing structure and compare it with Hetzner.
Table of Contents
- What Counts as AWS Egress?
- AWS Egress Pricing Structure
- Hetzner Traffic Comparison
- Calculation Examples
- How to Reduce AWS Egress?
- Conclusion
What Counts as AWS Egress?
AWS has various types of data transfer – here we focus on Public Internet Egress:
What counts:
- EC2 to Internet (user traffic)
- S3 to Internet (file downloads)
- RDS to Internet (API responses)
- CloudFront Origin Fetches (partially)
- Elastic Load Balancer to Internet
What does NOT count (here):
- Inter-Region Traffic (separate pricing)
- Cross-AZ Traffic (separate pricing)
- VPC Peering Traffic (separate pricing)
- AWS internal services
AWS Egress Pricing Structure
AWS offers 100 GB/month free – aggregated across all services and regions (except China/GovCloud).
Data Transfer Out to Internet (EU Region)
| Volume per Month | Price per GB |
|---|---|
| First 100 GB | Free |
| Up to 10 TB | $0.09 |
| 10 TB – 50 TB | $0.085 |
| 50 TB – 150 TB | $0.07 |
| 150 TB – 500 TB | $0.05 |
| From 500 TB | Individual |
Source: AWS EC2 Pricing - Data Transfer
Important Notes
- Tiered Pricing: Price tiers apply cumulatively – not per service
- Regional variations: Prices vary by region
- Switching providers: For a move off AWS, AWS waives egress charges on request via Support, with at least two months' advance notice (AWS EC2 FAQ). For EU customers, the EU Data Act has applied since 12 September 2025: until 12 January 2027, switching charges may at most cover direct costs, after that they are prohibited (Regulation (EU) 2023/2854). Ongoing egress in normal operation is not affected.
Hetzner Traffic Comparison
The AWS-Hetzner price comparison covers the full cost framework including compute, storage and operational tasks.
Hetzner Cloud Server (EU)
| Volume | Price |
|---|---|
| At least 20 TB included (EU locations) | €0 |
| Each additional TB | €1.00/TB net |
The Hetzner Principle
"We calculate monthly traffic only using outgoing traffic. We do not count incoming and internal traffic." – Hetzner Docs
Translated: At Hetzner, you only pay for outgoing traffic, and only after 20 TB.
Calculation Examples
Scenario 1: Small Web App (500 GB/month)
| Provider | Calculation | Cost/Month |
|---|---|---|
| AWS | 400 GB × $0.09 | $36 |
| Hetzner | Included | €0 |
Hetzner egress line item in this example: €0
Scenario 2: E-Commerce (5 TB/month)
| Provider | Calculation | Cost/Month |
|---|---|---|
| AWS | 100 GB free + 4,900 GB × $0.09 | $441 |
| Hetzner | Included | €0 |
Hetzner egress line item in this example: €0
Scenario 3: SaaS Platform (25 TB/month)
| Provider | Calculation | Cost/Month |
|---|---|---|
| AWS | 100 GB free + 9,900 GB × $0.09 + 15,000 GB × $0.085 | ~$2,170 |
| Hetzner | 5 TB overage × €1.00 | ~€5 |
Savings: 99.7%
Scenario 4: Video Streaming (100 TB/month)
| Provider | Calculation | Cost/Month |
|---|---|---|
| AWS | Tiered up to 100 TB | ~$7,810 |
| Hetzner | 80 TB overage × €1.00 | ~€80 |
Savings: 98.8%
How to Reduce AWS Egress?
If migration isn't (yet) possible, there are strategies to reduce egress:
1. Use CloudFront
CloudFront has cheaper egress rates than direct EC2/S3 access. Often useful for static assets.
2. Disable S3 Transfer Acceleration
If not needed – costs extra.
3. Enable Compression
gzip/brotli significantly reduces the amount of data transferred.
4. Optimize Caching
Browser caching, CDN caching, API response caching.
5. Regional Data Residency
Keep traffic within the same region where possible.
6. Migrate to Hetzner
For traffic-intensive workloads, the most effective solution.
When is Migration Worth It?
Migration to Hetzner is particularly worthwhile for:
- >1 TB egress/month: Savings become significant from here
- Predictable traffic: No burst peaks that exceed Hetzner limits
- EU-focused users: Latency to DE data centers acceptable
- No AWS-specific services: If primarily using EC2/RDS/S3
Still unsure which route fits? The orientation workshop sorts out your requirements and delivers a prioritised topic list with a recommendation per topic. From €1,490 excl. VAT, remote.
Conclusion
AWS egress costs are one of the biggest hidden cost drivers in the cloud. While AWS charges $0.09/GB, Hetzner offers 20 TB included and then €1.00 per TB net (€0.001 per GB).
For companies with significant outbound traffic, switching from AWS to Hetzner can materially change traffic costs in the stated scenario; total savings must be calculated from the current invoice.
Next Steps
We analyze your AWS bill and show you specifically how much you can save through migration.
Request a cloud exit assessment
Related Articles
- Public Internet Egress Costs: AWS vs Azure vs GCP vs Hetzner
- Compare cloud costs using actual invoices
- AWS to Hetzner Migration
Sources
- AWS Price List API: Data Transfer eu-central-1 (as of 16 Sep 2026)
- AWS EC2 On-Demand Pricing: Data Transfer
- AWS EC2 FAQ: Free data transfer out when moving out of AWS
- AWS News Blog: Free data transfer out to internet when moving out of AWS
- EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 (Data Act)
- Hetzner Docs: Cloud Billing FAQ
