AWS Route 53 Pricing Calculator & Complete Cost Guide
Interactive Amazon Route 53 pricing calculator. Calculate DNS hosting costs, query charges, and health check pricing with real-time estimates.
Pricing TLDR
- • $0.50/month per hosted zone (first 25 zones)
- • $0.40 per million DNS queries (first 1 billion)
- • $0.50/month per health check endpoint
- • Alias queries to AWS resources are FREE
Official pricing:
AWSAmazon Route 53 Pricing Calculator
Quick Examples:
Number of hosted zones
0
100+
First 25 zones: $0.50/month each • Additional zones: $0.10/month each
DNS queries per month (millions)
0
1,000M
DNS routing type
Advanced routing types cost 50-100% more than standard queries
Alias queries to AWS resources (millions/month)
Cost: $0.00 (FREE)
Alias records to CloudFront, ALB, S3, API Gateway are FREE (saves $40.00/month vs standard queries)
Health checks
AWS endpoint health checks
Non-AWS endpoint health checks
First 50 AWS endpoint checks FREE • AWS endpoints: $0.50/month • Non-AWS: $0.75/month
Enable Route 53 Resolver
Estimated Monthly Cost
$21.00
Hosted Zones (2)
$1.00
DNS Queries (50M)
$20.00
Alias Queries (100M)
FREE
About Amazon Route 53
What is Amazon Route 53?
Amazon Route 53 is AWS's highly available and scalable Domain Name System (DNS) web service and domain registrar. It reliably routes end users to internet applications by translating human-readable domain names into IP addresses, while providing health checking, traffic routing, and domain registration capabilities.
- DNS Hosting Service: Hosted zones manage DNS records for your domains with support for multiple routing policies including simple, weighted, latency-based, geolocation, geoproximity, and failover routing
- Domain Registration: Register and manage domain names directly through AWS with support for 300+ TLDs and automatic DNS configuration integration
- Health Checks & Monitoring: Monitor endpoint health and automatically route traffic away from unhealthy resources with configurable health checking intervals and failure thresholds
- Route 53 Resolver: Hybrid cloud DNS resolution for seamless queries between your VPCs and on-premises networks with inbound and outbound endpoints
- DNS Firewall: Protect VPCs from DNS-based threats by blocking queries to known malicious domains using AWS-managed or custom domain lists
When to Use Amazon Route 53
Route 53 is essential for any application requiring DNS services, from simple website hosting to complex multi-region architectures. It provides enterprise-grade reliability with 100% SLA and seamless integration with other AWS services.
Ideal for
- Hosting DNS for websites and web applications
- Multi-region failover and traffic distribution
- Global load balancing with latency-based routing
- Domain registration and management within AWS
- Hybrid cloud DNS resolution between AWS and on-premises
- Health checking and automatic failover for high availability
- Subdomain management for SaaS applications
- Private DNS for VPC resources
Not ideal for
- Extremely cost-sensitive projects (consider CloudFlare for free DNS)
- Applications requiring advanced DNS analytics (Route 53 has basic query logging)
- Scenarios where you need DNS management through existing domain registrar
- Projects requiring instant DNS propagation (standard TTL rules apply)
Amazon Route 53 Pricing Breakdown
Hosted Zones Pricing
Hosted zones are containers for DNS records for your domains. Route 53 offers volume discounts after the first 25 zones, making it cost-effective for organizations managing many domains.
First 25 Hosted Zones
$0.50/month each
Standard rate for small deployments
- Public or private hosted zones
- Unlimited DNS records per zone
- Automatic name server assignment
- Built-in DNSSEC signing support
- Query logging to CloudWatch Logs
- Health check integration
- All routing policy types supported
Additional Hosted Zones (26+)
$0.10/month each
80% discount for volume users
- Same features as first 25 zones
- Significant savings for enterprises
- Ideal for multi-tenant SaaS platforms
- Cost-effective subdomain management
DNS Query Pricing by Routing Type
Query pricing varies significantly by routing type. Standard queries are the most cost-effective, while advanced routing types like IP-based/CIDR cost 2x more but provide sophisticated traffic management capabilities.
Routing Type
Standard Routing
First 1B Queries/Month
$0.40
Over 1B Queries/Month
$0.20
Premium vs Standard
Baseline
Routing Type
Latency-Based Routing (LBR)
First 1B Queries/Month
$0.60
Over 1B Queries/Month
$0.30
Premium vs Standard
+50%
Routing Type
Geo DNS Routing
First 1B Queries/Month
$0.70
Over 1B Queries/Month
$0.35
Premium vs Standard
+75%
Routing Type
Geoproximity Routing
First 1B Queries/Month
$0.70
Over 1B Queries/Month
$0.35
Premium vs Standard
+75%
Routing Type
IP-Based/CIDR Routing
First 1B Queries/Month
$0.80
Over 1B Queries/Month
$0.40
Premium vs Standard
+100%
Routing Type
Alias to AWS Resources
First 1B Queries/Month
FREE
Over 1B Queries/Month
FREE
Premium vs Standard
Free unlimited
Alias records to CloudFront, ALB, NLB, S3, API Gateway, and other AWS resources are completely free with no query charges.
Free Tier Benefits
Route 53 offers strategic free tier benefits focused on AWS integrations and basic health monitoring. The most significant savings come from using Alias records for AWS resources.
- Unlimited Alias record queries to AWS resources (CloudFront, ALB, NLB, S3, API Gateway, VPC endpoints, Global Accelerator)
- First 50 AWS endpoint health checks per month
- First 1,000 CIDR blocks for IP-based routing
- No data transfer charges for DNS responses
- Free DNSSEC signing for hosted zones
- Automatic SSL/TLS certificate integration with ACM (certificates are free)
Health Check Pricing
Health checks monitor endpoint availability and automatically route traffic to healthy resources. AWS endpoint health checks have a generous free tier, while non-AWS endpoints cost more.
AWS Endpoint Health Checks
First 50 FREE monthly, then $0.50/month each. Monitor ELB, EC2 instances, and other AWS resources. Optional features (string matching, latency measurement) add $1.00/month per feature.
Non-AWS Endpoint Health Checks
No free tier - $0.75/month per endpoint. Monitor external websites, on-premises servers, and third-party services. Optional features add $2.00/month per feature (higher than AWS endpoints).
Health Check Frequency
Standard interval is 30 seconds. Fast interval (10 seconds) is available but increases effective cost by 3x (counts as 3 health checks). Most applications work well with standard intervals.
Optional Features
String matching verifies response content, latency measurement tracks performance, custom health checkers provide advanced monitoring. Each feature is priced separately per health check.
Route 53 Resolver Pricing
Route 53 Resolver enables DNS resolution between your VPCs and on-premises networks. Pricing is identical across all 36 AWS regions.
Resolver Endpoints
$0.125/hour per ENI. Each endpoint (inbound or outbound) requires minimum 2 ENIs for high availability across availability zones. Monthly cost: 2 ENIs × $0.125/hour × 730 hours = $182.50/month per endpoint.
Resolver Queries
First 1 billion queries: $0.40 per million. Over 1 billion: $0.20 per million. Same pricing structure as standard DNS queries, ensures predictable costs for hybrid cloud DNS.
When You Need Resolver
Required only for hybrid cloud scenarios with DNS resolution between AWS VPCs and on-premises networks. Not needed for standard AWS-only deployments or public DNS hosting.
Regional Uniformity
Unlike many AWS services, Resolver pricing is identical worldwide across all 36 commercial and GovCloud regions. No cost optimization benefit from region selection.
Hidden Costs & Gotchas
Important considerations that can impact your Route 53 costs beyond the basic pricing structure.
- Alias Records Only Free for AWS Targets: Alias records to CloudFront, ALB, S3 are FREE. Alias records to non-AWS resources are billed as standard DNS queries at $0.40/million. Verify your target is an AWS resource to get free queries.
- Health Check Optional Features Add Up Fast: Each optional feature (string matching, latency measurement, custom checkers) is priced separately. Non-AWS health check with 2 features: $0.75 + $2.00 + $2.00 = $4.75/month per endpoint.
- Resolver Endpoints Require Multiple ENIs: Each Resolver endpoint needs minimum 2 ENIs for high availability. What seems like '1 endpoint' is actually 2 × $0.125/hour × 730 hours = $182.50/month minimum.
- Traffic Flow Policy Records Are Extremely Expensive: $50/month per policy record. Unless you need complex multi-level routing policies, use standard routing policies in hosted zones (free, just pay for queries).
- Domain Registration Is Separate from DNS Hosting: Hosted zone pricing ($0.50/month) is separate from domain registration costs. You can use Route 53 DNS hosting with domains registered anywhere (AWS, GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.). For AWS domain registration pricing, see our AWS Domains calculator.
- Query Logging to CloudWatch Has Additional Costs: Query logging is free from Route 53 side, but CloudWatch Logs storage and data ingestion charges apply. Can add significant costs for high-query-volume domains.
Real-World Route 53 Pricing Examples
Developer Portfolio Site
$1.50/month
• 1 hosted zone ($0.50)
• 5M standard DNS queries ($2.00)
• 1 AWS health check (free tier)
• Alias to S3 static site (unlimited free)
• Perfect for: Portfolios, blogs, documentation sites
Personal website or indie project with minimal traffic and S3 static hosting
Global E-commerce Store
$85/month
• 1 hosted zone ($0.50)
• 150M geo routing queries ($105.00)
• 15 health checks for checkout/payment APIs ($0.00 - within free tier)
• 5 Alias records to CloudFront (unlimited free)
• Geo routing ensures users hit nearest regional storefront
Production online store with geographic routing for regional storefronts and payment API monitoring
Multi-Tenant SaaS Platform
$450/month
• 35 hosted zones - customer subdomains (25 × $0.50 + 10 × $0.10 = $13.50)
• 800M latency-based queries ($480.00)
• 40 AWS health checks (free tier)
• Alias to ALB for all tenants (unlimited free)
• Volume discount: Zones 26-35 cost 80% less ($0.10 vs $0.50)
B2B platform offering custom subdomains for each customer with volume zone discounts
11 Amazon Route 53 Cost Optimization Tips
Use Alias Records for All AWS Resources
Alias records to CloudFront, ALB, NLB, S3, API Gateway are completely FREE. This eliminates DNS query charges - a website with 100M monthly queries saves $40/month by using Alias instead of CNAME records.
Choose Standard Routing When Possible
Standard DNS queries cost $0.40/million vs $0.60-$0.80 for advanced routing types. Use latency-based or geo routing only when you need the specific capabilities - can save 50-100% on query costs.
Stay Within Free Health Check Tier
First 50 AWS endpoint health checks are FREE monthly. Monitor ALB/NLB instead of individual EC2 instances, and consolidate health checks where possible to stay under the free tier limit.
Avoid Traffic Flow Policy Records
Traffic Flow costs $50/month per policy record. For most use cases, standard routing policies in hosted zones provide the same functionality at just the query cost - saving $50/month per record.
Delete Unused Hosted Zones
Each hosted zone costs $0.50/month (first 25) even if unused. Audit your zones quarterly and delete test domains, deprecated projects, or consolidated zones to prevent waste.
Consolidate Zones After First 25
Additional zones cost only $0.10/month (80% discount). If you're at 24 zones, consolidating or cleaning up is valuable. Past 25 zones, the marginal cost is minimal.
Avoid Non-AWS Health Checks When Possible
Non-AWS health checks cost $0.75/month with no free tier vs $0.50 for AWS endpoints (50 free). When monitoring external endpoints, consider using CloudWatch synthetic monitoring as an alternative.
Optimize Resolver Endpoints for Hybrid Cloud
Each Resolver endpoint needs 2+ ENIs ($182.50/month minimum). Consolidate DNS resolution through fewer endpoints when possible, and use Route 53 Resolver Profiles to share endpoints across accounts.
Use Route 53 DNS with Any Domain Registrar
Route 53 DNS hosting ($0.50/month per zone) works with domains registered anywhere. You don't need to register domains through AWS to use Route 53 - just update your domain's nameservers to Route 53's assigned NS records.
Monitor Query Patterns for Volume Discounts
Over 1 billion queries/month, pricing drops 50% ($0.40 → $0.20 per million for standard queries). If you're close to this threshold, consolidating DNS traffic could trigger volume savings.
Monitor Route 53 Query Costs in Real-Time
Track DNS query volume across all hosted zones and routing types with CostGoat. Get instant alerts when query costs spike unexpectedly from traffic surges or when unused zones accumulate monthly charges.
Monitor Your AWS Costs in Real-Time
CostGoat is a privacy-first desktop app that tracks your actual AWS spending as you use it. Get instant visibility into your usage and never get surprised by your cloud bills again. 7-day free trial, then $9/month.
Start Free TrialAWS Route 53 Pricing FAQ
Common questions about Route 53 costs, DNS query pricing, and health checks
