AWS S3 Glacier / Deep Archive Cost Calculator

Estimate archival storage costs with a simple model: storage (GB-month) plus retrieval (GB and requests). Compare baseline vs peak retrieval with your pricing.

Inputs

Stored data (GB-month)
Average stored GB over the month (~9.77 TB-month).
Storage price ($ / GB-month)
Use your effective Glacier/Deep Archive storage price.
Retrieval volume (GB/month)
~16.45 GB/day, 1.52 Mbps.
Retrieval volume (GB/day)
Use average daily restores.
Retrieval price ($ / GB)
Varies by retrieval tier and storage class.
Retrieval requests (per month)
Avg 0.76 req/sec.
Retrieval requests (per day)
Requests per GB retrieved
Small objects push this higher.
Est 100,000 requests/month.
Est 456 GB and 1,824,000 requests/month.
Retrieval requests price ($ / 1000)
~$50.00 per 1M requests.
Scenario presets
Excludes minimum storage duration fees, early deletion fees, and data transfer out to the internet.

Results

Estimated monthly total
$145.00
Storage
$40.00
Retrieval (GB)
$5.00
Retrieval (requests)
$100.00
Stored (GB-month)
10,000
Retrieved (GB/month)
500

How to get your inputs

  • Inputs: use billing exports, metrics, or logs to get real counts/GB where possible.
  • Units: convert throughput (Mbps) or rates (RPS) into monthly units when needed.
  • Scenarios: build a baseline and a high-usage scenario to avoid under-budgeting.

Result interpretation

  • Storage is steady; retrieval volume and request counts drive spikes.
  • Many small object restores can make request charges material.

Common mistakes

  • Using a single average and ignoring peak/incident scenarios.
  • Double-counting or missing adjacent line items (transfer, logs, retries).

Scenario planning

Scenario Stored GB Retrieval GB Requests
Baseline Average Low Low
Peak Same High High

Validate after changes

  • Compare your estimate to the first real bill and adjust assumptions.
  • Track the primary driver metric (requests/GB/count) over time.

Next steps

Guides All calculators Guide: Glacier and Deep Archive pricing Guide: estimate retrieval volume Guide: reduce archive costs S3 cost calculator
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Example scenario

  • 10,000 GB-month stored at $0.004/GB-month with 500 GB/month retrieval at $0.01/GB and 2M retrieval requests at $0.05 per 1k.
  • Peak 200% scenario highlights restore-heavy months.

Included

  • Storage baseline from GB-month and $/GB-month.
  • Retrieval data volume from GB/month and $/GB.
  • Retrieval request charges from requests/month and $ per 1,000 requests.
  • Optional daily retrieval and requests-per-GB estimators.
  • Baseline vs peak scenario table for retrieval spikes.

Not included

  • Minimum storage duration and early deletion fees (model separately if relevant).
  • Internet egress and downstream analysis costs (Athena, SIEM, etc.).

How we calculate

  • Storage cost = stored GB-month x $ per GB-month.
  • Retrieval GB cost = retrieval GB/month x $ per GB.
  • Retrieval request cost = (requests/month / 1,000) x $ per 1,000 requests.
  • Total = storage + retrieval GB + retrieval requests.

FAQ

What is GB-month for archival storage?
GB-month is the average stored gigabytes over a month. If you store 10,000 GB for the full month, that is 10,000 GB-month.
Why is retrieval cost hard to estimate?
Retrieval pricing varies by storage class and retrieval tier, and your cost depends on how often you read back data and how many objects you retrieve (requests).
What causes unexpected Glacier/Deep Archive bills?
Frequent restores, large retrieval volume, many small-object retrieval requests, and early deletion fees due to minimum storage duration rules.

Related tools

Guide: Glacier and Deep Archive pricing Guide: estimate retrieval volume Guide: retrieval time and tiers Guide: retrieval pricing per GB/request Guide: S3 to Glacier transfer cost Guide: reduce archive costs S3 cost calculator

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Disclaimer

Educational use only. Not legal, financial, or professional advice. Results are estimates based on the inputs and assumptions shown on this page. Verify pricing and limits with your providers and documentation.

Last updated: 2026-01-29