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.

Maintained by CloudCostKit Editorial Team. Last updated: 2026-01-29. Editorial policy and methodology.

Best next steps

Use this calculator for the first estimate, then validate the answer with the closest guide or companion tool.

Guide: Glacier and Deep Archive pricing Guide: estimate retrieval volume Guide: retrieval time and tiers Guide: retrieval pricing per GB/request

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

Archive bills stay quiet until restore month

Glacier-style storage feels simple when you look only at the storage line, but archive costs are defined by the month when retrieval starts. A good estimate separates the quiet baseline from the months where restores, audits, or downstream processing wake the archive back up.

  • Quiet month: mostly storage GB-month with little or no retrieval.
  • Restore month: retrieval GB and request counts can quickly become the visible change.
  • Operational reality: archive pricing is less about daily traffic and more about exception handling.

What usually causes the surprise

The common failure mode is not underestimating stored GB. It is missing the retrieval workflow. Many small-object restores, investigative pulls, or compliance exports can create a retrieval pattern that looks nothing like a normal archive month.

  • Large restore jobs: retrieval GB grows suddenly after an incident or migration.
  • Many small objects: request fees become visible even when retrieved GB is modest.
  • Policy mistakes: restoring data early can also expose minimum-duration or early-deletion effects.

What to capture before you trust the archive estimate

  • Average stored GB-month for the archive tier, not total hot-storage footprint.
  • Expected retrieval GB for audit, restore, or reprocessing events.
  • Approximate request volume when restore jobs touch many objects rather than a few large archives.
  • Whether early deletion, transition, or downstream analysis should be modeled outside this calculator.

Quiet month vs restore month planning

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

Archive-specific review before sign-off

  • Keep restore events separate from the quiet-storage baseline so one incident does not distort every month.
  • Check whether retrieval requests, not just retrieved GB, could become material for many-small-object archives.
  • Add minimum-duration and early-deletion rules separately whenever your retention pattern is unstable.

Next steps

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

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. Reviewed against CloudCostKit methodology and current provider documentation. See the Editorial Policy .