CloudFront invalidation pricing: when it matters and how to estimate

Invalidations are part of operating a CDN, but their cost impact is often indirect: aggressive invalidation lowers cache hit rate and pushes more traffic to the origin (origin requests + origin egress).

What counts as "invalidation volume"

  • Batch count: how many invalidation requests you create per day/week (often tied to deploy frequency)
  • Paths per batch: explicit paths + wildcard paths
  • Blast radius: whether you invalidate popular objects or broad patterns (for example, /*)

Direct vs indirect costs

  • Direct: CloudFront charges for invalidation requests beyond included quotas (check current pricing for your account).
  • Indirect: reduced cache hit rate during deploy windows - more origin requests and origin egress.

If you invalidate frequently, the indirect cost (origin egress + origin load) can be larger than the direct invalidation line item.

A simple estimation workflow

  1. Count invalidation batches/month.
  2. Count paths invalidated per batch (wildcards included).
  3. Identify which invalidated paths are popular (those drive the hit rate drop).
  4. Convert hit rate drop into origin traffic using the hit rate model.

When invalidations are actually needed

  • HTML / app shell: you may need to invalidate a small set of routes after deploys.
  • User-generated content: if you must purge quickly, invalidate only that prefix (for example, a single path subtree).
  • Security issues: broad invalidations are sometimes justified, but treat them as an operational event and measure impact.

Safer patterns (avoid invalidations where possible)

  • Version static assets with content hashes so deployments never need to purge JS/CSS/images.
  • Use a TTL strategy: long TTL for hashed assets; shorter TTL for HTML.
  • Invalidate narrowly: purge only the specific HTML routes that changed (avoid /*).
  • Avoid cache fragmentation: keep cache keys stable (do not forward unnecessary query strings/cookies).
  • Prefer versioned URLs over purges: if you can change the URL, you rarely need to invalidate.

Validation checklist

  • Track hit rate before/after deploys to quantify real impact.
  • Track origin request and origin byte spikes during deploy windows.
  • Confirm your cache key policy so invalidations target the content you intend.
  • Confirm users see new content without requiring broad purges.

Related links

Cache hit rate CloudFront pricing Origin egress vs CDN bandwidth

Sources

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FAQ

Do invalidations usually dominate CDN cost?
Usually no. Bandwidth and request fees are often larger. But invalidations can become a real line item at scale, and they can indirectly increase cost by lowering cache hit rate.
What is the most common cause of high invalidation volume?
Frequent deployments that invalidate many paths repeatedly, especially broad wildcards like /*.
What's the safest way to reduce invalidations?
Use versioned asset URLs (content hashes) so old objects can expire naturally, and scope invalidations to the few paths that truly changed.
Last updated: 2026-01-27