Backup and snapshot costs explained: retention, growth, and transfer

Backup bills grow quietly. The stable model is: change rate + retention + copy strategy. This hub links snapshot and backup estimation workflows so retention policies are explicit and measurable.

1) Retention policy (daily/weekly/monthly)

Write the policy down: how many daily, weekly, and monthly backups.
Validate compliance vs practical troubleshooting needs.

2) Storage growth (GB-month)

Estimate protected data size and daily change/churn rate.
Convert retention into stored GB-month over time.
Tool: snapshot cost calculator

3) Copies and transfer

Cross-region copies duplicate storage and can add transfer charges.
Restore testing and DR drills add read/restore costs depending on provider.
Tools: cross-region transfer, egress

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Related calculators

Data Egress Cost Calculator

Estimate monthly egress spend from GB transferred and $/GB pricing.

API Response Size Transfer Calculator

Estimate monthly transfer from request volume and average response size.

VPC Data Transfer Cost Calculator

Estimate data transfer spend from GB/month and $/GB assumptions.

Cross-region Transfer Cost Calculator

Estimate monthly cross-region transfer cost from GB transferred and $/GB pricing.

FAQ

What usually drives backup cost?

Retention and growth. In steady state, stored backup size is roughly daily change rate times retention days (plus baseline). Cross-region copies and restore/testing workflows add extra storage and transfer.

How do I estimate quickly?

Estimate your protected data size, daily change rate, and retention policy (daily/weekly/monthly). Then model GB-month and add cross-region copies if enabled.

What breaks estimates?

Long retention, high churn workloads, and forgetting cross-region backup copies or egress/transfer for restores and replication.

Last updated: 2026-01-22