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AWS Elastic Load Balancing

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Spec score 9.0 #1 of 32 in Load Balancing Software

What it is

AWS Elastic Load Balancing distributes incoming application traffic across targets and virtual appliances in one or more Availability Zones. It offers Application, Network, Gateway, and Classic Load Balancers, scales request handling with traffic, and runs configurable health checks on targets. Application Load Balancers support HTTP header-based routing, redirects, fixed responses, HTTP/2, and gRPC. Network Load Balancers support static Elastic IP addresses and AWS PrivateLink for TCP and TLS listeners. The service also supports SSL/TLS termination, certificate management, and client certificate authentication. CloudWatch metrics and logging are available for all four types. A single load balancer can distribute traffic across AWS and on-premises resources. Kubernetes support includes direct-to-pod routing for Application Load Balancers and private EKS clusters for Application and Network Load Balancers. AWS recommends different types for HTTP, transport protocols, third-party virtual appliances, and EC2-Classic applications. Usage charges vary by region; data transfer and public IPv4 address charges may be additional. New AWS customers receive a free tier for six months after account creation, with usage limits and up to $200 in credits.

Spec sheet

What it does
Elastic Load Balancing distributes incoming traffic across EC2 instances, containers, IP addresses and virtual appliances in one or more Availability Zones, routing requests to healthy targets.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
Purpose
Elastic Load Balancing automatically distributes incoming application traffic across multiple targets and virtual appliances in one or more Availability Zones.Read 29 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Integrations
Documented integrations include EC2, EC2 Auto Scaling, ACM, CloudWatch, ECS, Global Accelerator, Route 53 and AWS WAF.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
Security
ELB supports SSL/TLS termination, certificate management, and client certificate authentication.Read 29 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Compliance
AWS directs customers to its compliance-program scope documentation to determine which compliance programs cover ELB.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
API and SDKs
ELB can be managed through the AWS console, AWS CLI, language-specific SDKs or low-level HTTPS Query APIs.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
API compatibility
Application Load Balancers require a different API set from Classic Load Balancers.Read 29 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Application routing
Application Load Balancers handle HTTP and HTTPS traffic and route requests according to request content.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
Automatic scaling
ELB automatically adjusts load-balancer capacity as incoming traffic changes.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
Availability and scaling
ELB automatically scales request handling capacity in response to application traffic and runs configurable health checks on targets.Read 29 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Company founding
Gartner lists Amazon Web Services as founded in 2006.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gartner.com
Company headquarters and size
Gartner lists AWS headquarters in Seattle, United States, with more than 10,001 employees.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gartner.com
Company legal name
Crunchbase identifies the maker's parent company legal name as Amazon.com, Inc.Read 15 Oct 2026 · crunchbase.com
Controller project status
The Kubernetes controller repository is public, has about 4.3k stars and 1.7k forks, and includes Helm, API, documentation and security files.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Documentation depth
AWS publishes user guides for ALB, NLB, GWLB and Classic Load Balancer plus CLI references and API references.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
Free tier
New AWS customers receive 750 shared monthly hours for Classic and Application Load Balancers, 15 GB Classic processing and 15 ALB LCUs; newer accounts can also receive up to $200 credits.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Gateway appliances
Gateway Load Balancers deploy, scale and manage virtual appliances such as firewalls.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
Health checks
Load balancers monitor registered-target health and send traffic only to targets that pass health checks.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
HTTP/2 and gRPC
ALB supports end-to-end HTTP/2 and gRPC targets, including gRPC health checks, content routing, metrics and TLS termination.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Hybrid use
ELB can load balance across AWS and on-premises resources using a single load balancer.Read 29 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Kubernetes
The features page lists Kubernetes Controller support, including direct-to-pod routing for Application Load Balancers and fully private EKS cluster support for Application and Network Load Balancers.Read 29 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Kubernetes extensibility
The open-source AWS Load Balancer Controller provisions ALBs for Kubernetes Ingress, NLBs for Services and ALBs or NLBs for Gateway resources.Read 15 Oct 2026 · github.com
Licence
ELB is a proprietary managed AWS service; AWS grants only a limited service-use intellectual-property licence during the agreement term.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com.cdn.amazon.com
Limit: complexity
G2 and Gartner reviewers report that listener, target-group, SSL and health-check configuration and troubleshooting can be difficult.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Limit: cost
Gartner reviewers describe ELB as expensive for smaller applications, while G2 notes that usage-based pricing can be confusing with unpredictable traffic.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gartner.com
Load-balancer types
The service provides Application, Network, Gateway and Classic Load Balancers.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Monitoring
AWS advertises real-time monitoring of application health and performance for bottleneck detection and SLA tracking.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Network isolation
Load balancers can be internet-facing or internal within a VPC, and targets can receive traffic through private IP addresses.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
Network Load Balancer
Network Load Balancer supports static Elastic IP addresses and AWS PrivateLink for TCP and TLS listeners.Read 29 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Network protocols
Network Load Balancers support TCP, UDP and TLS traffic for workloads requiring high performance.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
Notable outage
The Associated Press reported that an AWS outage on October 20, 2025 disrupted many internet services worldwide and recovered later that day.Read 15 Oct 2026 · apnews.com
Praise: ease and availability
Gartner reviewers repeatedly cite simple setup, easy traffic distribution, managed scaling, high availability and strong EC2/ECS/API Gateway integration.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gartner.com
Praise: integration and scale
G2 reviewers praise seamless AWS integration, automatic traffic distribution, health checks, scalability and reliability.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Pricing limits
Load balancer charges are usage based, and standard AWS data transfer and public IPv4 address charges may apply in addition.Read 29 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Rating on G2
4.5 out of 5 from 94 reviewsRead 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Rating on Gartner Peer Insights
4.3 out of 5 from 118 ratingsRead 15 Oct 2026 · gartner.com
Security features
The product supports SSL/TLS termination, certificate management and client-certificate authentication.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Security transport
ELB API clients must support TLS 1.2; AWS recommends TLS 1.3 and perfect-forward-secrecy cipher suites.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
SLA
AWS states that Classic, Application, and Network Load Balancers have a monthly availability guarantee of at least 99.99%.Read 29 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
SLA limitation
ELB service credits are the stated exclusive remedy for qualifying unavailability, require a support claim and are subject to exclusions such as customer misconfiguration and force majeure.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Use case guidance
AWS recommends Application Load Balancer for HTTP requests, Network Load Balancer for transport protocols and extreme performance or low latency, Gateway Load Balancer for third-party virtual appliances, and Classic Load Balancer for applications built in EC2-Classic.Read 29 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
WebSockets limitation
ALB supports WebSockets, but after an HTTP connection upgrade, listener routing rules and AWS WAF integrations no longer apply.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com

Plans and prices

AWS Free Tier Free New AWS customers receive 750 hours per month shared between Classic and Application Load Balancers, 15 GB data processing for Classic Load Balancers, and 15 LCUs for Application Load Balancers. Free plan available for 6 months after account creation; up to $200 in credits for new AWS customers signing up from July 15, 2025; credits must be used within 12 months Read 29 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Pay-as-you-go — Application Load Balancer Price not published Per hour or partial hour running, plus Load Balancer Capacity Units used per minute; rates vary by region. Additional charges may apply for data transfer and public IPv4 addresses Read 29 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Pay-as-you-go — Classic Load Balancer Price not published Per hour or partial hour running and for each GB of data transferred; rates vary by region. Additional charges may apply for data transfer and public IPv4 addresses Read 29 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Pay-as-you-go — Gateway Load Balancer Price not published Per hour or partial hour running, plus Gateway Load Balancer Capacity Units used per minute; rates vary by region. Gateway Load Balancer Endpoint is priced and billed separately; additional charges may apply for data transfer and public IPv4 addresses Read 29 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Pay-as-you-go — Network Load Balancer Price not published Per hour or partial hour running, plus Network Load Balancer Capacity Units used per minute; rates vary by region. Additional charges may apply for data transfer and public IPv4 addresses Read 29 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com

Every AWS Elastic Load Balancing plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Four load balancer types
  • Scales capacity and checks target health
  • CloudWatch metrics and logging for all types
  • Can route across AWS and on-premises resources
  • Free tier for new AWS customers

Limits

  • Charges are usage based and vary by region
  • Data transfer and public IPv4 charges may be additional
  • Free tier is limited to six months
  • Application and Classic Load Balancers use different APIs

Who it suits

ELB suits teams distributing application traffic across targets in AWS or on-premises environments. The four types address different workloads, including HTTP, transport protocols, and third-party virtual appliances.

Verdict

ELB offers several traffic distribution options, with health checks, monitoring, and hybrid routing. Estimate usage and possible additional charges, and check API compatibility when selecting a load balancer type.

Where Specifiction places it

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