AWS Interconnect - Considering the pricing for multicloud and Google Cloud Partner Cross-Cloud Interconnect for AWS

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On April 14, 2026, AWS Interconnect - multicloud became GA, with Google Cloud as the first partner, enabling direct connections between AWS and Google Cloud without colocation or VPN. The service overview and verification testing are covered in previous entries, so this entry will focus specifically on pricing, comparing it with traditional configurations to determine which pattern to choose. Please note that the benefits of AWS Interconnect - multicloud are stable performance and easy direct network connections between multiple clouds, so decisions shouldn't be based solely on pricing.

• AWS and Google Cloud direct connection AWS Interconnect - multicloud is now GA!
• AWS Interconnect is now generally available, with a new option to simplify last-mile connectivity
• Interconnect multicloud Pricing
• AWS Direct Connect Pricing
• Cloud Interconnect pricing
• Cloud Storage pricing

Prerequisites

Before discussing pricing, let's establish the assumptions for this entry.

• Regions: Communication between AWS us-west-2 (Oregon) and Google Cloud us-west1 (Oregon) (Japan is not currently supported)
  • This region pair falls under AWS Interconnect - multicloud Tier 1 (the lowest-priced tier)
• Monthly costs calculated based on 730 hours
• Bandwidth options: 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps
• Continuous data flow scenarios:
  • For 1 Gbps connections: Continuous flow of 100 Mbps / 500 Mbps
  • For 10 Gbps connections: Continuous flow of 1 Gbps / 5 Gbps
• Bulk transfer scenarios: Transferring 10 / 20 / 50 TB from Amazon S3 to Google Cloud Storage, and 10 / 20 / 50 TiB from Google Cloud Storage to Amazon S3 in single transfers

Note that AWS pricing is based on decimal gigabytes (GB, 1 GB = 10^9 bytes), while Google Cloud pricing is based on binary gibibytes (GiB, 1 GiB = 2^30 bytes). Therefore, in this entry, we'll calculate AWS side in GB/TB and Google Cloud side in GiB/TiB.

For comparison, we're including the connection pattern using AWS Direct Connect and Google Cloud's standard Cross-Cloud Interconnect. This pattern requires complex procedures including BGP configuration and self-managed redundancy.

Understanding the Pricing Structure

Let's organize the pricing for each service.

AWS Side Pricing

For data transferred from S3 over the internet, the following tiers apply (from Oregon, first 100 GB free):

Google Cloud Side Pricing

Partner Cross-Cloud Interconnect is clearly stated in official documentation as having only an hourly charge for the transport resource, with no data transfer fees for sending or receiving.

• Cloud Interconnect pricing - Partner Cross-Cloud Interconnect

In contrast, standard Cross-Cloud Interconnect and internet egress from GCS incur data transfer fees.

Key Points of the Pricing Structure

The key point to understand is that both AWS Interconnect - multicloud and Partner Cross-Cloud Interconnect for AWS do not charge per-GB data transfer fees.

This means that with the multicloud + Partner CCI combination, per-GB charges are zero in both directions, and the monthly fee is determined solely by bandwidth. This characteristic significantly impacts the price comparison that follows.

Monthly Data Transfer Conversion

Monthly transfer volumes calculated for 730 hours × 3,600 seconds = 2,628,000 seconds:

Pattern 1: AWS Interconnect - multicloud + Partner CCI for AWS

This is the newly GA configuration. The AWS side has only a fixed time-based charge with no per-GB data transfer fees, and the Google Cloud side's Partner Cross-Cloud Interconnect for AWS similarly has no data transfer fees (with built-in quadruple redundancy).

Fixed Fees (This is all you pay)

There are no per-GB charges in either direction, so the fee remains fixed regardless of how much data is transferred. This means the more you use of your bandwidth cap, the more cost-effective it becomes.

Pattern 2: AWS Direct Connect + Google Cloud Cross-Cloud Interconnect (Non-redundant)

This is the traditional configuration. Note that Google Cloud's Cross-Cloud Interconnect comes in only two options: 10 Gbps or 100 Gbps. For 1 Gbps direct connections, you must use Pattern 1 (Partner CCI).

Therefore, this pattern is calculated for 10 Gbps. Being non-redundant, the SLA-defined monthly uptime is 95% for AWS Direct Connect, while Google Cloud Cross-Cloud Interconnect is not covered.

Fixed Fees

Calculated as Bidirectional Total

AWS charges $0.02/GB and Google Cloud charges $0.02/GiB, so fees apply in both directions.

Pattern 3: Quadruple AWS Direct Connect + Cross-Cloud Interconnect (10 Gbps × 4)

This is the configuration prioritizing availability. It uses four AWS Direct Connects and four Google Cloud Cross-Cloud Interconnects to multiply physical locations, routers, and routes. The aggregated bandwidth is 40 Gbps, but we'll keep the same traffic assumptions for comparison purposes. With multiple site quadruple redundancy, the SLA-defined monthly uptime is 99.99% for both AWS Direct Connect and Google Cloud Cross-Cloud Interconnect.

Fixed Fees

Calculated as Bidirectional Total

AWS charges $0.02/GB and Google Cloud charges $0.02/GiB, so fees apply in both directions.

Built-in Quadruple Redundancy

Partner Cross-Cloud Interconnect for AWS has quadruple redundancy built into the service, eliminating the need for four separate contracts. The 10 Gbps Partner CCI costs $13,870.00/month, compared to $16,352.00/month for quadrupled Cross-Cloud Interconnect. On the AWS side, 10 Gbps multicloud costs $9,000.90/month, while quadrupled Direct Connect costs $6,570.00/month (DX is cheaper here). Looking at total connection fees, Pattern 1 ($22,870.90) and Pattern 3 ($23,214.00) are nearly identical, but Pattern 1 has zero data transfer fees, so its advantage grows with increased traffic. The combination of built-in redundancy and free data transfer in Partner CCI creates a very cost-effective package.

Pattern 4: Internet Transfer from Amazon S3 to Google Cloud

This is the bulk transfer scenario. Instead of continuous connection, we're calculating fees for transferring data from Oregon S3 buckets to Google Cloud via the internet. The first 100 GB is treated as free tier.

Pattern 5: Internet Transfer from Google Cloud Storage to AWS

This is the reverse bulk transfer. Google Cloud Storage Internet Egress uses Premium Tier tiered pricing, with rates in GiB. For this entry, we'll use transfer amounts of 10/20/50 TiB to match Google Cloud's units.

Comparison 1: Continuous Connection Patterns (Patterns 1/2/3)

Comparing Patterns 1-3 under the same scenarios (bidirectional totals):

If your required bandwidth is 1 Gbps or less, Pattern 1 with its 1 Gbps line is cheaper. For bandwidth needs greater than 1 Gbps, Pattern 1's fixed fee of $22,870.90 regardless of volume is the key point. At low traffic volumes, Pattern 2 is overwhelmingly advantageous, but as traffic increases, data transfer fees for Patterns 2/3 grow, expanding Pattern 1's advantage.

Break-even Point (Pattern 1 vs Pattern 2, 10 Gbps connection)

We need to find where Pattern 2's connection fee of $5,803.50 plus data transfer fees equals Pattern 1's $22,870.90.

Required transfer fee subtotal = $22,870.90 - $5,803.50 = $17,067.40
Bidirectional total transfer = $17,067.40 ÷ $0.02/GB ≈ 853,370 GB ≈ 853 TB/month
Continuous bandwidth equivalent = 853 TB × 8 bit ÷ (730h × 3,600s) ≈ 2.6 Gbps (bidirectional total)

Therefore, the pricing of Patterns 1 and 2 crosses at approximately 2.6 Gbps of continuous bidirectional communication. Beyond this point, Pattern 1 becomes the most economical.

Comparison 2: Continuous Connection vs Bulk Transfer (Patterns 1/4/5)

We'll compare fixed monthly Pattern 1 with pay-per-use Patterns 4/5 in terms of monthly transfer volume. Continuous connection assumes "maintaining a direct connection all month," while bulk transfer assumes "paying only for the volume transferred that month."

Comparison with Pattern 1 (1 Gbps connection, $3,555.10/month)

Break-even Point

• vs Pattern 4: Calculate volume at $0.085/GB (over 10 TB tier) that reaches $3,555.10
  • ($3,555.10 - $891.00) ÷ $0.085/GB + 10,000 GB ≈ 41,342 GB ≈ 41 TB/month
  • Equivalent to continuous bandwidth of approximately 125 Mbps
• vs Pattern 5: Calculate volume at $0.08/GiB (over 10 TiB tier) that reaches $3,555.10
  • ($3,555.10 - $1,136.64) ÷ $0.08/GiB + 10,240 GiB ≈ 40,470 GiB ≈ 40 TiB/month
  • Equivalent to continuous bandwidth of approximately 132 Mbps

If you're consistently transferring around 40 TB monthly, maintaining a constant 1 Gbps multicloud direct connection becomes more economical.

Comparison with Pattern 1 (10 Gbps connection, $22,870.90/month)

Break-even Point

• vs Pattern 4: Calculate volume at $0.05/GB (over 150 TB tier) that reaches $22,870.90
  • ($22,870.90 - $11,291.00) ÷ $0.05/GB + 150,000 GB ≈ 381,598 GB ≈ 382 TB/month
  • Equivalent to continuous bandwidth of approximately 1.16 Gbps
• vs Pattern 5: Calculate volume at $0.08/GiB (over 10 TiB tier) that reaches $22,870.90
  • ($22,870.90 - $1,136.64) ÷ $0.08/GiB + 10,240 GiB ≈ 281,915 GiB ≈ 275 TiB/month
  • Equivalent to continuous bandwidth of approximately 0.92 Gbps

10 Gbps multicloud direct connection gradually becomes advantageous starting from around 300 TB of monthly transfers, completely surpassing internet transfers near the 400 TB range.

Summary of Break-even Points

Let's summarize all the calculations in one table.

For small-scale continuous communication, direct multicloud connections become cheaper than internet transfers at around 100+ Mbps for 1 Gbps connections, or just under 1 Gbps for 10 Gbps connections.

Which Pattern Should You Choose?

The recommended pattern varies depending on your workload characteristics.

Large Volumes of Communication Between AWS and Google Cloud

For workloads with high communication volumes—such as continuously flowing S3 or RDS data to BigQuery, AI/ML inference and result write-backs, bidirectional data replication—Pattern 1 (multicloud + Partner CCI) is advantageous. Pattern 1 has no per-GB charges in either direction, so monthly costs remain fixed, and the gap with Patterns 2/3 widens as traffic increases.

Low Traffic and No Redundancy Needed

Conversely, for low traffic volumes, Pattern 2 is the most economical. For bidirectional total traffic equivalent to 1 Gbps, Pattern 2 costs $12,147.90/month versus Pattern 1's $22,870.90/month—the difference in connection fees cannot be offset by zero per-GB charges. The break-even point is around 2.6 Gbps bidirectional total, so Pattern 1 is preferable if monthly averages exceed this, while Pattern 2 is better below this threshold.

High Availability as Top Priority

When availability is the top priority, Pattern 1 or Pattern 3 are candidates. Partner CCI has quadruple redundancy built into the service, meeting requirements without additional connection contracts. Pattern 3 is chosen only when there are strong requirements for physical separation of Direct Connect locations or routers. Price-wise, Pattern 1 is slightly cheaper, and with less operational overhead from managing four physical ports and VLAN attachments, it should be the landing point in most cases.

Data Migration Acceptable Over Internet

For migrations under 50 TB, Patterns 4/5 (via internet) are straightforward, with no monthly connection maintenance costs.

However, for migrations exceeding 50 TB or spread over multiple transfers, short-term use of 10 Gbps multicloud + Partner CCI with time-based pricing is worth considering. For example, transferring 50 TB at 5 Gbps in one direction would take about 22 hours. AWS multicloud would cost $12.33 × 22h ≈ $271, Google Cloud Partner CCI would cost $19.00 × 22h ≈ $418, with no data transfer fees for either, totaling approximately $689. This is the same price whether transferring S3→GCS or GCS→S3. Sending 50 TB over the internet would cost $4,291 to $4,413, so this approach reduces costs to about one-sixth.

Conclusion

With the GA of AWS Interconnect - multicloud and the combination with Partner Cross-Cloud Interconnect for AWS, direct connections between AWS and Google Cloud now have a completely different pricing characteristic: "zero data transfer fees in both directions." While connection fees are not inexpensive, the structure where the more data you transfer, the lower your per-GB cost becomes is extremely attractive for workloads that exchange large volumes of data. If you have bidirectional communication exceeding 2.6 Gbps equivalent monthly, switching to Pattern 1 is well worth considering.

The calculations in this entry are theoretical values based on public information and pricing assumptions obtained by the author. When using these services, please confirm the latest pricing with AWS documentation or your account representative. Additionally, separate confirmation is required for Tier 2+ region pairs or bandwidths of 20 Gbps or more.

And please add support for Japanese regions!