API Gateway Cost Optimization: 10 Efficient Tips to Save Money
Written by Hyojung Yoon
Hello everyone! It's been a while since our last cost-related tips blog post.
Today, we're diving into Amazon API Gateway, a powerful tool that, if not managed properly, can lead to unexpected costs. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore 10 efficient usage tips and money-saving strategies for API Gateway.
Contents
What is API Gateway?
API Gateway is a service that manages communication between clients and backend services, acting as a server intermediary. It provides API creation, management, monitoring, and protection regardless of scale. This allows clients to communicate safely and efficiently with servers, essentially serving as a gateway for APIs.
Key Features
① Traffic Management
Amazon API Gateway can handle multiple client requests simultaneously, minimizing server load and ensuring stable service operation even during high traffic periods.
② CORS Support
Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) enables web applications to access resources across different domains. While browsers typically follow the Same-Origin Policy, API Gateway enables clients to call APIs from other domains.
③ Authentication and Authorization Management
API Gateway integrates with AWS IAM and Amazon Cognito to provide user-specific permission management and authentication, protecting data and blocking unauthorized access.
④ Response Caching
API Gateway's response caching feature can pre-store frequently requested data, reducing server load and improving response times. By using cached data, it optimizes performance and reduces costs by minimizing unnecessary requests to backend servers.
⑤ Monitoring and Logging
API Gateway integrates with AWS CloudWatch to monitor API performance in real-time and log request and response statuses. This allows for quick detection and response to performance issues or errors in the API.
Why Use API Gateway?
1. Easy and Quick API Creation and Deployment
REST, HTTP, and WebSocket APIs can be easily created and deployed without complex infrastructure setup, improving development productivity.
2. Strong Security Features
Integration with AWS IAM allows for detailed authentication and authorization management, preventing unauthorized access to APIs.
3. Integration with Serverless Architecture
API Gateway integrates seamlessly with serverless services like AWS Lambda, making it easy to build scalable serverless applications without worrying about server management.
4. API Usage and Cost Management
Through API keys, you can manage usage per client and set usage plans, preventing API abuse and unnecessary costs.
5. Real-time Performance Monitoring
API Gateway integrates with AWS CloudWatch, allowing real-time monitoring of API performance and usage. You can track metrics such as request count, latency, and error rates to quickly resolve performance issues and maintain service stability.
Understanding API Gateway Cost Structure
API Gateway costs are determined by the number of API calls, the volume of data transferred, and the use of additional features. Let's look at these three items in the table below.
By API type, HTTP API is the cheapest, REST API has moderate costs due to additional features, and WebSocket API is relatively more expensive as it supports real-time communication.
Data transfer fees are mostly free for transfers within the cloud, but outbound data transfers (to external networks) incur additional charges. Also, using additional features like caching and data transformation incurs extra charges based on usage.
Calculating Real Costs
Let's calculate the cost assuming 25 HTTP API calls per minute for a month (30 days), with each call uploading 4.5MB of data.
Total API Call Calculation:
Monthly total API calls = 25 calls/minute x 60 minutes/hour x 24 hours/day x 30 days/month = 1,080,000 calls/month
Request Number Calculation:
Each call's data is 4.5MB, calculated in 512KB units.
Requests = 4.5MB x 1024KB / 512KB = 9 requests, so each call is processed as 9 requests.
Monthly total requests = 1,080,000 calls x 9 requests/call = 9,720,000 requests/month
Cost Calculation:
As the total number of requests is less than 300 million, the first 300 million request tier applies.
Total cost = 9,720,000 requests ÷ 1,000,000 requests x $1.23 = $11.95
Therefore, the total number of requests from 1,080,000 API calls per month is 9,720,000 and the corresponding cost is $11.95.
10 Tips for Cost Savings
1. Develop a Caching Strategy
By caching frequently requested data in advance, you can reduce both server load and costs. Set cache expiration times to match data change cycles and maintain an appropriate cache size to increase efficiency.
2. Handle Request/Response Transformations in API Gateway Instead of Lambda
Simple request/response transformations can be handled using API Gateway's mapping templates instead of Lambda. This reduces the number of Lambda invocations, cutting costs.
3. Choose the Optimal Integration Type
AWS offers both REST API and HTTP API. HTTP API is cheaper and more economical when only basic features are needed. Use HTTP API for simple data retrieval or update operations.
4. Use Stage Variables and Environments
Using stage variables allows you to reuse the same API in development, test, and production environments. This separates environment-specific settings and reduces operational management costs.
https://${stageVariables.url}/resource5. Set Usage Plans
Setting usage plans to limit API call volume can prevent unnecessary costs. Control call volume by client to prevent service abuse and enable predictable cost management.
6. Integrate with CloudFront to Reduce Data Transfer Costs
Placing CloudFront in front of API Gateway can significantly reduce data transfer costs. Data transfer between API Gateway and CloudFront is free, making it advantageous for global traffic management.
7. Remove Unnecessary Steps
Removing unnecessary authentication steps or complex logic can speed up response times and reduce costs. Simplify excessive authentication procedures and reduce unnecessary backend calls to optimize API usage.
8. Optimize Logging Levels
Excessive CloudWatch logging can dramatically increase costs. Optimize log levels to record only necessary information, such as error logs or detailed logging only during development.
9. Regular Usage Monitoring and Analysis
Detect abnormal traffic patterns and analyze usage in real-time through CloudWatch monitoring to find opportunities for cost reduction.
10. Consider Dedicated API Gateway for Large-scale Traffic
For large-scale traffic, consider using a dedicated API Gateway instance. While the initial cost of a dedicated API Gateway is high, it can be economical in the long run.
Conclusion
Amazon API Gateway is a very flexible and powerful tool in the cloud environment. However, without proper optimization, unexpected costs may arise. Why not actively utilize the 10 optimization strategies introduced in this blog?
Strategies like caching, logging optimization, and integration with CloudFront provide substantial cost-saving effects. Achieve your goal of successful operations by understanding API usage through continuous monitoring and usage pattern analysis, and proceeding with optimization.
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