AWS Snowball Edge is a physical data transfer service: AWS ships a hardened storage device to the customer, the customer copies data to it, ships it back to AWS, and AWS ingests the data into S3. The service exists because the physics of moving large datasets over the public internet is unfavourable; at scale, shipping a hard drive is faster and cheaper than transferring over the network. This page is the 2026 cost reference for Snowball Edge and the decision rules for when to use it.
As of May 2026, AWS Snowball Edge has two primary device variants. The Storage Optimized device prioritises storage capacity (80 TB usable). The Compute Optimized device includes onboard EC2-compatible compute for edge processing (52 TB usable plus compute capacity). Both devices are ruggedised for shipping, encrypted by default, and chain-of-custody tracked from order to ingest.
AWS Snowball Edge devices (May 2026)
| Device | Storage capacity | Service fee (10-day standard) | Daily extension | Shipping (round-trip) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snowball Edge Storage Optimized | 80 TB usable | $300 | $30/day | $60 to $200 typical US |
| Snowball Edge Storage Optimized 210 | 210 TB usable | $450 | $50/day | $80 to $250 typical US |
| Snowball Edge Compute Optimized | 52 TB usable + compute | $400 | $40/day | $60 to $200 typical US |
| Snowball Edge Compute Optimized GPU | 42 TB usable + GPU | $700 | $70/day | $80 to $250 typical US |
The current pricing is on the public AWS Snowball pricing page. Rates vary slightly by region. The standard 10-day window includes the device service fee and covers the time from when the device arrives at the customer location to when it ships back to AWS. Extensions are billed per day. Data ingest into S3 is free; only the device service fee plus shipping applies.
The decision between Snowball Edge and internet transfer depends on three variables: the dataset size, the available bandwidth, and the source-side egress charge. For AWS-source datasets the source egress charge is the AWS Data Transfer Out rate (which is paid even for internet egress). For non-AWS-source datasets (on-premise, other cloud) the source egress charge is the source provider's outbound rate.
Snowball Edge vs internet egress, decision matrix
| Dataset size | Available bandwidth | Best option | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 TB | Any | Internet transfer | Snowball overhead not justified |
| 1 to 5 TB | 100 Mbps+ | Internet transfer | Snowball overhead not justified |
| 5 to 20 TB | 1 Gbps+ | Either | Roughly cost-neutral; choose on operational preference |
| 5 to 20 TB | Under 1 Gbps | Snowball Edge | Internet transfer too slow |
| 20 to 80 TB | Any | Snowball Edge | Almost always cheaper and faster |
| 80 to 250 TB | Any | Snowball Edge 210 or multiple devices | Single device fits |
| 250 TB to 1 PB | Any | Multiple Snowball Edge devices | Snowmobile retired |
| Over 1 PB | Any | Multiple Snowball Edge + Direct Connect | Combination approach |
A representative break-even analysis for a 50 TB transfer from an on-premise data centre to AWS S3. The on-premise side has a 1 Gbps internet connection shared with other production traffic; sustainable transfer rate for the migration is approximately 400 Mbps. The on-premise provider charges $0.05 per GB for outbound internet egress.
Worked break-even, 50 TB from on-premise to AWS S3
| Approach | Time to complete | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Internet transfer at 400 Mbps sustained | 12 days transfer + 1 day overhead | $2,560 (50 TB at $0.05/GB egress) |
| Snowball Edge Storage Optimized (single device) | 16 days total elapsed | $540 (service + 4-day extension) + $180 shipping = $720 |
| DataSync over internet at 400 Mbps | 12 days transfer + agent setup | $2,560 egress + $625 DataSync ($0.0125/GB) = $3,185 |
Snowball Edge wins on cost by roughly $1,800 in this scenario. The trade-off is the slightly longer elapsed time (16 days versus 13 days) and the operational overhead of receiving, copying to, and shipping back the device. For migrations on flexible timelines, Snowball Edge is typically the right choice above 10 to 20 TB.
The Snowball Edge cost advantage
AWS Snowmobile, the 100 PB shipping container service introduced in 2016, was officially retired in early 2024. The service had handled extremely large data transfers (multi-petabyte enterprise data lake migrations primarily). Utilisation was low; only a handful of customers used Snowmobile each year. AWS retired the service in favour of the multi-Snowball pattern combined with Direct Connect for ongoing replication.
For petabyte-scale transfers in 2026, the recommended pattern: order multiple Snowball Edge 210 devices (210 TB usable each) in parallel waves, run them in sequence to maintain ongoing customer-side IO, and use AWS Direct Connect for any incremental delta or ongoing replication after the bulk seed. A 1 PB transfer typically uses 5 to 8 Snowball Edge 210 devices in 2 to 3 waves, completing in 4 to 8 weeks of elapsed time at a total device cost of $3,000 to $6,000.
Snowball Edge supports both import (data into AWS) and export (data out of AWS to a customer location). The export use case is most common in cross-cloud transfers where the customer is moving from AWS to Azure or GCP. The export device is ordered, AWS copies the data to the device, ships it to the customer, the customer ingests into the destination cloud (typically using Azure Data Box or Google Transfer Appliance), and ships back.
The combined Snowball Edge Export plus destination-cloud device pattern is typically the cheapest path for cross-cloud transfers above 100 TB. The per-TB cost typically lands at $40 to $60, compared with $70 to $90 per TB for direct internet egress at AWS DTO rates.
AWS DataSync is the online data transfer service that complements Snowball Edge. The common pattern: Snowball Edge for the initial bulk seed (when the dataset is large and time is not critical), DataSync for ongoing incremental replication during the migration and cutover (when the dataset is small per increment and time-sensitive).
DataSync pricing is $0.0125 per GB transferred, with no separate compute charge. For a 5 TB incremental transfer per week during a 12-week migration cutover, the DataSync cost lands at approximately $750. The combined bulk-plus-incremental pattern typically uses Snowball for 80 to 95 percent of the data and DataSync for the remaining 5 to 20 percent that accumulates during the migration window.
AWS Snowball Edge is one of the most cost-effective tools in the AWS migration toolkit. At scale (above 20 TB datasets, especially on bandwidth-constrained source networks) Snowball almost always wins on cost versus internet egress, often by 60 to 80 percent. The retirement of Snowmobile has not meaningfully changed the petabyte-scale story because multi-Snowball patterns combined with Direct Connect cover the same use case at similar economics. For most AWS migrations above 20 TB, Snowball Edge is the right default.
A. Snowball Edge Storage Optimized (80 TB usable) costs roughly $300 for the standard 10-day rental, plus $30 per day after that, plus shipping. Snowball Edge Compute Optimized (52 TB usable, with onboard compute) costs roughly $400 for 10 days plus $40 per day extension. For an 80 TB transfer completing in 14 days, the total Snowball cost lands at approximately $480 plus shipping. The data ingest into AWS is free.
A. Snowball typically beats internet egress for datasets above 10 to 20 TB on a slow connection, or above 50 TB on a fast connection. The break-even is a function of available bandwidth and the source-side egress charge. For a 100 TB transfer on a 1 Gbps shared connection that can only sustain 400 Mbps for the migration, internet transfer takes weeks and costs the source-side egress (typically $5K to $9K for non-AWS sources, free for AWS source if Direct Connect). Snowball completes in roughly 10 days at total cost of $480 plus shipping, often a 60 to 80 percent saving.
A. Yes. AWS officially retired Snowmobile in early 2024. Snowmobile was the 100 PB shipping container service for extremely large data transfers. For petabyte-scale transfers, AWS now recommends multiple Snowball Edge devices in parallel, plus DataSync for ongoing replication. The retirement was driven by low utilisation and the increasing capability of multi-Snowball patterns combined with high-bandwidth Direct Connect.
A. Snowball Edge Export can be used to ship data out of AWS to a customer location. The destination cloud-side ingest then uses a separate device (Azure Data Box for Azure, Transfer Appliance for GCP, customer-side internet ingest for other targets). The combined export-import pattern is typically the cheapest path for cross-cloud transfers above 100 TB. The per-TB cost lands at $40 to $60, compared with $70 to $90 per TB for direct internet egress at scale.
A. The end-to-end Snowball Edge cycle: AWS ships the device (3 to 7 days transit), customer copies data to the device (1 to 5 days depending on data volume and source IO), customer ships the device back to AWS (3 to 7 days transit), AWS ingests the data into S3 (1 to 3 days). Total elapsed time for a typical 80 TB transfer is 12 to 22 days. For comparison, the same 80 TB at 400 Mbps sustained over the public internet would take roughly 18 days of pure transfer time, plus the source-side egress cost.
A. Yes. All Snowball Edge devices use 256-bit encryption with keys managed by AWS Key Management Service (KMS). The encryption is enabled by default and cannot be disabled. Tamper-evident enclosures, Trusted Platform Module (TPM), and chain-of-custody tracking all combine to meet most regulatory requirements for in-transit data protection. Snowball Edge is FedRAMP authorised and HIPAA-eligible.
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Updated 2 May 2026