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What's the Difference Between AWS Direct Connect and AWS VPN?

Compare AWS Direct Connect and AWS VPN side by side — features, pricing, and ideal use cases to help you choose the right product.

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Comparisons
AWS Direct Connect
AWS VPN
Category

Networking, Hybrid connectivity

Networking, VPN

Description

Dedicated network connection to AWS

Encrypted network access to AWS resources

Best for
  • Hybrid cloud
  • Data migration
  • Real-time data feeds
  • Disaster recovery
  • Site-to-site connectivity
  • Remote access
  • Hybrid cloud
  • Branch office connectivity
Key features
  • Dedicated connections
  • Hosted connections
  • Link aggregation
  • MACsec encryption
  • SiteLink
  • Site-to-Site VPN
  • Client VPN
  • Accelerated VPN
  • CloudHub
  • Multi-tunnel support
Pricing model

Port hours + data transfer out

Pay per VPN connection hour + data transfer

Free tier

No

No

Expert take

“Direct Connect provides dedicated bandwidth that does not traverse the public internet, giving you consistent latency and throughput. Use a private VIF for VPC traffic and a transit VIF to reach multiple VPCs through Transit Gateway over a single connection.”
— Riku Kobayashi, re:Post Top Contributor [profile]

“Site-to-Site VPN creates encrypted tunnels between your network and AWS over the internet. It works as a quick-start option or as Direct Connect backup for redundancy.”
— Giovanni Lauria, re:Post Top Contributor [profile]

Product page

When to use AWS Direct Connect or AWS VPN

Use AWS Direct Connect when:

  • Hybrid cloud
  • Data migration
  • Real-time data feeds
  • Disaster recovery

Learn more about AWS Direct Connect »

Use AWS VPN when:

  • Site-to-site connectivity
  • Remote access
  • Hybrid cloud
  • Branch office connectivity

Learn more about AWS VPN »

AWS product comparisons

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