AWS CloudFront is fast, reliable… and can get surprisingly expensive if you’re not careful. Whether you're running a small project, a SaaS, or a blog with global traffic, CloudFront pricing can spiral quickly without the right setup.
In this post, I’ll show you 5 practical tips you can apply today to optimize your CloudFront configuration and reduce your AWS bill — without sacrificing performance.
✅ Want the video version? Watch it on YouTube
1. 🌍 Use the Right Price Class
CloudFront lets you choose which edge locations to serve your content from, using Price Classes:
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Price Class 100: US, Canada, and Europe (cheapest)
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Price Class 200: Adds Asia and Africa
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Price Class All: Global (most expensive)
If your audience is mostly in the US or Europe, choose Price Class 100 to avoid paying for edge locations your users don’t need.
💡 Go to your CloudFront distribution → Settings → Edit → Price Class
2. ⏱️ Tune Your TTL (Time to Live)
TTL controls how long your content stays cached at edge locations. If it’s too short, CloudFront fetches from your origin too often — which costs you more.
Set sensible defaults:
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Minimum TTL: 1 hour
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Default TTL: 1–6 hours
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Max TTL: 24 hours (or more, for static assets)
This reduces origin requests and saves you bandwidth costs.
🔧 Tip: Review TTLs under Behaviors > Cache Policy
3. 🗜️ Enable Gzip and Brotli Compression
Serving smaller files = lower data transfer costs. CloudFront supports both gzip and brotli compression (brotli is newer and better for text-based assets like HTML, CSS, JS).
Make sure both are enabled in your cache policy:
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Brotli (for modern browsers)
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Gzip (for older browsers)
You’ll serve lighter files and users will love the faster loads too! 🚀
4. 🌐 Use Geographic Restrictions (Smartly)
If your content doesn’t need to be accessible worldwide, restrict access by country. For example:
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Block high-cost, low-value regions
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Allow only countries where your app or service is available
This saves money and reduces unwanted traffic or abuse (like scrapers).
🛑 Set up in: CloudFront > Restrictions > Geo Restrictions
5. 🧠 Review Behaviors for Extra Costs
Sometimes forgotten, the Behaviors section is where extra costs hide:
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🚨 Check if you’re using Lambda@Edge or Function URLs
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These add flexibility — but also cost per execution
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Also check for signed URLs or headers that require extra processing
Make sure each behavior is actually necessary. If not, simplify!
🔍 Tip: Clean up unused paths or legacy configurations
✅ Bonus: Watch the Video Version
If you prefer watching, I’ve recorded a full walkthrough on YouTube with examples and screens:
Final Thoughts
Saving money on AWS CloudFront isn’t about cutting corners — it’s about being strategic. These 5 pro tips help you serve your users faster and smarter, without wasting budget.
To recap:
- Use the right Price Class
- Optimize your TTL settings
- Enable gzip and brotli
- Set geo restrictions wisely
- Audit your Behaviors for hidden costs
🔁 Over to you:
Have you tried any of these tips? Got a trick of your own to save on AWS? Let me know on Twitter/X or leave a comment below.
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