# AWS PrivateLink Cloud service ยท AWS. Updated 2026-10-29. Page: https://blowstack.com/tools/cloud-services-hub/aws-privatelink > AWS PrivateLink is a networking service that allows AWS customers to securely access services across the Amazon Web Services (AWS) network in a private manner, without using public IPs or requiring the traffic to traverse the public internet. Practice exams covering AWS PrivateLink: [ANS-C01 AWS Certified Advanced Networking - Specialty](https://blowstack.com/practice-exams/aws-certified-advanced-networking-specialty), [AIF-C01 AWS Certified AI Practitioner](https://blowstack.com/practice-exams/aws-certified-ai-practitioner), [CLF-C02 AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner](https://blowstack.com/practice-exams/aws-certified-cloud-practitioner), [SOA-C03 AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer - Associate](https://blowstack.com/practice-exams/aws-certified-cloudops-engineer-associate), [DEA-C01 AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate](https://blowstack.com/practice-exams/aws-certified-data-engineer-associate), [AIP-C01 AWS Certified Generative AI Developer - Professional](https://blowstack.com/practice-exams/aws-certified-generative-ai-developer-professional), [MLA-C02 (beta) AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer - Associate](https://blowstack.com/practice-exams/aws-certified-machine-learning-engineer-associate), [SCS-C03 AWS Certified Security - Specialty](https://blowstack.com/practice-exams/aws-certified-security-specialty), [SAA-C03 AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate](https://blowstack.com/practice-exams/aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate), [SAP-C02 AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional](https://blowstack.com/practice-exams/aws-certified-solutions-architect-professional). ## 5 key features of AWS PrivateLink AWS PrivateLink provides secure, private connectivity between VPCs, AWS services, and on-premises applications, reduces network costs, simplifies network architecture, offers scalability and high availability, and supports service integration. 1. **Private Connectivity**: AWS PrivateLink provides private connectivity between VPCs, AWS services, and on-premises applications, securely on the AWS network. It eliminates the exposure of data to the public internet, enhancing security. 2. **Reduced Network Costs**: By keeping the traffic within the AWS network and not using the public internet, AWS PrivateLink helps in reducing network costs associated with data transfer. 3. **Simplified Network Architecture**: PrivateLink simplifies the network architecture by removing the need for IP whitelisting and maintaining access over the internet or through VPNs, making the management of access controls easier and more secure. 4. **Scalable and Highly Available**: AWS PrivateLink is designed for scalability and high availability, automatically scaling with the increase in traffic demands without requiring manual intervention. 5. **Service Integration**: It enables integration with AWS Marketplace supported services and AWS services, allowing users to privately access services hosted in other accounts or AWS Marketplace software in a secure manner. ## Where AWS PrivateLink is used AWS PrivateLink enables secure and private connectivity for accessing SaaS applications, inter-service communication, sharing data processing services, and hybrid cloud connectivity, without exposing data to the public Internet. 1. **Securely Access SaaS Applications**: AWS PrivateLink allows organizations to securely access third-party SaaS applications directly from their Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) without exposing their network to the public Internet, significantly reducing the risk of Internet-based attacks. 2. **Inter-Service Communication**: PrivateLink provides a private, secure way for services across different VPCs within the same or different AWS accounts to communicate with each other, ensuring data does not traverse the public internet, thereby enhancing security and performance. 3. **Sharing Data Processing Services**: Companies that offer data processing services can share their applications with multiple customers securely through AWS PrivateLink, ensuring customers' data is not exposed to the public Internet and is processed securely within the AWS network. 4. **Hybrid Cloud Connectivity**: AWS PrivateLink facilitates a secure and private connectivity path between AWS and on-premises environments, enabling hybrid cloud architectures without requiring the data to travel over the public Internet, thus maintaining a high degree of privacy and security. ## How AWS PrivateLink is priced AWS PrivateLink pricing includes data processed charges based on gigabytes transferred, hourly rates for endpoint services, and interface VPC endpoint usage. - **Data Processed Pricing**: Data processing charges apply per gigabyte processed through a VPC endpoint, regardless of the traffic's source or destination. - **Cross-Region Service Provider Pricing**: Service providers pay a fixed hourly charge per service for each active remote AWS Region, regardless of the number of connected VPC endpoints; partial hours are billed as full hours. - **Interface VPC Endpoint Pricing**: Interface VPC endpoints incur an hourly charge in each Availability Zone where they are provisioned, with each partial endpoint-hour billed as a full hour. - **Gateway Load Balancer Endpoint Pricing**: Gateway Load Balancer endpoints incur hourly charges in each Availability Zone where they are provisioned. - **Resource and Tunnel Endpoint Pricing**: Resource endpoints and tunnel endpoints have hourly endpoint charges. - **Cross-Region Data Transfer**: For cross-region connectivity, the interface endpoint owner pays AWS cross-region data transfer charges for each gigabyte transferred between Regions in either direction. ## Services AWS PrivateLink works with - **[Amazon VPC](https://blowstack.com/tools/cloud-services-hub/amazon-vpc)**: Allows you to privately access AWS services without traversing the public internet. - **[Amazon EC2](https://blowstack.com/tools/cloud-services-hub/amazon-ec2)**: Enables you to create private endpoints to your EC2 instances. - **[AWS Lambda](https://blowstack.com/tools/cloud-services-hub/aws-lambda)**: Allows you to access your Lambda functions via private endpoints. - **[Amazon S3](https://blowstack.com/tools/cloud-services-hub/amazon-s3)**: Enables private connectivity to your S3 buckets using interface endpoints. - **[Amazon RDS](https://blowstack.com/tools/cloud-services-hub/amazon-rds)**: Allows you to connect to RDS databases privately using interface endpoints. - **[Amazon DynamoDB](https://blowstack.com/tools/cloud-services-hub/amazon-dynamodb)**: Private access to DynamoDB tables uses gateway VPC endpoints, which are not powered by AWS PrivateLink. - **[Amazon Kinesis](https://blowstack.com/tools/cloud-services-hub/amazon-kinesis)**: Allows private access to your Kinesis streams. ## What is AWS PrivateLink AWS PrivateLink represents a sophisticated networking technology crafted to furnish private connectivity between AWS services, customer VPCs (Virtual Private Clouds), and on-premises networks, eliminating the need to expose traffic to the public internet. This innovative service aims to enhance the security and efficiency of network architecture by facilitating the private transmission of data, thereby significantly reducing the risks associated with data interception or exposure. The genesis of AWS PrivateLink is tied to the necessity for a more secure, scalable, and efficient method of accessing AWS services. Traditional models of accessing these services often required the data to traverse the public internet or to be routed via AWS Direct Connect through a public virtual interface to public AWS service endpoints; AWS Direct Connect traffic does not traverse the public internet. With the advent of AWS PrivateLink, AWS sought to obviate these pitfalls by offering a direct, private linkage between the user's VPC and the services they are utilizing. At its core, AWS PrivateLink works by creating private endpoints within the user's VPC, which serve as the entry and exit points for traffic between the VPC and the AWS service or application. PrivateLink supports several endpoint types: interface endpoints connect to AWS, AWS Partner, and supported AWS Marketplace services; Gateway Load Balancer endpoints connect to appliances; resource endpoints connect to resources such as RDS databases, domain names, and IP addresses in other VPCs and accounts; and service network endpoints connect to Amazon VPC Lattice service networks. Tunnel endpoints provide private access to CIDR ranges in another VPC. What makes PrivateLink particularly compelling is its ability to work not only with AWS services but also with third-party services hosted on AWS, as well as with applications running in other VPCs. This versatility makes it an indispensable tool for building scalable, secure, and highly available cloud architectures. Interface endpoints can also connect to supported VPC endpoint services in other AWS Regions. One of the standout features of AWS PrivateLink is its ability to help users streamline their network infrastructure. By keeping traffic private and off the public internet, it mitigates the complexity and overhead associated with managing public IP addresses and NAT devices. Moreover, it inherently enhances security by reducing the attack surface that is exposed to potential threats. Additionally, AWS PrivateLink offers a compelling value proposition for organizations looking to comply with strict regulatory requirements. For industries that handle sensitive data, such as healthcare and finance, the ability to ensure that data never traverses the public internet can be pivotal in meeting compliance obligations. In conclusion, AWS PrivateLink represents a paradigm shift in how connectivity between services and applications is managed within the AWS ecosystem. By offering a secure, efficient, and private path for data transmission, AWS PrivateLink not only elevates the security posture of cloud-based network architectures but also streamlines connectivity and fosters compliance with regulatory standards, ultimately enhancing the overall value proposition of cloud services for businesses and organizations of all sizes. ## Free AWS PrivateLink tools - [AWS VPC Connectivity Troubleshooter](https://blowstack.com/tools/aws-vpc-connectivity-troubleshooter): Find what a resource needs to reach the internet or AWS services, and fix VPC timeouts and errors. ## Concepts related to AWS PrivateLink - [Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR)](https://blowstack.com/tools/cloud-concepts-hub/classless-inter-domain-routing-(cidr)): Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) represents IP address ranges using an address and prefix length, enabling flexible subnet allocation and route aggregation without fixed address classes. - [Network Segmentation](https://blowstack.com/tools/cloud-concepts-hub/network-segmentation): Network segmentation divides a network into distinct zones and controls communication between them according to security requirements. - [Secure remote access](https://blowstack.com/tools/cloud-concepts-hub/secure-remote-access): Secure remote access enables authorized users, administrators, and remote networks to reach resources through authenticated, encrypted, and appropriately restricted connections. - [Subnetting](https://blowstack.com/tools/cloud-concepts-hub/subnetting): Subnetting divides an IP address block into smaller, non-overlapping networks to organize address allocation, routing, and connectivity boundaries. - [Trust Boundaries](https://blowstack.com/tools/cloud-concepts-hub/trust-boundaries): Trust boundaries are points where data, requests, or identities cross between environments with different security assumptions or levels of control. - [Zero Trust](https://blowstack.com/tools/cloud-concepts-hub/zero-trust): Zero Trust is a security model that grants resource access through explicit, context-aware verification rather than implicit trust in network location.