What an AWS migration costs: the line items, the drivers, and what MAP can offset.
There is no single number. A migration costs a one-time project (assessment, running two environments in parallel, data transfer out of your old provider, partner or team time, tooling, training and app changes) plus your new AWS bill. Labor and the parallel-running overlap usually dominate. MAP funding, filed by a partner when the migration qualifies, can offset part of the one-time cost.
- One-time cost has seven parts: assessment, dual-running (paying old and new environments at once), data transfer out of your current provider, partner or internal labor, tooling, training, and application changes. Labor and dual-running usually dominate. The AWS migration tools themselves are cheap or free.
- Strategy is the biggest dial. Rehosting (lift-and-shift) is cheapest and fastest. Refactoring costs the most up front but can give the lowest running cost. Most teams rehost or replatform the bulk and refactor selectively.
- MAP helps offset initial migration costs. Your matched AWS partner files it when the migration qualifies and AWS approves: typically $50K to $150K for startups. Depends on the workload; AWS approves. It is not unconditional, and small moves may not qualify.
IWhy "what does an AWS migration cost" has no single answer
Cost depends on estate size, strategy, how much you re-architect, and whether funding applies. The useful answer is a structure you can estimate.
When a vendor quotes one number, it hides assumptions: which of the 7 Rs it applies to each workload, how long you run both environments, whether it priced data transfer out of your current provider, and whether it assumed any AWS funding. Two quotes far apart often price two different projects.
A durable way to think about it: total cost = one-time project cost minus any approved funding, plus the new AWS run-rate. The seven line items below sit inside the one-time cost. Knowing which are fixed (labor, overlap) and which depend on the workload (cross-engine database moves, deep refactors) lets you challenge a quote line by line.
IIThe seven cost components of an AWS migration
Every migration statement of work, or your own internal tally, reduces to these buckets. Price them separately to see where the money goes.
1. Assessment and discovery
Inventory servers, databases, dependencies and data flows; choose a 7 Rs decision per workload; build a TCO model and a wave plan. Migration Evaluator builds a business case at no cost. The cost is mostly people time, yours or a partner's.
2. Dual-running
The overlap where you pay for the old environment and the new AWS one at the same time, because you replicate, run in parallel, validate, then decommission. It is the most underestimated line: every extra month is another full copy of your old bill. Continuous replication and decommissioning each source as soon as its wave is validated keep it short.
3. Data transfer out of your old provider
AWS does not charge for data coming in. The charge, if any, comes from the provider you leave. Both Google Cloud (exit program) and Azure (bandwidth page) offer free data transfer for customers leaving, under their own conditions, so check before you budget for it. For on-premises sources, the cost is your bandwidth and time.
4. Partner and labor
The people doing the work: a partner's migration team, contractors, or your engineers pulled off the roadmap. It covers the landing zone, the moves, database conversions, testing and cutover runbooks, and it is the largest line on most projects. It is also the main thing MAP funding is meant to help offset when a migration qualifies.
5. Migration tooling
Usually the smallest bucket. AWS Application Migration Service (now listed as AWS Transform MGN) has a free period per source server; you still pay for the replication resources and the EC2 and EBS you launch. AWS DMS bills for its replication instance. The Schema Conversion Tool is free. The hidden cost is the engineering time to run the tools.
6. Training and enablement
Getting your team productive on IAM, VPC networking, the managed services you land on, and monitoring. Skipping it is why some migrations succeed technically and then the bill creeps up: an untrained team over-provisions and never right-sizes.
7. Application changes
Almost none for a rehost, some for a replatform (swap self-managed databases for RDS or Aurora, containerise for ECS or EKS), a lot for a refactor (split a monolith, move to Lambda, adopt managed queues). This is the most variable line and the one that turns a cheap migration into an expensive one.
Labor: hours per wave times rates. Dual-running: your current monthly bill times the overlap months. Data transfer: GB times your provider's rate, minus any exit-program credit. App changes: only for workloads you will replatform or refactor. Price the AWS target with the AWS Pricing Calculator.
IIICost by strategy: from rehost to refactor
After size, strategy is the biggest lever and the one you control. The less you change, the cheaper and faster the move. The more you re-architect, the higher the one-time cost and the lower the possible running cost.
- Rehost (lift-and-shift): Cheapest and fastest. MGN replicates servers into EC2 and you cut over in a short window. Mostly labor and a short overlap. It stops the old bill soonest.
- Replatform: Swap a few parts for managed services on the way: self-managed PostgreSQL to RDS or Aurora, VM-hosted apps to containers on ECS, cron boxes to EventBridge and Lambda. More app change than rehost; immediate operational savings.
- Refactor: Re-architect onto cloud-native services. The highest one-time cost and the lowest possible running cost. Reserve it for workloads where the payback is real.
- Retire and repurchase: Every workload you turn off or replace with SaaS is migration cost you never pay. Discovery usually finds some.
Rehost to get off the old provider and stop the old bill. Replatform where a managed service removes toil for little extra effort. Refactor only where the savings or speed clearly beat the engineering cost. A blanket "refactor everything" plan is the most common way budgets balloon.
IVThe ongoing side: what you pay after the move
The one-time cost is half the picture. What justifies it is your running cost afterwards, and that only drops if you optimise.
AWS states on its MAP page that customers migrating legacy applications achieve an average of 31% infrastructure savings. Treat that as AWS's average, not a promise for your estate.
The levers: right-sizing (most estates are over-provisioned before the move), elasticity (autoscaling and serverless mean you pay for use, not peak), commitments (Savings Plans save up to 72% compared with On-Demand prices, per AWS), managed services replacing self-managed equivalents, and licence removal on moves like Oracle or SQL Server to Aurora PostgreSQL.
Two facts to plan around: AWS promotional credits do not pay Savings Plans or Reserved Instance upfront fees. AWS Cost Explorer forecasts spend up to 18 months ahead (monthly view).
The honest caveat: a lift-and-shift with no follow-up right-sizing can cost more in month one than the source, because you copied the over-provisioning. Plan the optimisation work into the project.
VWhat MAP funding can offset, and the conditions
The AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) is how AWS co-invests in larger migrations. It is filed by a partner, not by you.
Partner-filed funding: AWS says MAP helps offset initial migration costs, across its Assess, Mobilize and Migrate and Modernize phases. Your matched partner files it when the migration qualifies and AWS approves. For startups this is typically $50K to $150K. Depends on the workload; AWS approves. What it covers is agreed per engagement. MAP is built for migrations with meaningful ongoing AWS spend, so a small single-app move may not qualify; a good partner tells you before filing.
AWS Activate: separate from MAP, and you apply yourself. Activate Founders gives self-funded startups $1,000 to start, up to $5,000. Activate Portfolio gives up to $200,000 with the Org ID from your VC, accelerator or angel group, if it is an Activate Provider. A consulting partner cannot file Activate for you.
How CloudRoute is paid: startups pay CloudRoute $0. Partners pay CloudRoute a monthly membership plus 10% of AWS-approved funding.
| Funding | Who files it | Amount | When it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) | Your matched AWS partner | $50K to $150K for startups. Depends on the workload; AWS approves. | You are not on AWS yet and want to migrate. |
| Proof of concept (POC) funding | Your matched AWS partner | $50K to $150K for startups. Depends on the workload; AWS approves. | You want to test something, whether or not you are on AWS today. |
| Incremental workload (IW) funding | Your matched AWS partner | $50K to $150K for startups. Depends on the workload; AWS approves. | You are already on AWS and are launching new work: a new AI feature, a new customer or a new contract. |
| AWS Activate Founders | Founder applies | $1,000 to start, up to $5,000 | Self-funded startups with no investor or accelerator behind them. |
| AWS Activate Portfolio | Founder applies | up to $200,000 | Startups backed by a VC firm, accelerator or angel investor that is an AWS Activate Provider. |
| AWS Credits for AI Startups | Invite only (AWS account manager) | $200,000 or more, by invitation | AI startups ready to scale after Activate Portfolio, invited by AWS. |
VIA template for your own estimate
Fill this in with your numbers rather than trusting anyone's average.
| Line item | How to estimate it | What lowers it |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment | Days of discovery and planning times rates | Migration Evaluator; good existing inventory |
| Dual-running | Current monthly bill times overlap months | Continuous replication; tight waves |
| Data transfer out | GB times your provider's rate | Google or Azure exit programs; compression; moving less |
| Labor | Hours per wave times rates | Rehost first; a partner who has done it; MAP if it qualifies |
| Tooling | Replication instances and test resources | MGN free period; turning test resources off |
| Training | Team size times depth | Partner enablement in the engagement |
| App changes | Only for replatform or refactor workloads | Deferring refactors until after the move |
Self-funded vs partner-run with MAP (if it qualifies)
Strategy changes the gross cost. Who runs the project and whether MAP applies changes what you actually pay.
| Cost line | Self-funded, in-house | Partner-run, MAP filed (if it qualifies) |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment | Your team's time | Part of the MAP Assess phase |
| Labor | Full cost on your budget | The main cost MAP is meant to help offset |
| Dual-running | Full overlap | Shorter with an experienced team; still your bill |
| Data transfer out | Your provider's rate, or free via its exit program | Same |
| Tooling | Low | Low |
| Training | Your budget | Often part of the engagement |
| Who files funding | Nobody (MAP is partner-filed) | Your matched partner; typically $50K to $150K for startups when approved |
How a match works (example)
- You tell us about the work
You fill in a short form: what you run today, what you want to move, test or build, your stage and your region.
- We pick one partner
We read your answers and pick one vetted AWS consulting partner that fits the work, the stack and the region. We reply within 24 hours; your matched partner reaches out within 5 business days.
- The partner checks MAP funding
Your matched partner scopes the migration with you. Then it checks whether the move qualifies for MAP (Migration Acceleration Program) funding. MAP is for teams that are not on AWS yet.
- The partner files, AWS decides
If the work qualifies, the partner files the funding request with AWS. AWS reviews it and decides. The amount depends on the workload.
- You pay nothing
CloudRoute is free for startups. Partners pay CloudRoute a monthly membership plus 10% of AWS-approved funding.
AWS Activate credits are separate, and you apply for them yourself. Use Activate Founders if no investor backs you. Use Activate Portfolio with the Org ID or invite from your VC, accelerator, incubator or angel group if it is an Activate Provider. A consulting partner cannot apply for Activate on your behalf.
Common questions
How much does it cost to migrate to AWS?
What are the main cost components of an AWS migration?
Can MAP make my migration free?
Which migration strategy is cheapest?
Does it cost money to move data into AWS?
Will my AWS bill be lower after migrating?
What does CloudRoute cost me?
Find out what your migration really costs, and whether MAP applies
CloudRoute matches you with one vetted AWS partner who prices the migration, checks whether it qualifies for MAP, and files the funding when AWS approves. CloudRoute is free for startups.