Cloud & Infrastructure Practical By Samson Tanimawo, PhD Published Apr 3, 2026 4 min read

PrivateLink vs Public Endpoints: When Each Wins

Public endpoints are simple; PrivateLink is private. The decision rule and the cost difference.

When public wins

Public APIs. CDN-fronted content.

Cost: zero. Simplicity: high.

Customer data flows. Internal services accessed via VPC.

Compliance: PrivateLink keeps traffic on the AWS backbone.

PrivateLink: per-endpoint hourly + per-GB processing.

Public: free. PrivateLink for sensitive flows; public for everything else.