AWS Route 53 + S3 Redirects vs RedirHub (2026): Pricing, HTTPS & Best Fit
AWS (Route 53 + S3, often with CloudFront) suits teams already on that stack. RedirHub fits when marketing, SEO or IT need to manage redirects as ongoing operational work.
We build RedirHub. We point out where AWS Route 53 + S3 Redirects is the better buy, and how to check against your own setup.
The short answer
Choose RedirHub if
- Marketing, SEO or IT regularly manages old URLs and domains
- You want redirect creation, automatic HTTPS, bulk management and analytics in one place
- You manage migrations with many source-to-destination mappings
- You also want branded links and dynamic QR destinations on your owned domains
Choose AWS Route 53 + S3 Redirects if
- Your domains already live in AWS
- A DevOps or engineering team owns the configuration and the redirects are relatively stable
- You want to keep the solution inside your cloud stack
- Minimizing direct infrastructure cost matters more than giving non-DevOps teams a dedicated redirect workspace
Decide by the job you have#
You already use Route 53 and need a stable www-to-root or old-domain redirect
S3 website redirects are a native AWS pattern, and Route 53 can point an alias record at the website endpoint.
Your DevOps team wants the redirect to remain part of the AWS stack
You avoid adding another operating surface and can keep ownership with the infrastructure team.
You are migrating hundreds of URLs whose destinations do not all follow the same pattern
S3 supports routing rules and object-level redirects, but website configurations are limited to 50 routing rules. RedirHub offers bulk redirect management in a dedicated workspace.
SEO, marketing or IT regularly changes destinations and reviews redirect traffic
Redirect creation, bulk management, automatic HTTPS and redirect analytics are first-class product workflows.
You manage retired domains plus branded links and QR destinations
Domains, redirects, branded links and dynamic QR destinations can live in the same system.
First, Route 53 is not the redirect engine#
A lot of “Route 53 redirect” tutorials compress several AWS services into one phrase. AWS's own documentation is more precise.
Route 53 can create an Alias record that points a domain at an S3 website endpoint. The DNS request reaches the right AWS endpoint, but S3 is the service that returns the HTTP redirect. AWS documents the Route 53-to-S3 website pattern here[1].
That distinction matters because an S3 website endpoint has its own behavior and constraints. AWS says S3 website endpoints do not support HTTPS directly.[2] If you want visitors to use HTTPS on a custom domain while keeping S3 website redirect behavior, CloudFront can use the S3 website endpoint as a custom origin.[3]
So a more accurate mental model is:
Mental model
Route 53 for DNS → S3 website endpoint for redirect behavior → CloudFront when you need an HTTPS-facing distribution.
Our call
If your team already understands and operates this stack, AWS is not a workaround.
It is a valid infrastructure-native redirect architecture.
What S3 can actually do with redirects#
S3 gives you more than a single “send this domain somewhere else” switch.
Whole-bucket redirect: You can redirect all requests for a website endpoint to another bucket or domain. This works well for straightforward hostname consolidation, such as moving traffic from one domain to another.
Routing rules: S3 website configurations can match object-key prefixes or HTTP error conditions, then change the destination hostname, protocol, key or HTTP redirect code. AWS limits these routing rules to 50 per website configuration.[4]
Object-level redirects: For more granular mappings, an object's website redirect metadata can point that object to another key or external URL. AWS documents that the website endpoint interprets this object-level redirect as an HTTP 301. This is also AWS's documented route when you need more than 50 website routing rules.
So AWS can handle page-level redirects, not just DNS routing.
The trade-off is the operating model. A redirect may live as website configuration, object metadata, DNS, CloudFront configuration and logs rather than as one redirect record in a purpose-built redirect workspace.
When AWS is the better fit#
You already operate everything in AWS#
If Route 53 is already authoritative for the domain and your engineering team is comfortable with S3 and CloudFront, adding a redirect there may be the simplest decision.
You are not introducing another vendor, another dashboard or another access-control surface. For a redirect that will be configured once and rarely revisited, that can be exactly what you want.
Direct infrastructure cost matters more than workflow#
Route 53's published hosted-zone price is $0.50 per hosted zone per month for the first 25 hosted zones, then $0.10 for additional hosted zones.[5] AWS also says Alias A/AAAA queries to S3 website endpoints and CloudFront distributions do not incur an additional Route 53 DNS query charge.
That means 20 separately hosted domains would be $10/month in Route 53 hosted-zone charges alone, before any S3 or CloudFront charges. For a technically simple setup, AWS's raw infrastructure bill can be lower than a dedicated redirect SaaS.
If you add CloudFront, do not assume there is one universal “AWS redirect price.” CloudFront has both pay-as-you-go pricing and flat-rate plans. AWS currently lists flat-rate Free at $0/month, Pro at $15/month, Business at $200/month and Premium from $1,000/month per distribution, with different included usage and services.[6]
Our call
RedirHub is not automatically cheaper than AWS.
The reason to choose it is less redirect-management work for the teams who own the URLs and domains.
When RedirHub is the better fit#
The difference becomes clearer when redirects are not just infrastructure that engineers configure once.
Imagine an SEO team after a migration. They need to find an old URL, confirm where it points, check whether it still receives traffic, change the destination when content moves again, and repeat that work across multiple domains.
RedirHub is built around that operating loop. RedirHub includes URL redirect management, bulk redirect import/export, automatic HTTPS, path forwarding, query-parameter forwarding and redirect analytics.[7]
That workflow is also useful for IT teams managing retired or acquired domains, and marketing teams that use the same owned domains for branded links and dynamic QR destinations.
RedirHub Core is $49/month with 25 connected domains and 2,500 managed links. A basic whole-domain redirect does not consume managed-link capacity. A managed link is an active branded link, dynamic QR destination or website-migration source-to-destination mapping. Pro is $119/month with 250 domains and 10,000 managed links.
Managing 25+ domains? See what your current setup would cost on RedirHub.
Calculate your setupYou are paying for a dedicated management layer rather than only the underlying redirect response.
Website migrations: the URL pattern changes the answer#
A 500-page migration is a useful example because “500 URLs” can mean two very different jobs.
If every old URL simply needs to move to the same new hostname while keeping a predictable path pattern, both AWS and RedirHub can avoid treating the job as 500 unrelated decisions. S3 supports whole-bucket redirects and prefix-based routing rules. RedirHub supports path forwarding.
If the 500 old URLs map to many different new destinations, the management problem changes. S3 caps website routing rules at 50, although AWS lets you use object-level redirects beyond that. RedirHub instead treats source-to-destination migration mappings as managed links and supports bulk import/export.
The better choice depends on who will review those mappings after launch. If they live naturally in your AWS deployment process, AWS may be cleaner. If SEO or IT needs a searchable redirect inventory that can be changed without editing AWS website configuration or object metadata, RedirHub is easier to evaluate.
HTTPS changes the AWS architecture#
S3 website endpoints are HTTP-only. That does not mean an AWS-based redirect must be HTTP-only.
CloudFront can sit in front of an S3 website endpoint as a custom origin, preserving S3 redirect behavior while giving visitors an HTTPS-facing distribution.[3] AWS explicitly documents this setup.
For a DevOps team, composing Route 53, S3 and CloudFront may be routine. For a marketing, SEO or IT owner who just needs oldbrand.com to redirect securely and stay manageable, automatic HTTPS removes infrastructure decisions from the task.
Analytics and operational visibility#
AWS can absolutely provide traffic visibility. S3 website buckets can use access logging, and CloudFront can generate detailed access logs. CloudFront standard logging can send request data to CloudWatch Logs, Firehose or S3.[8]
That is powerful if your team already has AWS observability pipelines.
RedirHub's difference is not that AWS lacks logs. It is that redirect analytics are part of the same workspace where the redirect is created and edited. For teams asking “Is this old URL still getting traffic?” before they change or retire it, that workflow can matter more than the underlying logging flexibility.
Our call
Use AWS when redirects belong to your infrastructure operations.
Consider RedirHub when the people responsible for redirect decisions should not need to operate an AWS logging and configuration stack to answer routine URL questions.
Pricing: compare ownership, not just service fees#
| Option | Published monthly pricing | What you are buying |
|---|---|---|
| AWS Route 53 hosted zone | $0.50 each for the first 25 zones | Authoritative DNS; S3 and CloudFront are separate components when used |
| CloudFront flat-rate Pro | $15 per distribution | CDN plus bundled AWS services and allowances, not a redirect-only plan |
| RedirHub Core | $49 | 25 connected domains, 2,500 managed links, redirect management, automatic HTTPS and analytics |
| RedirHub Pro | $119 | 250 connected domains and 10,000 managed links plus the broader Pro feature set |
These prices are not apples-to-apples. AWS bills infrastructure components. RedirHub bills a redirect and link-management workspace. If you only need a few stable redirects and already have AWS expertise, AWS may be cheaper. If redirect ownership is consuming SEO, marketing, IT or engineering time, compare the operational workflow as well as the cloud bill.
Want redirect creation, HTTPS and analytics in one place?
RedirHub brings redirect management, bulk migrations, branded links and QR destinations into a single workspace.
Start free trialFrequently asked questions
No. Route 53 is DNS. In AWS's documented S3 pattern, Route 53 points the hostname to an S3 website endpoint, and S3 returns the HTTP redirect.
Not for every redirect. S3 website endpoints can serve redirects over HTTP directly. If you need an HTTPS-facing custom domain while using the S3 website endpoint pattern, CloudFront is a common documented layer because S3 website endpoints do not support HTTPS themselves.
No. S3 supports redirect-all behavior, conditional website routing rules and object-level redirects. Website configurations are limited to 50 routing rules, while AWS documents object-level redirects as an option when you need more.
It can be. Route 53 hosted zones start at $0.50/month for the first 25 zones, and a simple AWS setup can have a low direct infrastructure cost. But S3 and CloudFront may add charges, and the services solve a different operational problem. Compare the total setup and management workflow rather than only one AWS line item.
Not as a general DNS service. RedirHub is a redirect and link-management platform. You can point a hostname you want RedirHub to serve to its infrastructure, while continuing to use your chosen DNS provider for DNS management.
If the migration follows a simple pattern and your engineering team already manages AWS, S3 rules can be a good fit. If you have many one-to-one mappings that SEO or IT needs to review and maintain, RedirHub's bulk redirect workflow is worth comparing.
AWS offers logs and reporting through S3, CloudFront and related observability services. RedirHub instead exposes redirect analytics in the same product used to manage the redirect. Choose based on how your team prefers to investigate and update URLs.
TC is the Operations Manager at RedirHub, leading the company’s operational strategy and execution to ensure reliable, scalable redirect infrastructure. He oversees internal processes, cross-team coordination, and platform readiness while supporting customers through complex redirect implementations. With a strong understanding of large-scale domain operations and real-world edge cases, TC plays a key role in aligning product and customer success to deliver stable, high-performance redirection solutions.