Inactive Application Load Balancer (ALB)

Service Category

Networking

Cloud Provider

AWS

Service Name

AWS ELB

Inefficiency Type

Unused Resource

Explanation

Application Load Balancers that no longer serve active workloads may persist after application migrations, architecture changes, or testing activities. When no incoming requests are processed through the ALB, it continues to generate baseline hourly and LCU charges. Identifying and decommissioning unused ALBs helps reduce networking expenses without impacting operational environments.

Relevant Billing Model

Application Load Balancers are billed per hour of operation and per Load Balancer Capacity Unit (LCU) used. Charges continue to accrue even if the load balancer is not actively handling requests. Maintaining idle ALBs results in unnecessary ongoing costs without delivering operational value.

Detection

Identify Application Load Balancers with no active HTTP/HTTPS requests or minimal LCU consumption over a representative time period
Confirm there are no listener rules, target groups, or backend services depending on the load balancer
Review application dependencies, DNS records, and security group configurations to validate safe removal
Check tagging and metadata to determine whether the ALB was associated with a temporary, testing, or deprecated environment
Validate findings with application owners or infrastructure teams before deletion

Remediation

If confirmed to be inactive, delete the load balancer through the AWS Console, CLI, or API to stop further billing. Where possible, document the reason for decommissioning and update tagging or inventory systems to prevent reaccumulation of unused resources.

Relevant Documentation