Classic Load Balancers that no longer serve active workloads will persist if they are not properly decommissioned. This often happens after application migrations, architecture changes, or testing activities. Even if no connections or traffic are passing through the CLB, it continues to incur baseline charges until manually deleted. Identifying and removing unused load balancers helps eliminate waste without impacting operations.
Classic Load Balancers are billed per hour of operation and per GB of data processed, whether or not they are actively handling traffic. Inactive CLBs that continue to run without handling meaningful traffic still accrue hourly charges, resulting in unnecessary ongoing costs.
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.
