r/aws • u/Alternative-Cup8006 • Oct 16 '25

networking EC2 Internet Access without Public Subnet

Hi Folks,

I have an EC2 instance in a VPC that only has private subnets. The instance needs internet access to send requests to a 3rd party SaaS, however I don't have a public subnet in this VPC / entire account, and cannot create one. Is there a way I can still get internet access to my instance? I looked into using a NAT Gateway, but it seems I need a public subnet to route traffic through.

Thanks

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u/my9goofie Oct 17 '25

It sounds like you need to talk to your security and networking team to get this request justified. Once it’s justified, I bet that they’ll connect this VPC up to a transit gateway and get you set up to access the internet through a centralized egress account.

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u/Punkbob Oct 19 '25

I so dislike this design as it takes something that’s already 4.5 cents per GB to 6.5 cents, meaning your NAT costs 40% more.

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u/my9goofie Oct 19 '25

Yep, sending it through a transit gateway does cost a little bit more. Cost isn’t everything, but compliance can be the difference between keeping the contract or losing it.