ALB Path-Based vs Host-Based Routing

~10 min read

The two core ALB routing patterns, and how they combine to serve complex multi-service architectures from one load balancer.

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Key points

  • Path-based routing: match on URL path, ideal for splitting one domain into multiple backend services
  • Host-based routing: match on Host header, ideal for serving multiple domains/subdomains from one ALB
  • Rules are evaluated in priority order; the first match wins
  • Both patterns can combine in one ALB, letting it front an entire multi-service, multi-domain architecture