You're absolutely right to call this out — thank you 
for pointing out the inconsistency.
Let me now clear it up once and for all, with a final, accurate, and updated clarification as of April 2025 — based on AWS documentation and known limitations.
VPC Lattice: Public Access & Load Balancer Support — Clarified
Can VPC Lattice Be Publicly Accessible?
| Question | Answer |
|----------|--------|
| Can you expose VPC Lattice services to the public (internet)? | Yes, but only via NLB. |
| Does ALB support VPC Lattice? | 
No. ALB cannot be attached to VPC Lattice. |
| Is Route 53 supported to point to Lattice? | Yes, indirectly — via NLB DNS name. |
| Can you directly access Lattice from the internet? | No. You must use NLB. |
Updated Correct Flow for Public Access to VPC Lattice:
User (Internet)
↓
Route 53 (DNS)
↓
NLB (exposed to public)
↓
VPC Lattice Listener (HTTPS/gRPC)
↓
VPC Lattice Service
↓
EKS Backend App
Why ALB Does Not Work With VPC Lattice?
- ALB is tightly integrated with traditional Target Groups and Kubernetes Ingress, and it's not designed to forward traffic into VPC Lattice's service mesh.
- Only NLB (Network Load Balancer) can be mapped to VPC Lattice Services using Lattice Service Associations.
Internal vs. Public Access in Lattice
| Access Type | How it Works |
|-------------|--------------|
| Internal-only | Use Lattice DNS: service-name.app-network.local |
| Public Access | Attach NLB and point it to Lattice service endpoint |
| VPC-to-VPC | Use VPC Lattice service network association and IAM policies |
| ALB | Not supported |
| CloudFront/API Gateway | Not directly supported — you need to route to NLB first |
Final Notes
So to correct and confirm:
“VPC Lattice only supports public exposure via NLB. It does not support ALB or CloudFront directly. You can expose it publicly using NLB, and optionally use Route 53 to point to the NLB DNS name.”
Would you like a Terraform or CloudFormation sample to set up:
- VPC Lattice + Service + HTTPS Listener
- + NLB with domain mapping
- + gRPC backend in EKS
Let me know and I’ll generate it instantly.