IBM Kubecost is a cost monitoring & optimization solution for teams running Kubernetes. The solution supports:
Cost Allocation
Real-time, customizable cost allocation across Kubernetes concepts and organizational dimensions.
Kubecost ties cloud spend to actual Kubernetes usage, enabling accurate showback and chargeback. Cost metrics are continuously updated and reconciled with billing exports for accuracy.
• Allocate spend by namespace, deployment, service, label, and more across any major cloud or on-prem K8s environment.
• Map costs to teams, applications, projects, or environments using native K8s metadata or custom business labels.
• View unified cost data across multi-cluster, multi-cloud environments through a single UI or API endpoint.
Unified Cost Monitoring
Combine in-cluster resource costs with out-of-cluster cloud services for full-stack visibility.
Kubecost integrates with AWS, GCP, Azure, and Oracle billing data to join cloud service costs with K8s resources—enabling true end-to-end cost transparency.
• Correlate cloud services (e.g., RDS, BigQuery, S3) to Kubernetes workloads based on tagging or labels.
• Track network, storage, and compute costs in real time with hourly granularity.
• Share and distribute both in-cluster and external cloud costs across teams, services, or business units.
Optimization Insights
In-cluster recommendations to right-size workloads, reduce waste, and improve cost efficiency.
Kubecost analyzes actual usage to detect over-provisioned resources, idle infrastructure, and savings opportunities—without exporting usage data outside your environment.
• Get tailored rightsizing recommendations at the pod, container, and volume level based on historical usage.
• Detect idle nodes, abandoned volumes, and inefficient request settings.
• Export recommendations via UI or API, plus the optional ability to dynamically apply insights for immediate results.
Alerts & Governance
Prevent cost overruns and enforce cost efficiency with built-in alerting and policy enforcement.
Kubecost enables teams to set spending thresholds, define efficiency targets, and receive proactive alerts via Slack, email, or Teams.
• Configure budgets by team, namespace, or application with real-time usage tracking.
• Get alerts on anomalous spend or low-efficiency workloads to prevent waste from escalating.
• Generate automated reports with trend analysis and cost breakdowns for recurring visibility and accountability.
Seller
Apptio, an IBM CompanyDiscussions
Kubecost, an IBM Company CommunityLanguages Supported
English
Product Description
Kubecost, an IBM Company, offers a self-hosted solution that provides real-time cost visibility and insights for teams utilizing Kubernetes. By integrating directly into your Kubernetes environment, Kubecost delivers detailed breakdowns of resource usage and associated costs, enabling organizations to monitor and optimize their cloud expenditures effectively. This comprehensive tool supports various infrastructures, including AWS, Azure, GCP, and on-premises deployments, ensuring adaptability across diverse cloud environments.
Key Features and Functionality:
- Cost Allocation: Kubecost allows for flexible and customizable cost breakdowns by Kubernetes concepts such as namespace, deployment, service, and more. This facilitates accurate showbacks and chargebacks, providing transparent cost data reconciled with actual cloud bills.
- Unified Cost Monitoring: The platform integrates in-cluster costs like CPU and memory with out-of-cluster expenses from cloud services, offering a comprehensive view of total spend. It supports services from major cloud providers, including AWS, GCP, and Microsoft Azure.
- Optimization Insights: Kubecost generates context-aware recommendations tailored to your environment and usage patterns, helping to identify opportunities to reduce infrastructure spend by 30-50% or more without compromising performance.
- Alerts & Governance: The solution provides real-time alerting and recurring reports, enabling teams to set budgets, receive notifications for budget overruns or anomalous spending patterns, and maintain control over Kubernetes-enabled infrastructure.
Primary Value and Problem Solved:
Kubecost addresses the challenge of managing and optimizing costs in Kubernetes environments, which often lack transparency in resource usage and associated expenses. By offering detailed cost allocation, unified monitoring, and actionable optimization insights, Kubecost empowers organizations to gain control over their cloud spending, prevent budget overruns, and make informed decisions to enhance resource efficiency and reliability.
Overview by
Jennifer Staretorp
