AWS Cost Explorer
aws.amazon.com/aws-cost-management/aws-cost-explorerBuild Difficulty: 4/5
A few focused days to build a solid replacement
Visualize, understand, and manage your AWS costs and usage over time
How to Replace AWS Cost ExplorerOverview
Features
15 features across 6 categories
AI(2)
AI-powered explanations help users understand how each forecast is calculated
Ask questions about AWS costs using natural language in Amazon Q Developer to receive easy-to-understand conversational responses
Data Analysis(6)
Identify patterns via day-over-day, month-over-month, or year-over-year cost and usage analysis using graphs and tables
View costs and usage data with daily or monthly granularity for flexible analysis
Filter and group data by various dimensions such as member accounts and services to understand cost drivers
Understand spend for the past 14 days at hourly level to determine appropriate SP/RI commitment or understand peak hour usage
Perform multi-year historical data analysis at monthly granularity using up to 38 months of history to understand patterns and year-over-year changes
Monitor AWS cost and usage at resource level to identify cost drivers, supporting all services at daily granularity and EC2 at hourly granularity
Export(1)
Download filtered Cost Explorer views in CSV file format for offline access and easy sharing with team members
Forecasting(2)
Project future costs and usage based on historical and current cost and usage patterns
Create forecasts for future time ranges to estimate AWS bills and set alarms and budgets based on projections
Integration(1)
Programmatic access to all features through API enabling automation of Cost Management tasks and direct access to the interactive ad-hoc analytics engine
Reporting(3)
Visual representation of AWS cost and usage over time using graphs and tables to facilitate quick insights and informed decisions
Get costs and usage information and business insights with preconfigured views
Save custom Cost Explorer reports along with filters and groupings for easy access. Includes preconfigured reports for monthly cost by service, by linked account, EC2 running hours, daily costs, and AWS Marketplace costs
Pricing
Free Tier
Popular- ✓Cost and Usage Visualization
- ✓Filter and Group
- ✓Preconfigured Views
- ✓Saved Reports
- ✓Multi-year History (38 months)
- ✓CSV Download
- ✓Daily/Monthly Granularity
Hourly Granularity
- ✓Hourly granularity for past 14 days
- ✓All free tier features
Resource Level Granularity
- ✓Resource level data for all services at daily granularity
- ✓EC2 resource level data at hourly granularity
- ✓All free tier features
API Access
- ✓Programmatic access via API
- ✓$0.01 per request using primary billing view
- ✓$0.01 per source for custom billing views
- ✓All free tier features
Cost Calculator
Pricing data not available for AWS Cost Explorer. Check their website for current pricing.
Build vs Buy
Should you build a AWS Cost Explorer alternative or buy the subscription? Estimate based on 15 features.
Buy AWS Cost Explorer
Better ValueBuild Your Own
Buying AWS Cost Explorer saves ~$18,480 over 3 years vs building.
Estimates based on 15 features and a BuildScore of 4/5. Actual costs vary.
Integrations
2 known integrations