FAQ
What is OpenCost?
OpenCost is a vendor-neutral open source project for measuring and allocating infrastructure and container costs in Kubernetes environments.
The project is a combination of the OpenCost core allocation engine with a new community-driven spec on how to monitor costs in Kubernetes land. The allocation engine is a Golang implementation that conforms to spec. Both have now been submitted to the CNCF as a sandbox project.
How do I get started with the project?
You can install the project in minutes.
Do I need to pay to use OpenCost?
No. OpenCost is open source (Apache 2.0) and free to use.
How does OpenCost relate to Kubecost?
The OpenCost implementation is the cost allocation engine originally built by Kubecost. This implementation is actively used in all versions of Kubecost for building a cost allocation model. Founding OpenCost members have announced intentions to onboard OpenCost as a CNCF sandbox project. If the CNCF accepts our onboarding application, the CNCF will become the neutral home for OpenCost moving forward and it will be moved from the Kubecost Github organization.
How does this OpenCost implementation compare with the OpenCost spec?
The OpenCost project provides an implementation of the spec for AWS, Azure, GCP, and on-prem Kubernetes environments. It meets all the requirements of the current OpenCost spec and also includes other functionality for monitoring external cloud costs, e.g. storage buckets, external databases, etc.
What Kubernetes versions does OpenCost support?
OpenCost supports a Kubernetes environment above 1.8.
How is OpenCost governed?
We are actively forming our governance model. Our plan is to align with the CNCF best practices, found here. Today, Kubecost’s technical team contributes all of the code submissions to OpenCost based on the inputs and feedback from a working group of founding contributors. The OpenCost spec is co-authored by founding members.
What does it mean to be a “Founding Contributor”?
Founding contributors co-authored and contributed feedback to the OpenCost spec. Moving forward, Founding Contributors will continue to evolve the OpenCost project.
What providers does OpenCost support?
OpenCost has core billing integrations with:
- AWS/EKS
- Azure/AKS
- GCP/GKE
- On-prem clusters via custom pricing sheets
How are costs determined in the OpenCost project?
The OpenCost spec outlines the metholodogy used for how costs are calculated in the project. The OpenCost implementation implements this spec and has public billing API integrations with the providers listed above.
How can I contribute to OpenCost?
Get started with our open source contributing guide!
We are actively looking for new contributors if you or your company are interested in getting involved – join us using the links below-
Contact us via email (opencost@kubecost.com), join us on CNCF Slack in the #opencost channel, or subscribe to the OpenCost Community Calendar and attend a Working Group Session if you have questions!
