OpenCost is the open source cost allocation engine originally developed by Kubecost and donated to the CNCF. It provides core cost monitoring, allocation by Kubernetes concepts, and cloud pricing integrations. Kubecost builds on this with commercial features like SSO, long-term storage, cross-cluster aggregation, and enterprise support. OpenCost is free under Apache 2.0 and community-maintained.
OpenCost integrates with AWS, Azure, and GCP billing APIs for dynamic on-demand asset pricing. It also supports on-premises Kubernetes clusters using custom CSV pricing sheets, making it viable for hybrid and air-gapped environments. Cloud costs outside the cluster, such as managed databases and object storage, can also be monitored.
OpenCost can be deployed per cluster, and each instance provides independent cost visibility. However, it does not natively offer a unified multi-cluster view. For centralized reporting across clusters, teams typically export metrics to Prometheus and aggregate via Grafana or a similar dashboard tool.
Shakudo deploys OpenCost as part of a unified AI and data platform, eliminating the need to manually configure Prometheus or Helm charts. Cost data is automatically correlated with workload metadata across all tools in the stack, giving teams a single pane of glass for spend visibility alongside governance and access controls already built in.