Don’t let cloud costs drain you: 12 cloud expense management software

Are your cloud costs spiraling out of control? You’re not alone. The bigger your cloud infrastructure, the harder it is to keep those expenses in check. 

But what if you could easily monitor, optimize, and reduce your cloud spending?

Managing cloud costs isn’t just about paying the bills. It’s about staying efficient and ensuring you get the most out of every cloud service you use. 

The right cloud expense management solution can be your financial lifeline. But with so many options, how do you choose the best one for your business?

In this article, we’ll break down the top 12 cloud expense management tools. We’ll look at their strengths and what they do best.

You’ll also learn what to look for in a cloud cost management tool and some specific cloud service vendor-native tools.

What to look for in cloud cost management tools

Cloud service expense management tools help businesses monitor, analyze, and optimize costs. They allow businesses to gain the insights needed to cut down on waste. 

Think of them as the financial dashboard for your cloud operations.

Vendor-native vs. third-party cloud expense management solutions

Cloud cost management tools come in two flavors: 

• Vendor-native 
• Third-party

Vendor-native tools are built into cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. They track costs directly within their ecosystems. 

Third-party tools are designed for multi-cloud environments. They offer more advanced features and wider integration options.

Whether you choose vendor-native or third-party tools, finding the right solution for your cloud expense reduction is key to optimizing costs.

The value of vendor-native cloud expense management software

Vendor-native tools, such as AWS CloudWatch and Azure’s Cost Management, fit right in with their cloud ecosystems. 

They provide:

• Real-time tracking 
• Built-in reporting 
• Often come with alerting features 

If you have a simple cloud setup a vendor-native tool is a no-brainer. 

They provide everything you need to stay on top of your spending, without complexity.

Why some may need third-party cloud expense management software

However, as your cloud infrastructure grows things can get complicated, especially if you take a multi-cloud approach. 

Here, third-party tools provide a multitude of features for managing costs across platforms.

You get more control, flexibility, and insights across all your cloud services.

Whatever tool you use, you can use some help to manage your cloud costs

Cloud management tools are useful, but they can’t negotiate deals. This means you can miss out on discounts hidden behind complex pricing models. 

Cloud providers often offer tiered or volume-based pricing, but without inside knowledge, those deals can zoom off into the distance without you ever knowing they existed in the first place. 

If you’re paying more than you need to, and that adds up, Spendbase can change the game in your favor:

• Access group buying discounts
• Get AWS promo program credits
• Do Well-Architected Framework review

Spendbase gives you these deals you would have missed. No more hunting for offers. Just big savings, fast.

Businesses are slashing cloud costs by up to 60% with Spendbase. These aren’t just numbers—they’re real savings you could access right now.

Vendor-native cloud expense management solutions

AWS: How to manage Amazon cloud costs

Amazon comes with some powerful tools to help with AWS cost management:

• Cost Explorer: Cost Explorer gives you detailed visuals breaking down your costs by service, region, or tag. You can also search into past data and forecast what’s coming next.

• Budgets: AWS Budgets lets you set spending limits, alerting you the moment you’re nearing those limits.

• Trusted Advisor: Trusted Advisor is like a personal cloud coach. It identifies where you’re overspending and suggests smart ways to save. This includes the likes of shutting down unused resources or recommending cost-saving adjustments.

Pros:

• Fully integrated with AWS
• Real-time monitoring and in-depth reports

Cons:

• Not suitable for multiple cloud providers
• AWS’s features can seem overwhelming for beginners

GCP: How to manage Google cloud costs

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) has a suite of features to manage your cloud expenses:

• GCP Cost Management: This tool helps you track and break down your costs by project, service, or label.
• Cloud Billing Reports: Offers customizable, detailed cost reports. They allow you to explore your spending and forecast expenses.

Pros:

• Complete integration with Google Cloud tools like Cloud Monitoring
• User-friendly dashboards and visualizations

Cons:

• GCP’s cost management capabilities aren’t as extensive as AWS or Azure
• Not as effective for managing costs in multi-cloud environments

Although GCP’s tools are user-friendly, their cost management capabilities might not be as extensive as other providers. To maximize your savings, consider utilizing a discount for Google Cloud Platform.

Azure: How to manage Azure cloud costs

Azure offers some serious tools to help you manage your cloud expenses:

• Azure Cost Management + Billing: This tool provides cost breakdowns, budgeting, and forecasting. You can track spending and set alerts for when you’re nearing budget limits.
• Azure Advisor: Receive personalized recommendations to optimize your cloud resources.

Pros:

• Smooth integration with Microsoft Power BI that offers powerful data visualization
• Detailed forecasting and budgeting features

Cons:

• Steep learning curve
• Most effective when used in the broader Azure ecosystem

Top 12 tools for cloud expense management and cloud financial management

1. CloudZero: Aligning cloud costs with business metrics for cloud expense management insights

CloudZero is a cloud cost intelligence platform. It’s designed to help engineering teams and finance departments manage and align their cloud costs with business objectives. 

Some standout features include:

• Cost per-unit metrics
• Real-time cost monitoring
• The ability to track costs across multiple clouds, containers, and services without the need for manual tagging

CloudZero is ideal for businesses that are looking to:

• Gain granular insight into their cloud spending
• Identify cost-saving opportunities
• Align cloud costs with key business metrics 

2. Amazon CloudWatch: Real-time AWS cost monitoring to control cloud costs

Amazon CloudWatch is a native monitoring and observability service for AWS. It’s designed to help users track the performance and cost of over 70 AWS services in real-time.

Some standout features include:

• Cost anomaly detection
• Custom metrics
• ECS/EKS automation
• Integration with other AWS tools such as Cost Explorer and AWS Budgets

Amazon CloudWatch is ideal for organizations heavily using AWS services that need:

• Detailed visibility into cloud performance
• Real-time cost insights

3. Azure Cost Management + Billing: Optimizing cloud investments to manage cloud costs

Azure Cost Management + Billing is a native tool within Microsoft’s cloud suite. It’s designed to help businesses monitor, allocate, and optimize the cost of their cloud services.

Some key features include:

• Detailed cost analysis and insights, broken down by resource, department, and subscription
• Budgeting and forecasting tools to set spending limits and manage cost trends
• Reserved instance and savings plan optimization for discounted resources
• Cost anomaly detection powered by AI to identify unusual spikes in spending

Azure Cost Management + Billing is for organizations using Azure or multi-cloud environments that need:

• Detailed cost tracking and reporting
• Proactive budget management and anomaly detection to prevent overspending

4. Densify: Automated resource optimization for cloud expense management

Densify is a cloud resource optimization platform. It’s designed to help businesses automatically rightsize and manage cloud resources using AI and machine learning. It has also a very swift onboarding process. 

Key highlights of the platform are:

• Automated rightsizing of underutilized resources
• Granular cost visibility by department, project, and resource
• Reserved instance management for optimizing savings
• Multi-cloud support for AWS, Azure, GCP, and more

Densify is ideal for organizations seeking to:

• Automate cloud resource optimization
• Gain detailed visibility into cloud usage and costs
• Manage reserved instances across multi-cloud environments

5. Virtana Optimize: Identifying cost-saving opportunities in cloud financial management

Virtana Optimize, formerly known as Metricly, is a cloud optimization platform. It’s designed to help organizations identify wasted resources and optimize cloud costs across multi-cloud environments.

Notable features are:

• Cost vs. utilization reports for better cloud resource management
• Rightsizing recommendations for Azure VM instances and Amazon EC2
• Continuous monitoring and cost-saving recommendations
• Cloud migration planning for cost-effective transitions

Virtana Optimize is for businesses looking to:

• Reduce cloud waste and optimize resource utilization
• Plan cost-effective cloud migrations
• Continuously monitor and adjust cloud spending 

6. Zesty: Automating reserved instance management and storage optimization to control cloud costs

Zesty is an AI-powered cloud optimization tool. It’s designed to dynamically adjust storage and reserved instances, helping businesses optimize AWS cloud costs.

Its main features include:

• Automatic buy and sell of AWS Reserved Instances (RIs)
• Dynamic scaling of disk capacity based on real-time usage
• AI-driven predictions for optimizing cloud resource commitments

Zesty is for AWS users looking to:

• Automate reserved instance management
• Optimize storage costs by dynamically scaling based on real-time demand

7. IBM Turbonomic: AI-driven resource scaling for cloud expense management insights

IBM Turbonomic is an AI-powered cloud automation platform. It’s designed to optimize resource usage by continuously matching application demand with infrastructure supply.

Core features include

• AI-driven optimization of resources across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments
• Automated scaling of compute, storage, and network resources based on real-time data
• Multi-cloud support for AWS, Azure, and GCP
• Compliance automation to enforce governance policies

IBM Turbonomic is for organizations that need:

• Automated cloud resource scaling and optimization
• Continuous cost management across multi-cloud and on-premises environments

8. Harness: Cost management within CI/CD pipelines to manage cloud costs

Harness is a cloud cost management and continuous delivery platform. It’s designed to enhance cost transparency, governance, and optimization for cloud resources.

Some standout features include:

• Deep integration with CI/CD pipelines for cost tracking and optimization
• Cost anomaly detection and alerting
• Auto-stopping of idle resources for cost savings
• In-depth visibility into Kubernetes clusters and cloud spend

Harness is for organizations using CI/CD pipelines that need:

• Integrated cloud cost tracking and optimization
• Automated idle resource management for cost savings

9. IBM Cloudability (formerly Apptio Cloudability): Cloud financial management and rightsizing

IBM Cloudability is a cloud financial management tool. It’s designed to monitor, allocate, and analyze cloud costs across environments.

Some key features include:

• Budgeting and forecasting tools for cloud cost planning
• Rightsizing recommendations based on cloud usage patterns
• Cost anomaly detection and alerting
• Integration with tools like Jira and Datadog for enhanced cost visibility

IBM Cloudability is for organizations looking to:

• Track cloud costs in multi-cloud environments
• Implement cloud cost forecasting and rightsizing strategies

10. Flexera Cloud Cost Management: Visibility in multi-cloud environments for cloud service expense management

Flexera Cloud Cost Management is a multi-cloud management platform. It provides visibility, optimization, and governance for cloud costs across private, public, and hybrid environments.

Notable features include:

• Unified cost tracking across multiple clouds in a single dashboard
• Automated budget alerts and cost policies for governance
• Cost optimization recommendations to reduce cloud spending
• Granular cost allocation by team, project, or department

Flexera Cloud Cost Management is for organizations that need:

• Comprehensive visibility into multi-cloud environments
• Automated cost governance and budget management
• Optimization of cloud resources to prevent overspending 

11. VMWare Tanzu CloudHealth: Multi-cloud cost tracking with business metrics for cloud financial management

VMWare Tanzu CloudHealth is a multi-cloud financial management platform. It’s designed to help organizations manage their cloud costs, usage, performance, and security through a unified interface.

Main features include:

• Showback and chargeback capabilities to allocate cloud costs by cost centers
• Automated cost optimization recommendations for eliminating idle resources
• Multi-cloud support for AWS, Azure, GCP, and Alibaba Cloud
• Predictive cost analysis and reporting tools to forecast future cloud expenditures

VMWare Tanzu CloudHealth is for organizations needing to:

• Track cloud costs across multi-cloud environments
• Implement detailed chargeback systems for internal accountability
• Optimize cloud resources and eliminate waste

12. Cloudchekr: Comprehensive cloud expense management software for cost optimization

CloudCheckr is an end-to-end cloud management platform. It provides businesses with insights to manage cloud costs, security, and compliance.

Significant features include:

• Detailed cloud cost allocation reports across all major cloud providers
• Policy-based automation for resource allocation and resizing
• Alerts and governance tools to prevent costly surprises
• Customizable reporting to enhance billing accuracy

Cloudchekr is for organizations looking to:

• Gain comprehensive visibility into multi-cloud spending
• Automate cloud resource management and cost optimization
• Maintain security and compliance with policy-based controls