Kubecost is a Kubernetes cost monitoring and allocation platform built on OpenCost. It tracks compute, network, storage, idle capacity, and GPU costs at the namespace, pod, deployment, and label level. The free tier covers one cluster with 15-day retention using public list pricing. Paid tiers add multi-cluster views, budget alerts, scheduled reports, and cloud billing reconciliation. Kubecost 3.0 removed the mandatory Prometheus dependency and added GPU tracking plus optional automated rightsizing. However, Kubecost is fundamentally a visibility tool — rightsizing recommendations require manual implementation in most configurations, and node-level optimization (bin-packing, spot scheduling, autoscaling) is entirely outside its scope. Teams with significant Reserved Instance or Savings Plan discounts should note that only the Enterprise tier supports CUR reconciliation, meaning free-tier cost estimates can be 20–50% off actual bills.
