Introduction
CostPilot is a Kubernetes cost monitoring and optimisation platform. It gives engineering teams full visibility into what their clusters are actually costing — broken down by namespace, workload, team, and infrastructure layer — so they can reduce waste, improve efficiency, and hold every team accountable for what they spend.
What CostPilot does
Most Kubernetes cost tools stop at “here’s your cloud bill.” CostPilot goes further:
- Allocates costs accurately — CPU and memory weighted allocation at the pod level, not just node-level estimates
- Surfaces idle waste — shows both overprovisioned resources (requested but unused) and unallocated node capacity
- Generates automated insights — identifies the highest-value optimisations ranked by potential monthly savings
- Tracks efficiency over time — assigns A–F grades so you can measure improvement
- Supports custom dimensions — map your Kubernetes labels to meaningful business dimensions like Team, Environment, or Cost Centre
Supported environments
CostPilot works with any Kubernetes distribution that supports standard RBAC and metrics collection:
| Provider | Notes |
|---|---|
| AWS (EKS) | EC2 on-demand, spot, Savings Plans |
| Google Cloud (GKE) | Compute Engine, Spot VMs |
| Azure (AKS) | VMs, spot instances |
| DigitalOcean (DOKS) | Droplets |
| Hetzner | Dedicated and cloud servers |
| Scaleway | Kapsule |
| Self-hosted (k3s, kubeadm) | Bring-your-own pricing |
CostPilot supports multiple clusters under one account. Each cluster installs its own agent, and all data is visible from a single dashboard.
How it works
CostPilot follows a straightforward data flow:
- Agent — A lightweight Go binary deployed via Helm to your cluster. Collects pod resource usage, node metadata, and cluster topology every 15 seconds.
- Ingester — Receives metrics from the agent via an encrypted Cloudflare tunnel. No inbound firewall rules required.
- Processor — Enriches, allocates, and stores cost records in ClickHouse.
- Dashboard — A SvelteKit web app where you explore costs, view insights, and configure alerts.
What you’ll learn
This documentation covers everything you need to get value from CostPilot:
- Getting Started — Install the agent and connect your first cluster in under 5 minutes
- Feature Guides — Deep dives into the Dashboard, Cost Explorer, Labels, Insights, and Alerts
- Concepts — The cost allocation model, idle cost types, and how efficiency grades are calculated
Ready to begin? Head to Quickstart.