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Hourly Dashboard

The Hourly Dashboard provides an hour-by-hour breakdown of usage trends for various services such as Compute, S3, RDS, and more.

Data Latency

Hourly dashboard data is based on the AWS Cost and Usage Report (CUR) and is typically stale for up to 4 days.

Flexible Filtering​

Users can apply filters such as:

  • Service type
  • Usage type
  • Region
  • Pricing type
  • And more

These filters enable generation of tailored insights specific to business needs.

Cost Type Toggle Options​

  • Unblended: Represents your actual, as-billed cost exactly as charged by AWS. In this view, any Reserved Instance (RI) or Savings Plan (SP) fees (upfront or recurring) are shown on the specific day they are invoiced. If you are charged a lump sum on the first of the month, the Unblended view shows that entire amount on that single day. It is your "raw" bill, reflecting exactly when charges hit your account without any smoothing.

  • Amortized: Shows your effective, usage-aligned cost by taking those RI/SP commitment fees and dividing them evenly across each day of the billing period. This "accrual-basis" view provides your real daily cost by spreading out one-time fees to match when the resources are actually used. It removes the "spikes" in your data caused by billing dates, making it easier to see your true daily spend including the cost of your discounts.

  • On-Demand Equivalent (ODE): Displays the cost of your usage as if every resource were billed at the standard On-Demand rate, ignoring any RI or SP discounts. This serves as a complete benchmark to show what you would have paid without any pricing commitments. By comparing your Amortized cost to your ODE, you can precisely quantify the total savings and efficiency gains generated by your current strategy.

By comparing ODE against Amortized or Unblended views, you can clearly see the financial impact of Reserved Instances and Savings Plans on your cloud optimization strategy.

Cost Metrics​

  • Baseline Spend: Represents the minimum possible cost for the selected period, calculated using your lowest observed hourly (or usage-based) spend × total hours or units. It reflects your steady, always-on resource usage, the portion of cost that remains consistent even when workloads are at their lowest. This is the cost you continue to incur regardless of demand and is ideal for committing to long-term pricing options such as Reserved Instances (RIs) or Savings Plans (SPs) to optimize spend efficiency.

  • Total Spend: Shows the actual cost incurred across all selected resources during the chosen timeframe, including On-Demand, Reserved, Savings Plans, or Spot usage depending on the applied cost type. In simple terms, this represents your overall cloud bill for the period, covering all usage activity.

  • Baseline vs Total: Indicates the percentage of Total Spend represented by Baseline Spend, revealing how much of your cost is steady versus variable. A higher ratio suggests consistent, predictable workloads that are well-suited for committed pricing models, while a lower ratio points to more elastic or dynamic usage patterns that benefit from flexible, on-demand pricing.

Cost Metrices

Strategic Insights from the Heatmap​

  • Analyze Usage Patterns: The heatmap visualizes hourly spend, with darker colors indicating higher costs. This helps you spot peak usage times, identify idle periods, and understand workload patterns.
  • Verify Cloud Elasticity: A cost pattern that is constant 24/7 may indicate that you are not taking full advantage of the cloud's elasticity. The heatmap helps you visually confirm if your applications are scaling down during off-peak hours.
  • Inform RI & SP Purchases: The dashboard calculates a minimum hourly spend for your workloads. This "baseline" spend can help you make confident, data-driven decisions when committing to Reserved Instances or Savings Plans, as you can commit to an amount you know you are consistently spending.