Optimize cloud costs through resource rightsizing, tagging strategies, reserved instances, and spending analysis. Use when reducing cloud expenses, analyzing infrastructure costs, or implementing cost governance policies.
View on GitHubFebruary 1, 2026
Select agents to install to:
npx add-skill https://github.com/wshobson/agents/blob/main/plugins/cloud-infrastructure/skills/cost-optimization/SKILL.md -a claude-code --skill cost-optimizationInstallation paths:
.claude/skills/cost-optimization/# Cloud Cost Optimization
Strategies and patterns for optimizing cloud costs across AWS, Azure, and GCP.
## Purpose
Implement systematic cost optimization strategies to reduce cloud spending while maintaining performance and reliability.
## When to Use
- Reduce cloud spending
- Right-size resources
- Implement cost governance
- Optimize multi-cloud costs
- Meet budget constraints
## Cost Optimization Framework
### 1. Visibility
- Implement cost allocation tags
- Use cloud cost management tools
- Set up budget alerts
- Create cost dashboards
### 2. Right-Sizing
- Analyze resource utilization
- Downsize over-provisioned resources
- Use auto-scaling
- Remove idle resources
### 3. Pricing Models
- Use reserved capacity
- Leverage spot/preemptible instances
- Implement savings plans
- Use committed use discounts
### 4. Architecture Optimization
- Use managed services
- Implement caching
- Optimize data transfer
- Use lifecycle policies
## AWS Cost Optimization
### Reserved Instances
```
Savings: 30-72% vs On-Demand
Term: 1 or 3 years
Payment: All/Partial/No upfront
Flexibility: Standard or Convertible
```
### Savings Plans
```
Compute Savings Plans: 66% savings
EC2 Instance Savings Plans: 72% savings
Applies to: EC2, Fargate, Lambda
Flexible across: Instance families, regions, OS
```
### Spot Instances
```
Savings: Up to 90% vs On-Demand
Best for: Batch jobs, CI/CD, stateless workloads
Risk: 2-minute interruption notice
Strategy: Mix with On-Demand for resilience
```
### S3 Cost Optimization
```hcl
resource "aws_s3_bucket_lifecycle_configuration" "example" {
bucket = aws_s3_bucket.example.id
rule {
id = "transition-to-ia"
status = "Enabled"
transition {
days = 30
storage_class = "STANDARD_IA"
}
transition {
days = 90
storage_class = "GLACIER"
}
expiration {
days = 365
}
}
}
```
## Azure Cost Optimization
### Reserved VM Instances
- 1 or 3 year terms
- U