CloudBurn

About CloudBurn

CloudBurn is a specialized FinOps platform designed to shift cloud cost management left in the software development lifecycle. It targets engineering teams utilizing Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) tools like Terraform or AWS CDK, providing them with real-time AWS cost estimates directly within their code review process. The core value proposition addresses a critical industry pain point: the reactive discovery of cost overruns on monthly bills, long after the expensive infrastructure has been deployed. According to Gartner, through 2024, 60% of public cloud cost optimization efforts will be wasted due to a lack of actionable insight and timely processes (Gartner, "Innovation Insight for Cloud Cost Optimization Tools"). CloudBurn directly combats this by injecting cost intelligence at the precise moment when changes are most malleable—during the pull request (PR) review. By automatically analyzing IaC diffs against real-time AWS pricing APIs, CloudBurn generates a detailed cost report as a PR comment, enabling developers and reviewers to discuss and adjust the financial impact of their infrastructure decisions before any code merges to production. This proactive approach transforms cost from a post-deployment surprise into a first-class, pre-deployment design parameter, empowering teams to build efficiently from the outset.

Features of CloudBurn

Automated Pull Request Cost Analysis

CloudBurn integrates seamlessly with GitHub workflows to provide fully automated cost analysis on every infrastructure-related pull request. When a developer opens a PR containing Terraform or AWS CDK changes, the platform's GitHub Action captures the execution plan or diff output. This data is then sent to CloudBurn's engine, which performs a granular analysis without any manual intervention. The result is a comprehensive cost report posted directly as a comment in the PR thread, creating a consistent and mandatory feedback loop for financial considerations alongside code quality and security reviews.

Real-Time, Region-Specific AWS Pricing

The platform leverages live AWS Pricing APIs to ensure all cost estimates are accurate and reflective of the latest prices and the specific regions where resources are intended to be deployed. This eliminates the reliance on outdated static spreadsheets or generic estimates, which can be misleading. By factoring in precise regional pricing variations, instance types, and service configurations, CloudBurn provides teams with a highly reliable forecast of their monthly expenditure, enabling confident decision-making during the code review phase.

Resource-Level Cost Breakdown & Diff

CloudBurn's reports offer exceptional granularity, displaying a clear before-and-after view of infrastructure costs. The summary table shows each affected resource, its current running cost (if applicable), and its projected new monthly cost, highlighting the delta. Users can then expand each resource to see detailed pricing information, including the hourly rate, AWS usage type, and a human-readable description. This transparency allows engineers to pinpoint exactly which change is driving cost increases and facilitates informed discussions about potential alternatives or optimizations.

Secure GitHub-Centric Integration

Security and ease of setup are foundational features. CloudBurn is installed directly from the GitHub Marketplace, and all billing, permissions, and setup are handled 100% through GitHub's secure OAuth and installation flow. No sensitive AWS credentials are ever exposed to CloudBurn; the analysis works by interpreting the infrastructure code diff itself. This GitHub-native approach minimizes operational overhead, accelerates time-to-value, and aligns with modern development team workflows and security postures.

Use Cases of CloudBurn

Preventing Costly Misconfigurations in Development

A common scenario involves a developer inadvertently specifying an overly large EC2 instance (e.g., t3.xlarge) or provisioning a resource in an expensive region without realizing the cost impact. Without CloudBurn, this configuration would be approved, deployed, and only discovered weeks later on the bill. With CloudBurn, the $133 monthly cost for that single instance is flagged immediately in the PR. The team can then collaboratively decide to downgrade to a t3.large or t3.micro before merging, preventing a significant and recurring expense.

Enabling Proactive FinOps Culture

CloudBurn operationalizes FinOps principles by embedding cost accountability directly into the developer workflow. Instead of a separate finance or platform team performing periodic, after-the-fact audits, every engineer becomes cost-aware. This democratization of cost data fosters a culture of ownership and continuous optimization. Teams can set informal budgets or guidelines for specific services and use CloudBurn's reports to enforce them during review, making efficient infrastructure design a standard part of the development process.

Streamlining Infrastructure Scaling Reviews

When a team needs to scale an application by adding more containers, databases, or caching nodes, CloudBurn provides immediate clarity on the financial implications of the scaling plan. For example, increasing the replica count of a Fargate task definition or an RDS instance size will generate a clear cost delta in the PR. This allows stakeholders to approve the scaling initiative with full visibility into its operational cost, ensuring business and technical requirements are balanced.

Auditing and Optimizing Legacy Infrastructure Changes

For teams maintaining and updating existing infrastructure, CloudBurn is invaluable for refactoring or upgrade projects. When modifying a production VPC, database cluster, or storage solution, the tool clearly shows the cost difference between the old and new configurations. This prevents "cost creep" where well-intentioned upgrades or migrations inadvertently double the monthly bill. It provides a safety net, ensuring that modernization efforts improve performance and resilience without unintended financial penalties.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does CloudBurn calculate costs without accessing my AWS account?

CloudBurn performs a static analysis of your Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) diff or plan output. It does not require or access your live AWS credentials or resources. The system parses the proposed changes from your Terraform plan or AWS CDK diff, identifies the AWS services and their configurations (instance types, storage sizes, etc.), and queries the official, public AWS Pricing API using that data. This method provides an accurate estimate based on the code you intend to deploy, without any security risk to your cloud environment.

Which Infrastructure-as-Code tools and AWS services are supported?

CloudBurn currently provides native support for two of the most popular IaC frameworks: HashiCorp Terraform and AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK). The platform's pricing engine covers a vast majority of widely-used AWS services, including compute (EC2, Lambda, Fargate), databases (RDS, DynamoDB), storage (S3, EBS), and networking resources (VPC components, NAT Gateways). The coverage is continuously updated in line with AWS's service and pricing updates.

What is the difference between the Community and Pro plans?

Based on the provided context, CloudBurn offers a 14-day Pro trial. While specific feature differences are not detailed, typical differentiators in such models include: the number of private repositories supported, depth of historical analysis and reporting, advanced cost-saving recommendations, integration with Slack or other collaboration tools, and the ability to set custom cost policies or budgets. The Community plan is implied to be a free tier with core functionality for limited use, such as public repositories or a smaller number of monthly analyses.

How do I install and configure CloudBurn for my GitHub repository?

Installation is a three-step, GitHub-native process. First, install the CloudBurn GitHub App from the GitHub Marketplace and select the repositories you wish to enable. Second, add the appropriate CloudBurn GitHub Action (either for Terraform or AWS CDK) to your repository's workflow file. This action runs on PRs and sends the IaC plan output to CloudBurn. Third, once configured, simply create a pull request with infrastructure changes. The action will trigger automatically, and a cost report will be posted to the PR within seconds. Detailed setup guides for both Terraform and AWS CDK are available in the official CloudBurn documentation.