Logging calculators

Model ingestion + retention first, then add query/scan and metrics cardinality where it matters.

All calculators Guide: log costs Guide: metrics costs Methodology

A practical model

  1. Estimate GB/day ingested and retention days.
  2. Convert to GB-month stored and apply $/GB-month.
  3. Add scan/query cost if you run frequent or wide queries.
  4. For metrics, model active series (cardinality) and retention.

What spikes bills

  • High-cardinality labels (metrics) and noisy debug logs.
  • Wide queries that scan large time ranges or many log streams.
  • Incident retries that multiply log volume without increasing useful signal.

How to get your inputs

  • Ingestion GB/day: use log platform metrics or billing exports by log group.
  • Retention days: check policies for each log group or bucket.
  • Scan GB: query history or dashboards (range length x data scanned).
  • Metrics series: active series counts and cardinality reports.
12 logging tools
AWS CloudTrail Cost Calculator
Estimate CloudTrail-style event costs from event volume and per-100k pricing inputs.
API Gateway Access Log Cost Calculator
Estimate access log ingestion + retention cost from request volume and log size.
Log Ingestion Cost Calculator
Estimate monthly log ingestion cost from GB/day or from event rate and $/GB pricing.
Log Cost Calculator
Estimate total log costs: ingestion, storage, and scan/search.
Tiered Log Storage Cost Calculator (Hot + Archive)
Estimate log storage cost using a hot window plus an optional cold/archive tier.
CloudWatch Logs Cost Calculator
Estimate CloudWatch-style log costs: ingestion, retention storage, and optional Insights scans.
CloudWatch Logs Insights Cost Calculator
Estimate Logs Insights query scan cost from GB scanned per day and $/GB.
CloudWatch Metrics Cost Calculator
Estimate CloudWatch metrics cost from custom metrics, alarms, dashboards, and API requests.
AWS CloudWatch Alarms Cost Calculator
Estimate alarm-month charges from standard, high-resolution, and composite alarm counts.
Log Retention Storage Cost Calculator
Estimate retained log storage cost from GB/day, retention days, and $/GB-month pricing.
Log Search Scan Cost Calculator
Estimate monthly scan charges from GB scanned per day and $/GB pricing.
Metrics Time Series Cost Calculator
Estimate monthly metrics cost from active series and $ per series-month pricing.

Result interpretation

  • If ingestion dominates, focus on log volume controls before tuning pricing tiers.
  • If query costs dominate, add guardrails: shorter ranges, fewer streams, and sampled queries.
  • Retention changes often have a bigger impact than storage class tweaks.
  • Use a peak scenario; incident bursts and retries are the real cost multipliers.

Scenario planning

  • Baseline: average GB/day ingested and normal query frequency.
  • Peak: 2x-3x ingestion for incident months and wider query windows.
  • Retention shift: model shorter retention as a separate scenario.
  • Cardinality growth: add a growth rate for metrics series counts.

Fastest logging cost-reduction order

  1. Cut noisy sources first (debug duplicates, repetitive success logs).
  2. Apply retention tiers by value instead of one global retention setting.
  3. Narrow query windows and enforce filtered dashboards for high-volume streams.
  4. Control metrics cardinality before scaling collectors or storage tiers.

Validate after changes

  • Compare ingestion GB/day to billing usage types after policy changes.
  • Check retention policies for each log group or bucket.
  • Review query scan volume after dashboard or alert updates.
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