AWS Cost Threshold

Overview

The AWS Cost Threshold trigger is activated when the total cost of selected resources exceeds a specified amount. It is a valuable tool for managing AWS costs across services. It helps alert you when costs approach your budget limit, comply with cost controls, optimize your resources and most importantly, avoid unexpected costs.

AWS account permissions

GorillaStack requires the following permissions from AWS to inspect costs within your account:

• AWS Cost Explorer API - GetCostAndUsage
• Amazon CloudWatch API - ListMetrics
• Amazon CloudWatch API - GetMetricStatistics

Use of this trigger in a rule

The AWS Cost Threshold trigger will usually be used in a rule with the Notify Cost action, which generates formatted notifications for costs based on the specified criteria. However, it is possible to pair it with any action.

Note

The rule will not be triggered at the time of rule creation, even if the cost threshold has been exceeded at that point. Rule triggers are verified after retrieving fresh data from the selected AWS accounts, which can take up to an hour.

Configuration

This trigger works by aggregating costs based on:

• Account context - You can select all or specific accounts on the Context screen when creating a new Rule
• AWS Service - Only trigger when the costs exceed for a particular AWS Service or across all of them

AWS Service

Monitor the cost threshold for all AWS services or specify one.

Cost Threshold

The trigger will be activated when the total costs of the previous selections exceed the amount specified in this field. The value must be a whole number.