CloudBurn

About CloudBurn

CloudBurn is an essential, non-negotiable tool for engineering and FinOps teams using Terraform or AWS CDK. It solves the critical, costly problem of reactive cloud cost management by shifting financial visibility directly into the developer workflow. Most teams discover budget overruns weeks later on their AWS bill, after expensive infrastructure is already live and accruing charges. This reactive cycle must stop. CloudBurn changes the paradigm by providing real-time AWS cost estimates during the code review process, precisely when changes are easiest and safest to make. By automatically analyzing pull requests and posting detailed cost breakdowns as comments, it creates an immediate feedback loop that empowers developers to make cost-aware decisions. The tool integrates seamlessly via GitHub, requiring no complex billing setups or permissions management on your end. For any team committed to controlling cloud spend and practicing proactive FinOps, CloudBurn is not just a nice-to-have; it is a mandatory safeguard for your infrastructure budget, delivering immediate ROI by preventing costly misconfigurations before they ever deploy to production.

Features of CloudBurn

Automated Pull Request Cost Analysis

This is the core, indispensable feature. CloudBurn automatically triggers on every infrastructure pull request. It analyzes the terraform plan or cdk diff output, calculates the precise monthly cost impact using real-time AWS pricing data, and posts a comprehensive report directly in the PR thread. This automation is non-negotiable for continuous cost visibility, ensuring no change slips through without financial scrutiny and embedding cost governance directly into your CI/CD pipeline.

Real-Time, Resource-Level Cost Breakdown

You don't get vague estimates. CloudBurn provides a detailed, line-item breakdown showing the current cost versus the new monthly cost for every resource being modified, added, or removed. Each entry includes the specific AWS usage type, description, and hourly rate. This granular visibility is absolutely critical for understanding exactly which change is driving cost increases and for facilitating informed discussions during code review about potential optimizations or alternatives.

Seamless GitHub Integration & Security

Setup is streamlined and secure, handled entirely through the GitHub Marketplace. There is no need to share AWS credentials or set up complex IAM roles. Billing, permissions, and installation are managed 100% via GitHub, making it a secure and low-friction addition to your workflow. This integration model is essential for maintaining security posture while enabling rapid adoption across development teams without operational overhead.

Always Current AWS Pricing Data

CloudBurn's estimates are powered by live, up-to-the-minute AWS pricing data specific to your configured regions. You will never make decisions based on outdated spreadsheets or stale price lists. This guarantee of accuracy is fundamental for trust in the tool's output, ensuring that the cost figures you see in your PR reflect the actual amount you will be billed, allowing for confident, data-driven decision-making.

Use Cases of CloudBurn

Preventing Costly Developer Mistakes

A developer, focused on functionality, might inadvertently specify a t3.xlarge instance in a non-production environment where a t3.micro would suffice. Without CloudBurn, this 16x cost difference would go unnoticed until the bill arrives. With CloudBurn, the $130+ monthly cost spike is flagged immediately in the PR, prompting a quick correction before merge. This use case is essential for catching simple, expensive oversights that collectively destroy budgets.

Enabling Proactive FinOps Culture

FinOps teams struggle to govern spend when infrastructure is provisioned dynamically by developers. CloudBurn empowers them by providing the necessary tools and visibility directly to developers, fostering a "shift-left" cost accountability. It turns every engineer into a cost-conscious stakeholder, making proactive cost optimization a natural part of the development lifecycle rather than a monthly post-mortem exercise. This cultural shift is vital for sustainable cloud operations.

Optimizing Infrastructure Refactoring

When a team needs to upgrade database instances or migrate to a new service, understanding the financial impact is paramount. CloudBurn provides immediate cost comparisons for the proposed changes, allowing teams to evaluate trade-offs between performance, resilience, and cost during the planning phase. This ensures refactoring decisions are financially informed and prevents unexpected bill shocks from well-intentioned architectural improvements.

Governing Multi-Team & Multi-Repository Spend

For organizations with multiple teams and repositories managing AWS resources, CloudBurn provides a consistent, automated governance layer. By installing it across all relevant repos, you establish a uniform standard for cost review. This is crucial for central IT or platform teams to maintain oversight without becoming a bottleneck, ensuring all infrastructure changes, regardless of source, undergo the same essential financial validation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does CloudBurn calculate the costs?

CloudBurn calculates costs by analyzing the output of your infrastructure-as-code tool's diff command (terraform plan or cdk diff). It identifies the specific AWS resources being created, modified, or destroyed, then queries real-time AWS Pricing API data for your specified region. It computes the estimated monthly cost based on standard on-demand pricing (730 hours per month) and presents a detailed breakdown for each resource and the total change.

Is my code or AWS configuration data secure?

Absolutely. Security is a foundational priority. CloudBurn operates through a secure GitHub App. It only receives the plain-text output of your terraform plan or cdk diff command, which contains resource types and configurations, but never your actual Terraform state files, AWS secrets, or access keys. All analysis happens securely in CloudBurn's systems, and no sensitive credentials ever leave your GitHub Actions environment.

What infrastructure-as-code tools does CloudBurn support?

CloudBurn is essential for teams using the two most prevalent AWS provisioning tools: HashiCorp Terraform and the AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK). Support for these frameworks is implemented via dedicated GitHub Actions (Terraform Plan PR Commenter and AWS CDK Diff PR Commenter) that format and send the diff output to CloudBurn for analysis. This focused support ensures deep, accurate analysis for the tools that matter most.

Can we use CloudBurn for free?

Yes. CloudBurn offers a Community plan that is free forever for core functionality. For teams that require advanced features, historical data, or organization-wide management, a paid Pro plan is available. You can start a 14-day Pro trial directly from the CloudBurn website to experience all features, with no commitment required. The free tier ensures that every team, regardless of size, can implement this critical cost-safeguard.