Workload Cost Model Calculator
Total a workload from the cost components you enter.
What this calculator does
Components are added, never inferred. Each included component is shown with its share of the total, and every excluded component is listed by name so nothing is silently missing.
Inputs and what they mean
- Currency
- — Amounts are shown in the currency you pick. No exchange rate is applied..
- Compute
- — number value.
- Storage (optional)
- — Optional component. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result..
- Data transfer (optional)
- — Optional component. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result..
- Requests and API calls (optional)
- — Optional component. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result..
- Databases (optional)
- — Optional component. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result..
- Licences and third-party services (optional)
- — Optional component. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result..
- Support and operations (optional)
- — Optional component. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result..
- Anything else (optional)
- — Optional component. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result..
- Business units delivered (optional)
- — Optional component. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result. Customers, transactions, orders — whatever this workload serves..
- Price as of (optional)
- — The date you took these prices. It is shown with the result so the figure is never read as a current vendor price..
- Price source (optional)
- — Where the prices came from. Shown with the result..
How to use it
- Enter your own figures — the calculator never fills in a rate, price or benchmark for you.
- Press Calculate to see the result.
- Read the formula, variables, assumptions and source below the result before you rely on it.
Formula
Workload cost = Compute + Storage + Transfer + Requests + Databases + Licences + Support + Other; Cost per unit = Workload cost ÷ Units
Worked example
One workload costed component by component
Every optional component is named, and anything left at zero is listed as excluded.
Reading the result
The headline figure is the main answer. Any breakdown underneath shows the parts that make it up, so you can check the working and see what changes when you adjust an input.
Limitations and assumptions
Results depend entirely on the figures you enter and are rounded for display. They are for general information and education, not professional advice.
Reference: The Linux Foundation — Unit economics — FinOps Framework
Last reviewed:
Common questions
Formula, source and verification
An explicit component model. Every optional component is named, and anything left at zero is reported as excluded.
The question it answers: What is the total cost of this platform over the next few years, recurring and one-off?
The formula
Workload cost = Compute + Storage + Transfer + Requests + Databases + Licences + Support + Other; Cost per unit = Workload cost ÷ Units
- Ci — Cost components
- (currency). Compute is required; storage, transfer, requests, databases, licences, support and other are optional.
- N — Business units
- (count). Optional. Customers, transactions or orders the workload served.
Units: Currency; counts.
What kind of calculation this is
Business input model. The answer depends on business figures only you can supply, such as your own costs, rates or volumes. No market or benchmark values are assumed for you.
Method
Components are added, never inferred. Each included component is shown with its share of the total, and every excluded component is listed by name so nothing is silently missing.
Assumptions built into the result
- Mathematical: Every price is the one the user entered, in the currency they chose; no exchange rate is applied.
- Mathematical: Usage and prices cover the same period.
Figures this calculator will never guess for you
- No provider price, instance rate, storage rate or transfer rate is built in.
- No typical discount, saving or industry average is suggested.
- No component is filled in on the user's behalf.
Limitations
- Only the components entered are counted; anything not entered is excluded and said to be excluded.
- The result is only as current as the prices entered; a price taken months ago is not a current vendor price.
- Arithmetic over the figures entered — it cannot tell whether the usage or the rate card behind them is right.
Source and version
- Standard or reference
- FinOps Framework — unit economics — FinOps Foundation (FinOps Framework capability: unit economics — cost per business unit is total cost for a period divided by the units delivered in the same period.)
- Published source
- The Linux Foundation — FinOps Framework
- Formula version
- Version 1
- Verification
- Reviewed against the cited source on
- How much weight the source carries
- Standards or government
- Applies to
- Currency
- Amounts stay in the currency you choose; no exchange rate is applied.
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