CloudBurn

About CloudBurn

CloudBurn is the proactive FinOps shield for engineering teams deploying infrastructure on AWS. It's built for developers and platform engineers using Terraform or AWS CDK who are tired of discovering cost overruns weeks later on a shocking cloud bill. The core problem it solves is the critical lack of a financial feedback loop during the development cycle. Teams make infrastructure changes in isolation, deploy them, and only see the financial impact after the resources are live and accruing charges. CloudBurn flips this reactive model on its head by injecting real-time AWS cost intelligence directly into the code review process. When a developer opens a pull request with infrastructure changes, CloudBurn automatically analyzes the diff, calculates the precise monthly cost impact using up-to-the-minute AWS pricing data, and posts a clear, actionable report as a PR comment. This empowers teams to discuss, debate, and optimize for cost while the code is still in review and changes are trivial to make. It transforms cost from a post-deployment accounting surprise into a first-class engineering metric, enabling a culture of cost-aware development and preventing expensive mistakes before they ever reach production.

Features of CloudBurn

Automated Pull Request Cost Analysis

CloudBurn integrates seamlessly into your GitHub workflow to provide fully automated cost visibility. Every time a pull request containing Terraform or AWS CDK changes is opened or updated, the tool automatically triggers. It captures the infrastructure diff, processes it against real AWS pricing APIs, and generates a detailed cost report that is posted directly as a comment in the PR thread. This hands-off automation ensures no change slips through without financial scrutiny, embedding cost governance directly into your CI/CD pipeline without requiring manual intervention from your team.

Real-Time, Region-Specific AWS Pricing

The tool doesn't rely on stale, estimated pricing. CloudBurn pulls live pricing data directly from AWS Price List API for your specific deployment region and accounts for your chosen instance types, storage volumes, and managed services. This guarantees that the cost estimates you see during code review reflect exactly what you will be charged, accounting for regional price variations and specific resource configurations like EC2 instance families, EBS volume types, and Fargate task definitions.

Granular Resource-Level Cost Breakdown

The PR comment doesn't just show a lump sum. It provides a clear, line-item breakdown of every changed resource. You see the current cost (if any), the new projected monthly cost, and the delta for each component, such as individual EC2 instances, RDS databases, or Lambda function configurations. This granularity is crucial for pinpointing exactly which change is driving cost increases and facilitates informed discussions on whether a larger instance is necessary or if a configuration can be optimized.

Secure GitHub-First Integration & Setup

Security and simplicity are paramount. CloudBurn is installed directly from the GitHub Marketplace, and all billing, permissions, and setup are handled 100% through your GitHub account. You grant access only to the necessary repositories. The analysis is performed by adding a trusted GitHub Action to your workflow files, meaning your Terraform state or AWS credentials are never exposed to a third-party service. This GitHub-native approach ensures a secure, familiar, and low-friction onboarding process.

Use Cases of CloudBurn

Preventing Costly Misconfigurations in Code Review

The primary use case is catching expensive errors before deployment. A developer might accidentally specify a t3.xlarge instance instead of a t3.micro, or provision a provisioned IOPS SSD volume where a general-purpose SSD would suffice. During manual review, these details are easy to miss. CloudBurn flags the exact cost implication of that specific line change in the PR, allowing the team to question it immediately and correct a mistake that could otherwise cost thousands per month.

Enabling Data-Driven Architecture Decisions

Teams can use CloudBurn to compare the cost impact of different architectural approaches directly in a feature branch. For example, when debating whether to use EC2 instances versus AWS Fargate for a new service, developers can create PRs for both options. CloudBurn provides immediate cost comparisons for each design, turning architectural discussions from theoretical debates into data-driven decisions based on concrete operational expenditure forecasts.

Implementing Proactive FinOps & Budget Guardrails

Platform and FinOps teams can use CloudBurn to establish proactive cost governance. By making cost estimates a mandatory part of every infrastructure code review, they create a consistent feedback loop that raises cost awareness across all engineering teams. This shifts the organization from a reactive "bill shock" culture to a proactive "cost-aware development" culture, where engineers are empowered with the data to make smarter, more economical choices autonomously.

Streamlining Compliance and Audit Processes

For teams with strict compliance needs or internal chargeback models, CloudBurn provides an automated audit trail. Every cost estimate is logged directly in the pull request, creating a permanent record of the financial justification for every infrastructure change. This documentation is invaluable for audits, explaining budget variances, and understanding the historical cost drivers of a deployed service, all linked directly to the code that caused it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does CloudBurn calculate the costs?

CloudBurn uses the official AWS Price List API to fetch real-time, region-specific pricing for all AWS services. When you create a pull request, our system analyzes the infrastructure diff (from terraform plan or cdk diff), identifies the resources being created, modified, or destroyed, and matches them to their corresponding AWS SKUs. It then calculates the projected monthly cost based on the listed On-Demand pricing, assuming 24/7 operation, and presents a detailed breakdown in the PR.

Is my Terraform state or AWS credentials exposed to CloudBurn?

No, absolutely not. CloudBurn operates on a secure, GitHub-native model. You install a GitHub Action that runs terraform plan or cdk diff locally within your own CI/CD environment. This action then sends only the output of that command (the plain-text diff) to CloudBurn for cost analysis. Your actual Terraform state files, AWS access keys, or cloud credentials never leave your secure environment. All communication is handled via GitHub.

What infrastructure-as-code tools does CloudBurn support?

CloudBurn currently provides first-class, automated support for the two most popular IaC frameworks: HashiCorp Terraform and AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK). For each tool, we offer a dedicated GitHub Action (Terraform Plan PR Commenter and AWS CDK Diff PR Commenter) that seamlessly integrates into your workflow to capture the diff and trigger the cost analysis.

Can I use CloudBurn for free?

Yes. CloudBurn offers a Community plan that is free to use forever with core functionality. For teams that need advanced features like cost history, trend analysis, team reporting, and custom budget alerts, we provide a Pro plan with a 14-day free trial. You can start with the Community plan directly from the GitHub Marketplace and upgrade at any time.