OpenCost: Advancing Cost Management in Kubernetes

The OpenCost project, an open-source cost and resources management tool, has experienced significant growth and development in 2025. This tool, which is an Incubating project in the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), continues to gain traction among Kubernetes users worldwide.

Key Releases and Improvements

In 2025, OpenCost had 11 releases, each introducing new features and capabilities to enhance user experience and contribution opportunities. Some notable advancements include:

• Promless:

  Users can now configure OpenCost to run without Prometheus, using environment variables set via Helm. Additionally, the Collector Datasource (beta) can be run without Prometheus.

• OpenCost MCP Server:

  AI agents can now query cost data in real-time using natural language, analyze spending patterns, generate cost reports and recommendations, and provide other insights from OpenCost data.

• Export System:

  A generic export framework has been implemented to make it possible to export cost data in a type-safe manner.

• Diagnostics System:

  OpenCost now features a complete diagnostic framework with an interface, runners, and export capabilities.

• Heartbeat System:

  System health tracking can be achieved with timestamped heartbeat events for export and other purposes.

• Cloud Providers:

  There have been continued improvements to help users track cloud and multi-cloud metrics. Contributions from Oracle and DigitalOcean have been instrumental in this progress.

Mentorship and Community Growth

OpenCost remains committed to fostering mentorship, and the project has welcomed several talented mentees in 2025. These individuals have contributed significantly to the community with their innovative ideas and support.

• Manas Sivakumar:

  Manas, a summer 2025 mentee, focused on writing Integration tests for OpenCost's enterprise readiness. His work is now part of the OpenCost integration testing pipeline for all future contributions.

• Adesh Pal:

  Adesh, another mentee, made a significant impact with the OpenCost MCP server. The MCP server now comes by default and requires no configuration, offering readable markdown on metrics and step-by-step suggestions for improvements.

• Sparsh Raj:

  Sparsh, a long-time community member, has become the most recent mentee. Sparsh has written a blog post on KubeModel, which forms the foundation of OpenCost's Data Model 2.0, addressing the need for a robust and scalable data model that can handle Kubernetes complexity and shifting resources.

• Tamao Nakahara:

  Tamao joined the IBM Kubecost team for a few months, bringing open source and developer experience expertise to the project. Tamao helped organize regular community meetings, improving the UX for new and returning users and bringing in Ginger Walker to help clean up the documentation.

Events and Collaboration

As a CNCF incubating project, OpenCost has participated in key KubeCon events, providing opportunities for maintainers, contributors, and users to share their knowledge and collaborate on the project's development.

• KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Atlanta 2025:

  Maintainer Matt Bolt from IBM Kubecost kicked off the week with a Project Lightning talk, while Rajith Attapattu, CTO of contributing company Randoli, gave a talk on OpenCost. Dee Zeis, Rajith, and Tamao answered questions at the OpenCost kiosk in the Project Pavilion.

• KubeCon + CloudNativeCon in London and Japan:

  The team gave talks and ran the OpenCost kiosks at both events, sharing their insights and progress with the community.

Looking Forward to 2026

With the momentum gained in 2025, OpenCost is eager to continue its growth and development in 2026. Some key focus areas for the coming year include:

• KubeModel:

  Sparsh Raj, a recent mentee, is working on KubeModel, which will be crucial for improvements to OpenCost's data model.

• AI Adoption:

  As AI continues to increase in adoption, the team is working on building out costing features to track AI usage.

• Supply Chain Security:

  Supply chain security improvements are a priority for the OpenCost project.

We look forward to seeing more of you in the OpenCost community in 2026!

In the North East region of India, businesses and organizations leveraging Kubernetes for their applications can benefit significantly from OpenCost's advancements in cost and resource management. By tracking and optimizing their Kubernetes spending, these entities can improve their operational efficiency and reduce costs, ultimately driving innovation and growth in the region. As OpenCost continues to evolve and expand its capabilities, it presents an exciting opportunity for the Kubernetes community in India to adopt and contribute to this open-source project.