There is no doubt that Amazon ECS usage is on the rise. And why not? It is a powerful tool, offering unparalleled flexibility and scalability for your containerized applications. In fact, over 65% of new AWS container customers use Amazon ECS.

However, the convenience and agility of ECS can sometimes come with a hidden cost leading to unpredictable and escalating cloud bills. For organizations striving to maintain a competitive edge, keeping those costs in check is not just desirable - it's essential.  Unoptimized ECS spending can quickly strain your budget, hindering growth and innovation.

If you find yourself wrestling with the complexities of managing ECS costs, rest assured, you're not alone. Many organizations face the same challenge. In this blog, we'll discuss the leading tools specifically designed to empower you to take charge of your ECS spending. From real-time monitoring and intelligent resource allocation to automated scaling and cost anomaly detection, these tools equip you with the insights and capabilities needed to achieve a leaner, more efficient cloud infrastructure.

But before we explore these powerful tools, let's first lay a solid foundation by understanding the core principles of cost optimization within the context of Amazon ECS.

What Is Amazon ECS Optimization?

Amazon ECS optimization is a multi-faceted approach to maximizing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of your containerized applications running on Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS). It encompasses both engineering optimization, which focuses on fine-tuning your ECS infrastructure and application configurations to improve performance and resource utilization, and financial optimization, which centers on minimizing cloud spending and maximizing the value of your AWS investment.

It’s about striking the perfect balance between technical efficiency and financial prudence. It involves identifying and eliminating waste, right-sizing resources, leveraging cost-saving features, and continuously monitoring and adjusting your environment to ensure optimal performance and cost-efficiency.

By adopting a holistic approach to ECS optimization, you can not only reduce your cloud bills but also enhance the performance, scalability, and reliability of your applications.

Why Should You Optimize Your Amazon ECS Costs?

Unlike traditional on-premise infrastructure with its fixed costs, Amazon ECS operates on a usage-based model where expenses can fluctuate. While ECS offers great flexibility through features like auto-scaling, these same features can lead to unexpected cost increases if not carefully managed.

Therefore, it is essential to use cost optimization tools designed explicitly for ECS. These tools help you track your spending in real-time, spot any unusual activity, and give you clear information on how to improve things.

Let’s take a look at how you can choose the right ECS cost optimization tool.

Key Criteria for Selecting the Right Tool for ECS Cost Optimization

When it comes to choosing the right tool for ECS cost optimization, certain key features are essential to ensure effective cost management.

1. Task Optimization

Your ideal tool should provide the ability to adjust CPU and memory allocations for individual ECS tasks with precision. It's not just about scaling up or down; you need the flexibility to make micro-adjustments as your workload demands change.

2. Instance Optimization

To achieve an ideal balance between cost and performance within your ECS clusters, you need a tool that intelligently analyzes your workload patterns and resource utilization. This analysis helps you select the most appropriate EC2 instance types and determine the optimal number of nodes necessary to meet your application's performance demands without overspending. The tool should go beyond static recommendations, enabling you to rightsize both - the types of instances used and the number of nodes running at any given time.

3. ECS Auto Scaling 

The tool should enable automatic scaling of your ECS tasks based on various metrics. These could include standard metrics like CPU and memory usage, or custom metrics tailored to your specific application needs. The goal is to effortlessly handle demand spikes without over-provisioning during periods of low activity.

4. Purchase Optimization

To get the best mix of cost and performance, you need to manage different types of compute instances (like Spot and On-Demand) in your ECS clusters. The tool should help you make decisions about the best mix for you and show you how things are being used in real-time.

5. Management  Effort 

ECS cost optimization tools offer various levels of automation, from simple recommendations you implement yourself to sophisticated AI-driven systems that handle optimization autonomously. The right choice for you depends on your environment's complexity, your team's expertise, and your desired level of control.

6. Service Discovery

For seamless operation of your microservices architecture within ECS, you need tools that simplify service discovery. This means your tools should make it easy for services to find and communicate with each other, even as your environment scales and changes. Ideally, your tools would automate this process, helping to reduce manual configuration and potential errors.

Now that you know the criteria for choosing Amazon ECS cost optimization tools, let’s discuss some of the best tools you can use.

Top 10 ECS Cost Optimization Tools

Explore the top 10 ECS cost optimization tools that can transform your cloud spending strategy. We've carefully curated this list to include both third-party solutions and native AWS tools, explaining their unique strengths and capabilities.

Third Party Tools for ECS Cost Optimization 

First, let’s discuss the third party solutions available for ECS cost optimization.

1. Sedai

Overview

Sedai uses AI to optimize your Amazon ECS setup. It automatically changes how resources are used at the task and container level, making sure you're using the right amount of CPU and memory.

Unique Features

• Dynamically adjusts ECS task settings in real-time to match performance goals and workload demands.
• Adapts and improves its optimization strategies over time through reinforcement learning.
• Uniquely combines cost and performance data to ensure optimal user experience while reducing costs.

Key Benefits

• Automatically adjusts CPU and memory for each task, preventing waste and performance issues.
• Dynamically scales tasks to meet demand, balancing cost and performance.
• Optimizes the mix of Spot and On-Demand instances for cost savings and reliability.
• Monitors container health to maintain application reliability.

Review Highlights from G2

• Pros: Real-time optimization, cost efficiency, granular control, AI-powered automation.
• Cons: Higher cost for smaller organizations, steep learning curve for new users.

Key Customers

Companies like Palo Alto, Experian, HP, and KnowBe4 use Sedai.

Price

Sedai uses a subscription model. The price depends on how big your ECS environment is and what features you need.

2. Densify

Overview

Densify employs AI-driven optimization techniques to analyze your ECS workloads and recommend the most efficient configurations like adjustment to CPU and memory settings. This intelligent approach helps you maximize resource utilization and minimize costs without sacrificing performance.

Unique Features

• Provides optimization recommendations based on the existing Kubernetes model, mapping ECS services and tasks to Kubernetes replica sets and pods respectively.
• Built-in cloud governance helps maintain compliance with industry and internal standards.

Key Benefits

• AI-powered insights help identify cost-saving opportunities and improve efficiency.
• Ensures cost reduction while maintaining compliance with organizational policies like tagging policies, spot instance utilization policies, auto-scaling policies, security standards, and more.

Review Highlights from G2

• Pros: Ease of use, simple configuration, and active customer support.
• Cons: Sluggish UI, invalid recommendations.

Key Customers

Companies like Intel, AutoDesk, and SAP use Densify.

Price

Densify has a subscription model. The price depends on how complex and large your ECS environment is.

3. CloudHealth

Overview

CloudHealth by VMware provides a comprehensive solution for managing and optimizing cloud resources, particularly for Amazon ECS (Elastic Container Service). It enables organizations to gain visibility into their containerized workloads by aggregating data from ECS and leveraging Amazon CloudWatch for real-time reporting on resource allocation and costs.  Note that Amazon ECS capabilities in the Tanzu CloudHealth are going to be deprecated soon according to the company.

Unique Features

• Provides detailed visibility into resource allocation and costs
• Enables customizable reporting on container usage and costs based on CPU, memory, or custom metrics
• Integrates with Amazon CloudWatch to gather ECS events for comprehensive cost allocation and utilization analysis

Key Benefits

• Allows users to create tailored reports to analyze container usage and associated costs effectively.
• Helps organizations identify opportunities to reduce spending by analyzing usage patterns and providing recommendations for cost-saving measures.

Review Highlights from G2

• Pros: Cost efficiency, cost tracking, and ease of use
• Cons: Inadequate reporting

Key Customers

Companies like Yelp and Segment use CloudHealth.

Price

CloudHealth’s pricing model is tied to the level of cloud spend being managed.

4. Granulate (Intel® Tiber™ App-Level Optimization)

Overview

Granulate is an AI-driven optimization platform that helps reduce costs and improve performance for containerized applications running on Amazon ECS. It analyzes application behavior and resource utilization in real-time, then automatically applies optimizations like dynamic CPU allocation, memory management, and I/O prioritization at the process level. This allows Granulate to optimize resource usage and reduce costs by up to 45% without requiring any code changes or manual tuning. By continuously adapting to changing application demands, Granulate helps ensure optimal cost-efficiency for ECS workloads.

Unique Features

• Automatically adjusts resource allocation based on live application performance and usage patterns.
• Implements optimizations without requiring modifications to application code, simplifying deployment.
• Allocates CPU and memory resources dynamically at the process level, optimizing performance without manual intervention.

Key Benefits

• Can reduce cloud costs through efficient resource utilization and management.
• Maximizes the use of available resources, leading to better overall efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Review Highlights from G2

• Pros: Cost reduction, improvement in app performance
• Cons: Steep learning curve

Key Customers

Companies like Snapchat, Dream11, and Drift  use Granulate.

Price

Granulate offers flexible pricing plans for performance optimization and cost reduction solutions across different environments.

5. Spot

Overview

Spot automates the management of AWS Spot Instances within your ECS environment.  This helps you achieve significant cost savings while ensuring the reliability and availability of your services, even in the face of potential Spot Instance interruptions.

Unique Features

• Advanced Spot Instance management tailored for your containerized environment.
• Optimize costs without sacrificing performance by balancing Spot and On-Demand instances.

Key Benefits

• Save up to 70% on ECS costs with intelligent Spot Instance usage.
• Maintain service uptime even with Spot Instance interruptions.

Review Highlights from G2

• Pros: Affordable, automation efficiency, cloud integration, cost efficiency.
• Cons: Fluctuating cost instance availability, reliance on Cloud Service Provider (CSP).

Key Customers

Porter, Pivotree, and Finova use Spot to optimize cost and improve customer visibility.

Price

Spot uses a pay-as-you-go model. You're charged based on how much you spend on AWS resources that are managed through the platform.

6. CloudZero

Overview

CloudZero provides granular cost intelligence for your ECS environment, breaking down your expenses to the level of individual tasks, containers, and services. This level of detail allows you to pinpoint exactly where your ECS costs are coming from, empowering you to make informed decisions about resource allocation and optimization.

Unique Features

• Track your ECS costs in real-time and get alerts when things change.
• Create custom reports that focus on the metrics that matter to your business.

Key Benefits

• See exactly where your ECS money goes with detailed cost breakdowns.
• Catch unexpected cost spikes early with real-time anomaly detection.

Review Highlights from G2

• Pros: Cost reduction, cost saving, customization
• Cons: Poor documentation, configuration issues, steep learning curve

Key Customers

Companies like NinjaCat, SmartBear, and MalwareBytes use CloudZero.

Price

CloudZero uses a subscription model. The price depends on how big your environment is and which features you use.

7.  nOps

Overview

nOps provides a comprehensive suite of tools and features to gain actionable insights into your Amazon ECS costs, enabling you to identify and implement cost-saving opportunities with its guidance, ensuring you're using the appropriate amount of compute and memory for your workloads.

It also helps you maximize the value of AWS Savings Plans by providing insights into your EC2 usage patterns and identifying opportunities to apply Savings Plans for further cost savings.

Unique Features

• Gives real-time rightsizing recommendations for optimal performance and cost.
• Shows you exactly how your Savings Plans are being used so you can find more ways to save.

Key Benefits

• Ensures efficient resource use and prevents overspending.
• Helps you get the most out of your AWS Savings Plans.

Review Highlights from G2

• Pros: Ease of use and cost savings.
• Cons: Limited features and complexity.

Key Customers

Companies like Camlin, CargoChief, and FC2 use nOps.

Price

nOps is a subscription-based service. The price depends on how big your ECS deployment is.

8. Apptio Cloudability

Overview

Apptio Cloudability offers a comprehensive suite of financial management tools tailored specifically for Amazon ECS environments. The platform provides a range of features that help organizations gain deeper insights into their ECS costs and make informed decisions to optimize their cloud spending.

One of the key aspects of Cloudability's ECS-specific offerings is its container cost management capabilities. The platform allows users to track costs at the container level, enabling them to understand the financial impact of individual services and tasks.

.

Unique Features

• Detailed financial reports and analytics designed to address the unique requirements of containerized workloads running on ECS.
• Alignment with ECS environments enables detailed cost reporting that reflects the organizational structure and helps teams understand their cloud spending in relation to specific ECS tasks and services.

Key Benefits

• Powerful tools for tracking ECS costs like budgeting & forecasting tools and anomaly detection.
• By analyzing actual usage and performance metrics of ECS tasks and services, Cloudability identifies opportunities to optimize resource allocation.

Review Highlights from G2

• Pros: Good reporting feature, cost management, and cost tracking.
• Cons: UI could be better, difficult to use.

Key Customers

Red Hat, Red Ventures, OLX Group are some of the companies that use Cloudability.

Price

Apptio Cloudability works on a subscription basis. The price depends on which features you use and how big your environment is.

Native AWS Tools for ECS Cost Optimization

Now, let’s take a look at the Native AWS tools for ECS cost optimization.

9. AWS Compute Optimizer

Overview

AWS Compute Optimizer analyzes your historical usage patterns to suggest ways to improve your AWS resources, including your ECS instances. By examining how you've used your resources in the past, Compute Optimizer can identify opportunities for optimization and cost savings.

Unique Features

• Offers ECS-specific insights like rightsizing recommendations, performance risk assessment, cost saving opportunities, etc, for optimizing container-level resource usage.
• Core functionality is free to use.

Key Benefits

• Recommends cost-effective instance types based on historical usage data.
• Provides clear recommendations for reducing AWS costs without compromising performance.

Review Highlights from G2

• Pros: Cost reduction, helpful recommendations, automation.
• Cons: Steep learning curve, limited features.

Key Customers

Companies like Netflix, Spotify, and CocaCola use AWS Compute Optimizer for their computing and storage needs.

Price

AWS Compute Optimizer is integrated with the AWS Management Console and is free for primary purposes. However, advanced features may incur additional costs.

10. AWS Cost and Usage Report (CUR)

Overview

AWS CUR gives you a detailed look at your ECS costs, breaking them down by task, service, and cluster. It's mainly a reporting tool, focusing on tracking and analyzing past cost data rather than making real-time changes or actively managing costs.

Unique Features

• Generates focused reports to identify cost drivers and align spending with business goals.
• Integrates with AWS Cost Explorer and gives deeper insights into cost patterns, resource usage, and spending trends for data-driven decisions.

Key Benefits

• You can enable "Split Cost Allocation Data" in CUR to get container-level costs for ECS tasks by analyzing resource consumption.
• You can create tailored reports to track specific ECS costs, identify trends, and plan your budget proactively.

Review Highlights from G2

• Pros: Cost effective, customizable reporting, lightweight interface.
• Cons: Overwhelming for new users, setting up reports can be complex.

Key Customers

Airbnb and Wildlife Studios use AWS Cost and Usage Report to reduce their cost and get insights into their cloud spending patterns.

Price

AWS CUR is free to use, but you might have to pay extra if you store large reports in Amazon S3 or use advanced analytics features.

11. AWS Budgets

Overview

AWS Budgets is a cost management tool that lets you set your own spending limits and get alerts if your ECS costs are getting close to or going over those limits. It's focused on keeping an eye on your costs through reports, and not on actively controlling or optimizing them.

Unique Features

• Offers real-time alerts to enable quick response to potential overspending.
• Integrates with other AWS services to trigger automated cost-control actions.

Key Benefits

• Prevents overspending by providing real-time alerts when costs approach or exceed limits.
• Enables automated actions to control costs when spending reaches certain levels.

Review Highlights from G2

• Pros: Cost reduction, alerting system, cost management.
• Cons: Billing issues.

Key Customers

Bose Corporation, Snyk, and Zelis are some companies that use AWS Budgets.

Price

AWS Budgets is free if you only need up to two alerts each month. If you need more alerts or use it more, you might have to pay a fee.

12. AWS Trusted Advisor

Overview

AWS Trusted Advisor provides personalized recommendations and best practices tailored to your specific ECS environments. This helps you optimize costs and adhere to industry standards.

Unique Features

• Offers tailored cost optimization recommendations specific to your ECS workloads.
• Analyzes ECS task definitions and container instances to identify opportunities for optimizing CPU and memory allocations, helping reduce over-provisioning and costs.

Key Benefits

• Identifies underutilized resources and recommends rightsizing for optimal cost and performance.
• Provides security and performance insights to ensure a robust ECS environment.

Review Highlights from G2

• Pros: Security
• Cons: Configuration issues

Key Customers

PicPay is one company that uses AWS Trusted Advisor.

Price

AWS Trusted Advisor offers some basic checks for free. To get all the checks and recommendations, you'll need an AWS Business or Enterprise Support plan.

With an understanding of the individual tools, it's time to see how they stack up against each other.

Comparison of Amazon ECS Cost Optimization Tools

To help you make an informed decision, we've compiled a comparison table of the tools we've discussed. These tables break down the features, capabilities, and unique offerings of each tool across key optimization categories, such as management effort, rightsizing capabilities, scaling automation, and autonomous actions. By reviewing these overviews, you can evaluate which tools align best with your organization's operational needs, cost-efficiency goals, and desired level of automation. Each table offers insight into different optimization features, helping you make an informed choice tailored to your specific requirements.

Wrapping Up

Remember, effectively managing your AWS costs isn't a one-time task. It's about continuously making sure your cloud spending aligns with your company's goals. You can achieve this by using advanced tools that automatically manage and optimize your costs, ensuring your Amazon ECS environments remain both efficient and scalable.

Sedai offers a unique solution for optimizing your ECS costs. It uses artificial intelligence to automatically adjust your cloud resources in real-time. This ensures that your ECS workloads are always using the right amount of resources and helps you avoid unnecessary spending while keeping your applications running smoothly.  It supports both EC2 and Fargate compute models.

Add Sedai to your ECS management process and take your AWS cost optimization to the next level. With its ability to significantly cut costs and boost performance, Sedai is the perfect tool to ensure you're getting the most value from your AWS investment. Schedule a demo today!