We have been very proud of the simplicity of the pricing model on CloudKarafka, with a fixed monthly price that includes every feature you need. However, this needs to change to keep up with the models of modern cloud infrastructure, especially the data transfer costs.
Data transfer (DT) is a category of costs the cloud providers charge for traffic that goes in and out to the hardware they manage. This complex part of the infrastructure comes with a lot of variables including the traffic destination and even the region from which you deploy your services. For those interested, here is a similar article by AWS about their data costs.
We strive to maintain simplicity in our pricing. However, the inclusion of DT costs has created complications in our overall pricing structure. Let us explain why.
DT is a big part of the total cost when using cloud providers directly. With no limits on the network bandwidth of your CloudKarafka clusters, it means that we are paying the bill for this. The result is that some customers pay more than necessary when only sending small amounts of data. Imagine, for example, a test/staging cluster that is mostly idle. On the contrary, there are customers who push their hardware to the maximum and naturally cost more.
With the above in mind, to make it fairer to the end customer so they pay for actual use, we are changing the pricing model on CloudKarafka. The end price will be based on three things:
- A fixed starting price, including access to all features on CloudKarafka, support, SLA, the actual instance, etc. It also includes 128GB of disk. The prices are fixed, but depending on the amount of RAM and number of nodes in your cluster, there are different price levels.
- A fixed price for the amount of disk space you need. We include 128GB in the basic price mentioned in number 1. If you need more than that, you can purchase extra for a rate of 0.09$ per GB on each node in your cluster.
- The DT costs. In comparison to the two other parts, this one will be added in retrospect to your invoice, as we donβt know how much network traffic you will use in advance. We will fetch a detailed usage report from the cloud provider daily, sum up all the actual usage costs, and add it to your invoice.
In conclusion, these three things will add up at the end of the month to determine your total cost for the cluster. Going forward, customers with low network bandwidth might reduce their total cost, while some high bandwidth customers might increase their total cost to CloudKarafka.
We do hope that this change makes sense to you. Feel free to contact support at support@cloudkarafka.com if you have any questions!
You can also learn more about the current changes we're making for CloudKarafka in the blog post: Get your Apache Kafka cluster with CloudKarafka's new flexible plan and on our pricing page.
FAQ
How much will DT cost me?
It all depends on how much data you send. If it's minimal, the cost of transferring data will be practically nothing. You can use our cost calculator to get an estimate.
How does it work if I want to cancel my subscription early?
We still charge you prorated down to the second. The last 24 hours are on the house, so if you delete your subscription, you will get charged for the data transfer up to that point.
What are the three different kinds of DT shown in the console?
- Intra-region β Traffic inside the region only, which is the cheapest.
- Cross-region β Traffic staying within the cloud provider but across regions.
- Public β Traffic going out on the public internet, which is the most expensive.
How can I reduce my DT costs?
The most costly form of traffic is the one going to the public internet. If you peer your VPC with the one your CloudKarafka cluster is hosted within, it can save you a lot as traffic will be intra-region instead of public.
Can I set a limit on the total cost?
Not at the moment, but we intend to build a limit or a notification feature that will help keep you to your intended limit. Reach out to our support if you have any requirements, and we will see what we can do.
What happens to subscriptions already running?
They will not be affected. However, in the future, we will push you towards migrating to this new setup.
Can I change the fixed prices at a later stage?
Yes, both instance type and disk size can be adjusted automatically. Depending on your setup, some of these operations might cause downtime. Contact support if you need clarification.
