# Cloud cost optimisation: 9 ways to cut your cloud bill

Published 21 August 2026. Updated 17 September 2026. By the LOLCorp engineering team.

**Short answer:** Cut cloud costs by measuring spend first, then right-sizing oversized resources, switching off idle environments, deleting unused assets, committing to discounts for steady workloads, using cheaper storage tiers, reducing data transfer and setting budgets and alerts. Review monthly, because usage changes.

## Start by seeing where the money goes
You cannot reduce what you cannot see. Tag resources by project and environment, turn on the provider’s cost reporting and review it monthly. AWS, Azure and Google Cloud all publish cost-optimisation guidance, for example the AWS Well-Architected cost optimisation pillar.

## Nine ways to reduce spend

- Right-size: match instance and database sizes to real usage, not worst-case guesses.
- Switch off non-production environments outside working hours.
- Delete unused volumes, snapshots, load balancers and old test resources.
- Use commitment discounts (reserved capacity or savings plans) for steady, predictable workloads.
- Use autoscaling so capacity follows demand instead of being fixed at peak.
- Move rarely accessed data to cheaper storage tiers with lifecycle rules.
- Reduce data transfer: cache content, use a CDN and keep chatty services in the same region.
- Review managed-service choices; sometimes simpler, smaller services are enough.
- Set budgets and alerts so surprises show up in days, not at month end.

## Balance cost with reliability and security
Cheapest is not always best. Cutting backups, redundancy or monitoring to save money can cost far more when something fails. Optimise waste first; trim resilience only where the risk is understood and accepted.

## Make it a habit, not a project
Cost drifts as teams add services and traffic changes. Build a monthly review, assign an owner and automate alerts. Infrastructure as code helps because environments can be created and torn down consistently.

## A 30-day cost-reduction plan

- Week 1: turn on cost reporting, tag resources and find the top five cost lines
- Week 2: delete unused assets and schedule non-production shutdowns
- Week 3: right-size the largest databases and instances
- Week 4: evaluate commitment discounts and set budgets and alerts

## Build cost awareness into the team
Cost management works best as a shared habit. The FinOps Foundation describes the practice of bringing engineering, finance and the business together around cloud spend. Even a lightweight monthly review with clear ownership delivers most of the benefit.

## Getting help
Our cloud management service covers audits, migration, infrastructure as code, monitoring and ongoing optimisation across AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, and we operate our own platforms such as ChatLOL. If you run a product, see how cost fits into building a SaaS product. For the whole lifecycle, read the complete guide.

Cost control works best alongside regular maintenance and sound security practice, because outages and incidents are expensive too.

## FAQ
### How much can cloud optimisation save?
It varies by environment. Audits commonly find savings in oversized, idle or forgotten resources, but results depend on your setup.

### Should I use reserved capacity?
Only for steady workloads you are confident will keep running. Spiky or uncertain workloads suit on-demand or autoscaling.

### Is multi-cloud cheaper?
Not usually. It adds complexity. Choose one provider unless you have a clear reason to spread workloads.

## Sources
- [AWS Well-Architected: cost optimisation pillar](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/cost-optimization-pillar/welcome.html)
- [Google Cloud Architecture Framework: cost optimisation](https://cloud.google.com/architecture/framework/cost-optimization)

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Canonical page: https://lolcorp.co.uk/guides/cloud-cost-optimisation/
Publisher: LOLCorp PVT LTD (Company No. 15380538), 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom. Phone +44 20 3576 3417, email hello@lolcorp.co.uk.
Last generated: 2026-10-25