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Cost Explorer

AvailableReviewed 21 August 2026

Cost Explorer is the analysis surface. Use it when a Dashboard total needs an explanation.

Cost Explorer with daily cost chart and a table of service, account, region and spend
Default view: last 30 days, grouped by service, effective cost.

Before you begin​

  • Know which provider bill you will compare against.
  • Prefer a completed month for the first reconciliation.

Open a useful view​

  1. Open Cost Explorer.
  2. Select the provider chip, or leave All.
  3. Set the date range to 7d, 30d or 90d.
  4. Read Selected spend and Accounts in scope.
  5. Scan the daily chart for a material step-change.
  6. Use the table to see service, account and region together.

What the columns mean​

ColumnUse
ServiceProvider service name (for example Amazon EC2, Azure Virtual Machines, BigQuery)
AccountLinked account, subscription or project label in the cost model
RegionWhere the usage was billed
SpendAmount for the selected range and cost type

Drill further​

When one row dominates:

  1. Note service, account and region.
  2. Follow Drill-down to resource-level evidence.
  3. If the movement is unexpected, open Investigate a cost spike rather than guessing.

Expected result​

You can name the services and accounts that explain the Dashboard total for the selected range.