Highlights:

  • Kubecost’s main product, Kubecost Cloud, is built on the open-source OpenCost project.
  • IBM will integrate Kubecost into its FinOps Suite, enhancing its cost monitoring toolset with Apptio, Cloudability, Instana, and Turbonomic.

Recently, IBM Corp acquires Kubecost, a startup that specializes in Kubernetes cost management, to boost its cloud financial operations capabilities.

The company has not disclosed the purchase price for acquiring Kubecost, officially known as Stackwatch Inc., but this marks the latest in a series of acquisitions involving similar companies.

Founded in 2019 and based in San Francisco, Kubecost developed a cloud-based service that helps organizations monitor and optimize Kubernetes clusters, which host modern application components. The platform is designed to ensure efficient use of computing resources, facilitating improved cost management.

Kubecost’s flagship product, Kubecost Cloud, is built on the open-source OpenCost project. It offers developers and engineering teams precise, actionable cost data for Kubernetes installations, along with various tools to help lower the costs of running the software. Deployed within any Kubernetes cluster, it works to identify cost-saving opportunities without compromising application performance.

This emphasis on efficiency aligns with IBM’s broader initiatives in FinOps. In June 2023, IBM acquired Apptio Inc., a startup that offers tools for analyzing data from financial, operational, and billing systems, providing a fact-based understanding of technology costs, quality, and value.

Before that acquisition, IBM had already made other investments, acquiring startups Turbonomic Inc. and Instana Inc., both focused on cloud cost optimization. In 2019, Apptio also acquired Cloudability Inc., a startup focused on tracking multicloud costs.

Kubecost Co-founder and CEO Webb Brown shared his enthusiasm for the acquisition. “We started with Kubernetes cost monitoring, and we’ve proudly become the most widely adopted solution in the cloud native ecosystem. Now, because of this merger, we’re poised to accelerate our mission by delivering broader, end-to-end cost management solutions to teams everywhere,” he said.