Billing Breakdown and Optimization

Shared Clusters

Shared clusters are ideal for learning and exploring MongoDB in a sandbox environment. Shared cluster considerations include:

• Multiple clusters share hardware. The underlying compute is on a large machine that hosts many shared clusters, which impacts maximum performance and storage capacity.

• Despite the shared hardware, all data is secure and accessible only by you.

• Shared clusters do not have access to advanced features such as query diagnosis tools and horizontal scaling, which makes them a good fit for non-production use cases.

Dedicated Clusters

Dedicated clusters are designed for more robust workloads, offering greater control and guaranteed resources:

• Your cluster's hardware is dedicated to your workload. Dedicated hardware provides granularity in the control of hardware specifications like RAM, vCPU, and storage.

• We guarantee the availability of the specified resources, which ensures consistent performance.

• Backup settings are more robust in dedicated clusters. You can configure backup settings for dedicated clusters with granularity as low as one-second intervals.

• You have access to our premium diagnostic tools such as Performance Advisor and Query Insights.

Shared Cluster Billing

Billing for shared clusters is straightforward and designed to keep costs low and predictable.

Shared clusters feature:

• Typically ranges from $0 to $25 per month, depending on the specific tier.

• There are no additional charges for features that are unavailable in this tier, including backups, vertical cluster scaling, query diagnostics, and horizontal scaling (sharding). Exclusion of these features makes shared clusters a good option for experimenting and exploring Atlas without worrying about unexpected costs.

Dedicated Cluster Billing

Billing for dedicated clusters is more complex, which reflects the enhanced capabilities and resources:

• Starts at $60 per month, which typically includes compute and included storage costs.

• There may be usage fees for services such as backups (depending on frequency and configuration), storage beyond the default cluster tier threshold, and data transfers.

• The selected tier impacts the structure of your invoice, with various line items reflecting different aspects of your cluster's usage.

Underutilized Clusters

• Use auto-scaling for both cluster tier and storage to match your usage and prevent over-provisioning.

• For dedicated clusters, consider scaling down to a lower tier or pausing the cluster if you won't use it for an extended period.

High Backup Frequency

• If continuous backups aren’t necessary for a cluster, disable this feature to reduce costs.

• Lower the frequency of backups for less critical clusters.

Optimize Data Transfer Patterns

Whenever possible, opt for same-provider, same-region data transfer to minimize costs. Only use inter-region or internet transfers when necessary. Locating your cluster in the same region as most of your traffic — likely where you host your application — can greatly reduce data transfer costs.

Optimize Queries

Queries that take a long time to execute can increase resource usage, requiring higher-tier clusters. Optimize these queries to reduce resource consumption and lower costs as a result.

Optimize Storage

Use features like online archive or TTL indexes to move older data from more expensive hot storage to less expensive cold storage. After you archive data, you can access the data through Atlas Data Federation.

Use Cost Explorer

Regularly use the Cost Explorer tool to monitor spending patterns at the organization, project, cluster, and service levels. Set a frequency that works for your needs.

Set Alerts

Configure billing alerts for key thresholds, such as when your monthly costs exceed a certain amount. For example, set an alert when costs exceed $100. This proactive approach helps you avoid surprises.

Review Invoices

Each month, review your invoice to assess the highest-cost services using the previous billing optimization suggestions. This is a recommended best practice to identify cost reduction opportunities.

If you see unexpected changes on your invoice, check your cloud computing costs, which are often the largest portion of your bill. You can review cloud computing costs in the Summary By Service card of any invoice within the Atlas Billing section. The Summary By Service view shows the costs of all clusters by provider, tier, and region.

Use Support Resources

• Atlas Basic Support: Available for all customers at no additional cost, providing a foundational level of assistance.

• Developer and Premium Support: For teams that require faster response times and end-to-end database support.

• Consulting Sessions: For complex workloads, consider consulting sessions to focus on optimization and cost reduction strategies.