AutoSpotting
Auto scaling software
Cloud cost management tools
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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What is AutoSpotting
AutoSpotting is a cloud cost optimization tool that automates the use of discounted spare-capacity instances by replacing on-demand compute instances with lower-cost alternatives while keeping capacity available. It is used by cloud infrastructure and FinOps teams to reduce compute spend for workloads that can tolerate instance interruptions and replacements. The product focuses on automated instance replacement and scaling behavior rather than application-level changes, and it is typically deployed alongside existing cloud auto scaling configurations.
Automates discounted instance usage
AutoSpotting automates the process of shifting eligible compute capacity from on-demand pricing to discounted spare-capacity options. This reduces manual effort compared with managing instance types and pricing options by hand. It is designed to work continuously, reacting to capacity availability and pricing changes. This aligns well with teams that want cost reduction without rewriting applications.
Works with existing scaling setups
The product is commonly implemented to complement existing auto scaling groups and instance fleets rather than replacing them entirely. This can shorten time-to-value for organizations already using native scaling constructs. It focuses on instance replacement decisions and capacity sourcing while leaving application deployment patterns unchanged. As a result, it can fit into established infrastructure-as-code and operations workflows.
Infrastructure-level, workload-agnostic approach
AutoSpotting operates at the infrastructure layer, targeting compute instances rather than requiring changes to application code. This makes it applicable across multiple services that run on virtual machines, including stateless services and batch processing. It is particularly relevant for environments where interruption-tolerant capacity is acceptable. The approach can be easier to standardize across teams than per-application tuning.
Best for interruption-tolerant workloads
Savings depend on the ability of workloads to handle instance termination and replacement events. Stateful systems or latency-sensitive services may require additional engineering (e.g., draining, replication, or graceful shutdown) to avoid user impact. Organizations with strict availability requirements may need to limit where it is applied. This can reduce the addressable portion of infrastructure for optimization.
Cloud and service scope constraints
AutoSpotting’s value is tied to specific cloud compute constructs and discounted capacity mechanisms, which may not cover all compute platforms or managed services. If a significant portion of spend is in serverless, managed databases, or platform services, the impact may be limited. Multi-cloud standardization can be harder when each provider exposes different primitives. Teams may still need separate tooling for non-VM cost drivers.
Operational complexity and governance
Automated instance replacement changes the operational model for capacity management and can complicate incident response if not well governed. Teams typically need clear policies for instance selection, scaling boundaries, and rollout controls to avoid unexpected behavior. Observability and change tracking become important to explain cost and performance changes. This can add process overhead compared with using only native scaling defaults.
Plan & Pricing
Pricing model: Pay-as-you-go Free tier/trial: Perpetual free tier for getting started (vendor states a free tier for evaluation). No time-limited free trial is stated on the official site. Pricing details: Vendor charges 10% of the savings generated by converting On-Demand EC2 capacity to Spot instances (charged through the AWS bill). Custom flat/pricing available on request. Example costs: If AutoSpotting converts $1,000 of capacity and typically generates $500–$600 of savings, it charges ~10% of the savings (about $50–$60). (Vendor also provides a perpetual free tier for very small savings/evaluations.) Notes: Installation and billing are performed via the AWS Marketplace; additional AWS infrastructure costs (EC2, Lambda, CloudWatch, etc.) still apply.
