Cloud Logging Retention Cost Calculator

Forecast the price tag of keeping application logs hot before they roll to archive. Supply your daily log ingest volume and the retention window enforced in your observability platform. Optionally override the per-GB storage rate from your vendor. The calculator reports the active storage footprint, monthly and annual run rate, and the effective storage cost per ingested gigabyte.

Total compressed gigabytes forwarded to your logging platform each day.
Number of days logs remain searchable before archiving or deletion.
Defaults to $0.23 if blank to mirror popular observability tiers.

Assumes constant daily ingest and on-demand pricing. Review your contract for tiered thresholds, compression ratios, and surcharge policies.

Examples

  • 850 GB/day with 30-day retention at $0.23/GB-month ⇒ Active storage footprint: 24.90 TB • Monthly retention cost: $5,865.00 • Annual run rate: $70,380.00 • Effective storage cost per ingested GB: $0.23
  • 320 GB/day with 14-day retention at $0.18/GB-month ⇒ Active storage footprint: 4.38 TB • Monthly retention cost: $806.40 • Annual run rate: $9,676.80 • Effective storage cost per ingested GB: $0.08

FAQ

Does this include indexing or query fees?

No. The model isolates hot storage cost. Layer in query-based pricing or ingestion fees separately when building a full observability budget.

How should I handle seasonality in log volume?

Use peak-season ingest to stress test capacity, or average multiple months to smooth out spikes. You can also rerun the calculation for each environment to capture production versus staging differences.

What if my vendor charges per GB-day instead of GB-month?

Convert the GB-day rate to GB-month by multiplying by 30.4 before entering it. The calculator then reflects the equivalent monthly cost.

Additional Information

  • Stored footprint multiplies daily ingest by the number of days retained, assuming steady log volume.
  • Effective cost per ingested GB lets you compare retention expense with data routing alternatives like cold storage or sampling.
  • Update the storage rate to reflect committed-use discounts or tiered pricing across regions.

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