Cost management is king in the cloud, and AWS is the market leader in that space. That’s why businesses need solutions that deliver efficiency and optimization when it comes to AWS cloud management
The good news is that there’s no shortage of cost management tools that fit the bill, with nOps being just one of of many.
However, if you’re exploring nOps alternatives, this guide is for you. It discusses nOps, why you might need an alternative, and the best options to help with your AWS cloud management strategies.
What Is nOps?
nOps is a cloud management platform that manages and optimizes AWS costs by managing Reserved Instances. It identifies and eliminates idle resources through real time cost monitoring and resource allocation features. The platform also ensures cloud security by continuously monitoring for compliance.
While these features are dealbreakers for cost management, there are a few deciding factors as to why you might opt for a nOps alternative. They include:
- nOps’ limitation to only AWS environments restricts organizations that use diverse cloud providers.
- nOps has limited integration capabilities with third-party tools and non-AWS services. If your cloud management strategy relies on diverse tools and platforms, you might face challenges integrating nOps into your existing AWS environment.
- The platform offers features that can be a steep learning curve for new users or smaller teams.
- nOps advanced features come with a high price tag. Small to mid-sized businesses may find the cost prohibitive compared to other, more affordable solutions.
So, what nOps alternatives are there?
Best nOps Alternatives In 2024
If you are looking for other cost management tools that support multi-cloud and address the above nOps’ limitations, here are the best options.
CloudZero
CloudZero is a cost intelligence platform that offers unmatched visibility into your cloud spending. The platform allows you to track costs by specific metrics such as cost per feature, product, team, environment, and more. This offers a clear picture of where each dollar is spent.
Unlike nOps, CloudZero supports multi-cloud environments. It integrates with Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and other tools such as Databricks, Datadog, Snowflake, and more. This helps users manage and optimize their costs across different cloud platforms from a single dashboard.
Other features of CloudZero that help in AWS cost management include:
- Cost anomaly detection. CloudZero automatically detects unusual spending habits and alerts users of possible issues. This helps avoid cost surprises and optimizes resources.
- Budget forecasting. CloudZero forecasts costs by analyzing historical data and current usage patterns. This enables teams to create accurate budgets.
- Personalized dashboards. CloudZero offers customized dashboards that display cost metrics and spending patterns. This simplifies the process for teams to track and manage their AWS costs.
- Integration with AWS Cost and Usage Reports (CUR). CloudZero uses in-depth AWS cost and usage reports to offer thorough analysis and uncover hidden costs. This ensures complete transparency into AWS expenditures.
- Automatic tagging. CloudZero ensures proper tagging of resources and policies. This facilitates accuracy in cost allocation and reporting.
Amazon CloudWatch
Amazon CloudWatch is an AWS monitoring and observability service. It allows users to monitor performance, collect and analyze log files, and create alerts for various events.
Amazon CloudWatch manages AWS costs by providing tools that promote effective resource use. It tracks AWS metrics, such as CPU, memory, disk I/O, and network traffic. Users can use these metrics to find underutilized resources and optimize their infrastructure.
CloudWatch can also create alarms to address any unusual surge in costs promptly. To avoid unnecessary costs, these alarms can initiate automated responses, such as halting or reducing instances. Its integration with AWS Cost and Usage Reports also aids in cloud cost optimization.
Wiz
Wiz is a cloud security platform that doesn’t just react to threats, it empowers users to take a proactive approach. It offers complete visibility and management of cloud environments, helping users identify, prioritize, and resolve security threats throughout their cloud infrastructure.
Its real-time and actionable insights into critical misconfigurations in your cloud environment are a game-changer, empowering teams to enhance their cloud security in a proactive manner.
Wiz helps manage AWS costs by detecting and fixing misconfigurations from the start of the build to runtime. It supports hybrid clouds such as AWS, GCP, Azure, OCI, Alibaba Cloud, and VMware vSphere.
Wiz offers over 2,300 rules for cloud misconfigurations and monitors over 150 CIS and compliance frameworks. It scans Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and provides real-time detections. The platform also reduces alert fatigue by showing only important issues using its inbuilt feature, Wiz Security Graph.
Datadog
Datadog provides observability and monitoring capabilities in cloud environments. It integrates with other cloud providers and third-party tools, such as CloudZero, to allow users to track key metrics across the entire cloud ecosystem.
Datadog manages AWS costs by offering detailed data on resource usage and performance. It helps users monitor their cloud resource usage in real-time by managing a range of AWS services, including EC2, RDS, Lambda, and S3. This visibility level enables users to identify underutilized resources and optimize them.
Datadog features configurable unified dashboards that display metrics, logs, and traces from many sources in one interface. These dashboard makes it easier to link data and monitor the overall efficiency of cloud resources.
CloudHealth by VMware
CloudHealth by VMware offers comprehensive visibility, optimization, and governance in multi-cloud environments. It manages cloud costs across major cloud services to give its users deep insights into costs, usage, security, and performance.
Its cost analysis and reporting enable users to analyze their AWS costs by service, project, and more. This detailed view assists in pinpointing factors impacting costs and accurately allocating costs.
CloudHealth also offers cost optimization tools. It continuously analyzes your AWS usage patterns. It also recommends purchasing Reserved Instances and rightsizing existing instances.
Its Cost Reallocation feature helps users redistribute costs from one area to another. For example, if a particular department is overusing resources, the platform can help redistribute some of those costs to other departments. The platform selects these sources and destinations based on Perspectives and Perspective Groups. This is another feature on the platform that handles cost allocation across departments or projects. It ensures each unit is billed fairly for its cloud usage.
SolarWinds
SolarWinds is an IT management tool that manages networks, systems, applications, and cloud infrastructure.
The tool manages AWS costs by integrating AWS resources into one platform. This eliminates the need to switch between various monitoring tools. It lets users visually explore AWS and other services through interactive topology maps, dashboards, trace views, and charts. These visual tools help identify factors affecting performance. It also allows users to delve into the underlying to uncover root causes.
SolarWinds offers proactive, predictive performance insights that identify and resolve issues before they affect users. It uses health scores based on metrics and anomaly detection to highlight emerging issues. This prevents costly downtime and performance issues.
SolarWinds also simplifies AWS observability with its support for agentless monitoring and unified agent management. This observability helps optimize the performance of business-critical systems hosted in AWS services.
Dynatrace
Dynatrace is a software intelligence platform that offers automated and intelligent observability for cloud-native and hybrid environments. It uses AI-driven monitoring and observability to ensure optimal performance and reliability on AWS and other cloud platforms.
One of Dynatrace’s key features is its real-time cost management. By collecting metrics from various preselected namespaces, such as AWS Billing, it provides users with detailed metrics for each service, splits metrics into many dimensions, and creates custom charts for dashboards. This immediate insight helps users manage their AWS costs.
Dynatrace’s insights are not just data, they are practical recommendations. It offers complete, automated visibility across AWS hybrid-cloud settings, collecting metrics, logs, traces, and user experience data.
Opsani
Now part of Cisco AppDynamics, Opsani is a cloud management tool. The tool uses machine learning to continuously adjust cloud instance settings in real-time, optimizing the efficiency, speed, and dependability of cloud-based applications and services. This approach helps businesses reduce cloud spending by eliminating overprovisioning.
Opsani is not just for one type of application or cloud environment, it’s for all. It’s especially well-suited for Kubernetes-based applications. In Kubernetes, Opsani creates tuning pods that serve as cluster staging environments. These tuning pods enable Opsani to optimize many parameters simultaneously without affecting the user experience. This ensures its adaptability across different applications and cloud environments.
The platform’s continuous optimization feature delivers optimization within seconds. This rapid adjustment helps system reliability engineers (SREs) manage their organizations’ service-level objectives (SLOs) effectively. It also ensures that business objectives are constantly met.
CloudFuze
CloudFuze is a cloud-to-cloud management platform that supports over 40 public cloud storage providers.
The platform specializes in cloud migration and multi-user migration. It provides robust solutions for users who need to transfer data and manage multiple cloud storage accounts. It also excels in user and file migration, including roles and permission levels. This makes it a perfect choice for businesses that need detailed migration of user settings and access controls.
It also supports both one-way and two-way sync. One-way sync is used for cloud migration. Two-way sync provides ongoing backup, ensuring data consistency across different cloud environments.
CloudBolt
CloudBolt offers visibility, self-service options, cloud orchestration, and governance for AWS users. Its cloud cost management feature helps detect idle or unused resources and manages Reserved Instances. These capabilities enable users to reduce waste and manage their cloud costs.
Similarly to ProsperOps, CloudBolt also manages cloud discounts. It automates tasks such as applying cloud cost policies that users set in advance. This automation ensures that cost management strategies are implemented without constant manual involvement.
CloudBolt cost allocation feature allows users to allocate costs by dimensions such as owner, business unit, or group. This detailed cost monitoring helps organizations see where their cloud budget is spent. It also identifies opportunities to optimize cloud resources.
Additionally, Cloudbolt supports analysis across various environments, including Kubernetes, on-premises, and multi-cloud setups. This strategy enables users to optimize costs across different platforms.
Morpheus Data
Morpheus Data is a leading full-stack hybrid cloud management platform. It integrates with various cloud providers, including AWS, Azure, and GCP, as well as private clouds. This adaptability empowers companies to deploy resources easily, reducing the time and effort required to manage their cloud environment.
Morpheus Data also offers robust cloud automation features. The platform can automate tasks like provisioning, scaling, reporting and managing cloud resources through a series of predefined rules and policies. This automation streamlines cloud operations and boosts efficiency. It also minimizes manual work, enabling IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives.
Snow Commander
Snow Commander is a hybrid cloud management solution that boosts business agility, oversight, and efficiency. Its cost management features, including a Self Service portal, eliminate manual approval processes, granting users instant access to cloud resources. This makes it ideal for teams needing fast access to cloud environments.
Snow Commander is designed to support agile development practices, making teams feel adaptable. It ensures DevOps teams can access necessary resources promptly. Its automation features enable efficient provisioning and management of cloud resources, reducing delays and supporting agile development practices. This helps teams respond to changing business needs.
Snow Commander also provides visibility into cloud usage across public and private clouds. This helps businesses maintain control and ensure compliance with industry standards. By centralizing governance, it reduces the risk of security breaches and promotes cost management.
Why CloudZero For AWS Cost Management
Leading companies have transformed their AWS cost management with CloudZero. Drift reduced its AWS costs by up to $2.4 million a year with CloudZero. LawnStarter reduced its cloud storage costs by 55% and overall cloud costs by 20%. Upstart saved $20 million in cloud spend, and the list goes on and on.
CloudZero can help your business achieve similar success. How? 
to see for yourself firsthand.
The Cloud Cost Playbook
The step-by-step guide to cost maturity
