Cost Report Data Is Now Available in the Vantage API

by Vantage Team


Today Vantage announces the release of the Cost Report API BETA, allowing users to programmatically access structured cost data stored in Vantage at no additional charge. For each Cost Report they will be able to access the service-level cost data via the Vantage API and all official Vantage API Clients.

It is often necessary for teams to load their AWS cost data into other systems used for accounting, reporting or analysis purposes. Previously teams had to write their own bespoke scripts to pull data from AWS Cost Explorer API or manually enter numbers they found in the AWS Cost Explorer console. This would take time away from development teams to maintain these scripts and was often frustrating for finance to get consistent and up-to-date data. Using the AWS Cost Explorer API also directly incurs $0.01 per API call.

Now, users can start querying their costs in a free, unified and easy-to-use manner. After creating a Cost Report from within the Vantage console with specific filters, cost data matching these filters will immediately be available via the API. This creates a single source of truth so that the same view in the Vantage Console matches the data being pulled via the API.

Below is an example comparing the boilerplate required when using Vantage API vs using the AWS Cost Explorer API to get costs by day by service. Both are using their respective Ruby SDKs:

Starting today all users can start accessing Cost Report data via the API. Get started by logging in and generating a personal access token and reading the documentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is being launched today?

Today Vantage is launching the Vantage Cost Report API: The ability for Vantage users who have connected one or more AWS accounts to programmatically retrieve raw cost data from Cost Reports.

Who is the customer?

The customer is any Vantage user with a connected AWS account. This functionality is available to anyone regardless of what tier they're in.

Can I access this data if I am over my tier limit?

No, you will receive an error letting you know you are over your tier limit. The HTTP status code will be 402 Payment Required with an error message body indicating the same using the API standard error format.

What is a Cost Report?

Cost Reports are a filtered and aggregated collection of AWS costs. Vantage users can create as many cost reports as they'd like to segment their costs by AWS Member account, Tag, Region or AWS Service. Previously a cost report and its accompanying data was only available via the Vantage console as a dashboard.

To read more about Cost Reports, read the blog post here: https://www.vantage.sh/blog/vantage-launches-cost-reports

What Cost Reports can I access via the API?

All existing and newly created Cost Reports will be available via the API.

Where is the documentation for this API?

https://vantage.readme.io/reference/getreports

I have already created a personal access token for the Pricing API. Can I use this same token for the Vantage Cost API?

Yes, the same tokens will be used with both the pricing API and the cost API.

What format is the cost data available in?

The Cost API data is available in JSON format.

What languages does the Vantage API Client come in?

The official Vantage Client is available in Ruby, Python and Javascript.

Do I have to create a Cost Report before querying the data?

Yes, currently you pre-define the filters in the Vantage UI which then enables you to query data for that report.

You can view the available reports via the API using the /reports endpoint and identify reports via their name or unique ID.

Can I create a Cost Report via the API?

Not currently, but we plan to support this in the future.

Can I access AWS Service cost subcategories via the Cost Reports API?

No, but we plan to add this in the near future.

Can I access forecasted costs via the Cost Reports API?

No, but we plan to add this in the future.

How far back can I query costs via the Cost Reports API?

Vantage currently stores six months of cost data.

By default, Vantage seems to be grouping costs by day. Is it possible to see costs grouped by month?

All cost data in Vantage is currently represented at the daily level. However, with every cost response a total number will be calculated so the user does not have to constantly do this themselves. Then with a series of filters it is easy to get a total cost per month with a simple loop. It does make sense to support grouping functionality in the future and is easy to add in a backwards compatible way, by just making daily the default grouping.

Can I view cost data in currencies other than USD?

At the moment Vantage only supports USD.

Is there rate limiting for the Cost Reports API?

Yes, the existing API rate limiting applies which can be found at https://vantage.readme.io/reference#rate-limiting.

Can I get run-rate information from Vantage on Active Resources as part of this API?

Not yet.  This will most likely be a future scope of work.

How can I give feedback or request features on the Cost Reports API?

Please join our Slack Community and join the "api" channel. The Vantage team and other users are present there ready to receive feedback and discuss use-cases.

Is there a status page for the API?

No, Vantage does not currently have a status page for the API.

Is there an SLA for the API?

No, Vantage does not currently have an SLA for the API.