kubimeeter

kubimeeter is an open-source tool for measuring, attributing, and reporting resource usage and cost within Kubernetes environments. It is designed to provide per-pod, per-container, and per-namespace visibility, enabling teams to analyze how compute and memory are consumed across workloads and over time. The project emphasizes lightweight operation, Kubernetes-native deployment, and compatibility with common monitoring and cost-management stacks.

It is typically deployed as a DaemonSet to ensure coverage across cluster nodes, and can also run in multi-cluster or single-cluster modes. kubimeeter gathers metrics through the Kubernetes API, the kubelet/cAdvisor interfaces, and container runtimes. It exposes a Prometheus-compatible endpoint for scraping and can forward data to external backends such as Prometheus, InfluxDB, or cloud-cost platforms. A policy engine supports label-based cost attribution and user-defined budgeting rules.

Key capabilities include automatic discovery of namespaces and workloads, fine-grained metrics at the pod and container level, support for custom metrics, RBAC integration, and multi-backend export. It provides a CLI and HTTP API for querying usage reports and supports time-series queries and cost summaries suitable for chargeback and showback workflows.

kubimeeter originated in the open-source community to address the need for transparent cost and resource reporting in Kubernetes. The project is maintained by volunteers and contributors, with releases that add compatibility with newer Kubernetes versions and monitoring tools.

See also: Kubernetes, Prometheus, Grafana, cost management in cloud-native environments.