# Aks Cost Optimization

> Reduce Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) spending: pod rightsizing, VPA-driven recommendations, cluster-autoscaler tuning, spot node pools, namespace-level cost visibility, and cost-anomaly detection. WHEN: rightsize pods, VPA recommendations, idle nodes, scale-down, autoscaler profile, spot nodes, cheaper compute, cost add-on, namespace cost breakdown, spending anomaly, 'my AKS bill is too high', 'is my app consuming what it requests', resource requests vs actual usage, over-provisioned workloads, spot vs on-demand, per-namespace or per-team cost allocation, 'who's spending what and why'. DO NOT USE FOR: GPU / inference cost and idle GPU pools (use aks-gpu-inference); autoscaler that is failing to scale up during an incident (use aks-troubleshooting); choosing SKUs at cluster-creation time (use aks-cluster-setup).

- Skill: `azure/aks-cost-optimization` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 7 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add azure/aks-cost-optimization`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/azure/aks-cost-optimization/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: DevOps & Infra
- License: MIT
- Author: Azure (https://skillmd.com/u/azure)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/azure/aks-cost-optimization

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# AKS Cost Optimization — Router

Route by goal to the correct reference file:

| Goal | File |
|------|------|
| Identify over-provisioned pods, reduce CPU/memory requests | [azure-aks-rightsizing.md](./azure-aks-rightsizing.md) |
| Enable VPA for data-driven resource recommendations | [azure-aks-vpa.md](./azure-aks-vpa.md) |
| Tune cluster autoscaler to scale down idle nodes | [azure-aks-autoscaler.md](./azure-aks-autoscaler.md) |
| Add spot node pools for batch/interruptible workloads | [azure-aks-spot.md](./azure-aks-spot.md) |
| Enable namespace-level cost visibility add-on | [azure-aks-cost-addon.md](./azure-aks-cost-addon.md) |
| Detect cost anomalies and spending spikes | [azure-aks-anomalies.md](./azure-aks-anomalies.md) |