specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
provider: Consul Connect
providerId: consul-connect
publisherName: HashiCorp, Inc. (an IBM company)
serviceCategory: Service Mesh / Networking
created: '2026-05-04'
# Provenance stamped 2026-08-11: this artifact was written by the API Evangelist
# bulk sweep dated 2026-05-04, not harvested from the provider. See roadmap#35.
method: generated
modified: '2026-05-05'
reconciled: false
tags:
  - Consul
  - HashiCorp
  - Service Mesh
  - FinOps
  - FOCUS
description: 'FOCUS-aligned FinOps for Consul Connect: open-source service mesh APIs are free; commercial
  cost lives in Consul Enterprise (self-managed license) and HCP Consul (managed, usage-based on the
  IBM HashiCorp Cloud Platform). Track infrastructure cost (compute, network) for self-hosted clusters
  alongside the HashiCorp / IBM line items.'
notes: HashiCorp does not publish a single canonical per-resource price for HCP Consul publicly; reconcile
  against the active HCP / Consul Enterprise contract or the HCP pricing calculator at runtime.
sources:
  - https://www.hashicorp.com/pricing
  - https://developer.hashicorp.com/consul
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Subscription + Pay-As-You-Go
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
    - Usage
    - Purchase
    - Tax
    - Credit
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Consul Connect
  ServiceCategory: Service Mesh / Networking
  ProviderName: HashiCorp
  PublisherName: HashiCorp, Inc. (an IBM company)
  InvoiceIssuerName: HashiCorp, Inc. (an IBM company)
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Usage
meters:
  - name: hcp_consul_runtime
    description: Managed HCP Consul cluster runtime hours
    unit: instance-hour
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - cluster_size
      - region
      - environment
  - name: consul_enterprise_license
    description: Self-managed Consul Enterprise license (annual / multi-year)
    unit: month
    aggregation: max
    dimensions:
      - cluster
      - tier
  - name: self_hosted_infrastructure
    description: Compute / storage / network cost of operating self-hosted Consul agents and gateways
    unit: instance-hour
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - cloud_provider
      - region
      - cluster
  - name: cross_dc_traffic
    description: WAN / mesh-gateway egress between datacenters
    unit: GB
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - source_dc
      - dest_dc
principles:
  - name: Visibility
    description: Use the HCP console (or Consul UI for self-hosted) plus Prometheus / OTel metrics from
      `consul.*` for per-cluster cost-and-utilization views; stream HCP usage to FOCUS-aligned exports
      through IBM HashiCorp Cloud Platform billing.
  - name: Allocation
    description: Tag clusters and admin partitions / namespaces (Enterprise) per business unit; correlate
      cloud-provider tags on the underlying VMs / Kubernetes nodes.
  - name: Optimization
    description: Right-size cluster sizes against Raft load; consolidate via admin partitions; prefer
      mesh gateways over public LBs for cross-DC traffic; consider Flex Plans for predictable HCP discounts;
      use the OSS edition where Enterprise features are not needed.
  - name: Accountability
    description: Platform / SRE teams typically own Consul cluster spend; product teams own per-service
      mesh footprint and cross-DC traffic generated by their workloads.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com