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: CoreDNS
providerId: coredns
publisherName: CoreDNS Authors / CNCF
serviceCategory: Open Source DNS
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:
  - Apache 2.0
  - CNCF
  - DNS
  - Kubernetes
  - Networking
  - Open Source
  - Service Discovery
  - FinOps
  - FOCUS
description: FinOps shape for CoreDNS - an Apache 2.0 / CNCF Graduated open-source DNS server. There
  is no upstream invoice. Operator cost is borne by the underlying Kubernetes / cloud platform compute
  consumed by CoreDNS pods and any DNS-egress charges from upstream resolvers.
sources:
  - https://coredns.io/
  - https://github.com/coredns/coredns
  - https://www.cncf.io/projects/coredns/
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Open Source (No Charge)
  billingFrequency: N/A
  billingCurrency: N/A
  chargeCategories: []
  chargeFrequency: N/A
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: CoreDNS
  ServiceCategory: Open Source DNS
  ProviderName: CoreDNS Project
  PublisherName: CoreDNS Authors / CNCF
  PricingCategory: Free
  BillingCurrency: N/A
  ChargeCategory: N/A
meters:
  - name: coredns_pods
    description: CoreDNS pods running in the cluster (compute time consumed, billed by the underlying
      Kubernetes platform)
    unit: pod-hour
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - cluster
      - namespace
  - name: dns_queries
    description: DNS queries processed (operational metric exported via the Prometheus plugin; not
      directly billed by CoreDNS)
    unit: query
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - cluster
      - zone
      - rcode
  - name: upstream_egress
    description: Bytes egressed to upstream resolvers via the forward plugin (drives cloud-egress charges)
    unit: GB
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - cluster
      - upstream
principles:
  - name: Visibility
    description: CoreDNS itself is free; observe cost via the Prometheus /metrics endpoint (request
      counters, latency histograms) joined to FOCUS-aligned cluster billing.
  - name: Allocation
    description: Allocate the cost of CoreDNS pods to platform / cluster-services budgets; the per-tenant
      "DNS cost" is typically rolled into a shared platform charge rather than per-namespace.
  - name: Optimization
    description: Tune the cache plugin TTL to reduce upstream lookups; adjust replica count and resource
      requests to actual QPS; use autopath / minimal to shorten search-domain lookups in Kubernetes;
      throttle abusive sources with the ratelimit plugin to avoid CPU spikes.
  - name: Accountability
    description: Assign a platform-team owner for CoreDNS; alert on SERVFAIL rate, cache-miss ratio,
      and pod CPU saturation; review upgrade cadence aligned with CNCF release schedule.
notes: CoreDNS is open-source with no upstream commercial billing. FinOps for CoreDNS is really FinOps
  for the Kubernetes / cloud platform that hosts it. Reconciled is false because there is no provider
  rate card or invoice to reconcile against.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com