> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.costory.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Cloud Cost Dashboards

> Build cloud cost dashboards from Explorer queries to monitor AWS, GCP, and Azure spend, usage metrics, budgets, events, and FinOps KPIs in one place.

**Cloud cost dashboards** turn Explorer queries into persistent views. Use dashboards when an investigation becomes something a team, service owner, finance partner, or executive stakeholder needs to monitor repeatedly.

<Frame caption="A CTO dashboard combining cost trends, budget tracking, and top cost drivers across AWS and GCP">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/costory/42bBN-TVANXyiZnv/images/dashboard/cto-dashboard.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=42bBN-TVANXyiZnv&q=85&s=2431a06576dfa1bed4ddd9718ad180fa" alt="Costory CTO dashboard with squad breakdown, product line trends, and cost-per-client widgets" width="1912" height="926" data-path="images/dashboard/cto-dashboard.png" />
</Frame>

## Overview

Each dashboard contains one or more widgets. A widget keeps the query context behind it: metric, formula, filters, group-by, selected period, comparison period, and event context.

Use dashboards to:

* Give teams a self-service view of their own spend with <Tooltip tip="Showing teams what they would be charged without actually moving money between budgets." cta="See Glossary" href="/docs/glossary#showback">showback</Tooltip> and <Tooltip tip="Billing internal teams for their actual share of shared cloud costs." cta="See Glossary" href="/docs/glossary#chargeback">chargeback</Tooltip> views
* Track executive KPIs such as total spend, top cost drivers, budget progress, and month-over-month movement
* Monitor <Tooltip tip="AWS's flexible commitment-based pricing. You commit to a consistent $/hour for 1 or 3 years and get discounted rates." cta="See Glossary" href="/docs/glossary#savings-plans">Savings Plan</Tooltip> coverage, Kubernetes waste, unit economics, and other FinOps metrics
* Combine cost data with [usage metrics](/setup/usage-metrics) and [events](/features/events) so teams can explain cost changes from the same page

## Dashboard workflows

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Create and organize dashboards" icon="table-columns" href="/features/dashboards/create-dashboard">
    Create dashboards from Explorer, add widgets manually, and organize dashboards with tags.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Dashboard templates" icon="copy" href="/features/dashboards/templates">
    Start from pre-built FinOps dashboards for executives, teams, commitments, Kubernetes, and network costs.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Widgets and chart types" icon="chart-simple" href="/features/dashboards/widgets">
    Choose bar, line, waterfall, doughnut, table, budget, and KPI widgets for the right analysis.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Quick Share" icon="share-nodes" href="/features/dashboards/quickshare">
    Share a dashboard or widget link for ad-hoc collaboration.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Prerequisites

* At least one cloud provider connected to Costory: [AWS](/setup/billing/aws), [GCP](/setup/billing/gcp), or [Azure](/setup/billing/azure)
* Optional [dimensions](/features/tagging/dimensions) for team, product, environment, or cost-center breakdowns
* Optional [usage metrics](/setup/usage-metrics) for unit economics widgets
* Optional [Teams](/features/teams) for team-owned dashboards and default scopes

## How dashboards relate to Explorer

[Explorer](/features/cost-explorer) is where you investigate a specific question with filters, group-bys, formulas, and comparison periods. Dashboards are where you keep the useful result.

When you save an Explorer query as a dashboard widget, Costory keeps the same query configuration. The widget refreshes as new billing data arrives, so the dashboard stays current without rebuilding the analysis.

## Example dashboard patterns

| Dashboard              | Typical widgets                                                               |
| ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Team cost overview     | Cost trend by service, budget progress, top cost drivers, cost per user       |
| Executive overview     | Total spend, month-over-month change, budget vs actual, top teams or products |
| Commitment coverage    | Savings Plan and CUD coverage, uncovered spend, utilization trend             |
| Kubernetes cost review | Namespace cost, workload cost, idle or waste indicators, usage ratios         |
| Migration tracker      | Before-and-after cost trend, event markers, waterfall by service or account   |

For ready-made starting points, see [Dashboard templates](/features/dashboards/templates).

## Sharing and delivery

Dashboards support several sharing workflows:

* Send a direct link to a dashboard for logged-in Costory users.
* Use [Quick Share](/features/dashboards/quickshare) for an ad-hoc public link when you need to share outside the normal Costory workflow.
* Schedule a dashboard snapshot as a [Cost Report](/features/slack-reports) to Slack, Microsoft Teams, or email.
* Assign a dashboard to a [Team](/features/teams) so members see the right dashboards by default.
* Copy the widget SQL for BigQuery workflows when your organization uses [BigQuery Data Exports](/setup/destinations/bigquery).

## Frequently asked questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I create a dashboard from Explorer?">
    Yes. Build the query in [Explorer](/features/cost-explorer), then save it as a dashboard widget. See [Create and organize dashboards](/features/dashboards/create-dashboard) for the steps.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can a dashboard include cost and usage metrics together?">
    Yes. Dashboard widgets can use formulas that combine cloud cost with [usage metrics](/setup/usage-metrics), such as cost per active user or cost per build minute.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can dashboards be used for chargeback reporting?">
    Yes. Combine [dimensions](/features/tagging/dimensions), [Shared Cost Allocation](/features/tagging/shared-cost-allocation), budget widgets, and scheduled [Cost Reports](/features/slack-reports) to support chargeback workflows.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How often do dashboards refresh?">
    Dashboards reflect the latest billing data available in Costory. See [Data Refresh](/docs/data-refresh) for ingestion timing.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related links

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Explorer" icon="magnifying-glass" href="/features/cost-explorer">
    Build the queries that power dashboard widgets.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cost Reports" icon="paper-plane" href="/features/slack-reports">
    Schedule dashboard snapshots to Slack, Teams, or email.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Dimensions" icon="layer-group" href="/features/tagging/dimensions">
    Create team-level and product-level cost groupings.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Budgets" icon="money-bill-trend-up" href="/features/budgets">
    Set spending targets and track progress on dashboards.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>