CloudHealth Pricing Tiers and Contract Structure Explained

What Is VMware Tanzu CloudHealth? 

VMware Tanzu CloudHealth is a cloud management platform that helps businesses optimize and govern their multi-cloud environments. CloudHealth provides visibility, cost management, and compliance tools across public, private, and hybrid clouds. It allows users to monitor cloud resource usage, establish policies for cost allocation, and ensure compliance.

The platform supports cloud providers such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, allowing teams to analyze usage and spending trends across different environments. In addition, CloudHealth is tightly integrated with the VMware Tanzu cloud native virtualization platform. 

After VMware’s acquisition by Broadcom’s, CloudHealth is struggling to remain relevant in the evolving FinOps landscape. CloudHealth’s legacy approach risks falling behind newer, more agile solutions that offer deeper insights, automation, and cross-cloud capabilities. Another challenge CloudHealth faces is its limited support for modern services like Kubernetes and weak advanced showback and chargeback models.

Key Features of VMware CloudHealth 

Below are some of the core functionalities provided by VMware CloudHealth:

• Cost management and optimization: CloudHealth offers tools to monitor cloud spending, identify cost-saving opportunities, and optimize resource usage. It enables organizations to set budgets, allocate costs to different teams or projects, and identify underutilized resources.
• Cloud governance and automation: CloudHealth provides governance features to create policies that enforce best practices, maintain security, and ensure compliance. Automation tools help execute policies for tasks like turning off unused resources or sending alerts when spending thresholds are exceeded.
• Dashboards and visualization: CloudHealth provides dashboards and visualization tools that offer a unified view of cloud environments. These dashboards allow users to monitor cloud spending, resource utilization, and compliance metrics.
• Performance monitoring and optimization: CloudHealth offers performance monitoring features to track key metrics and ensure that cloud resources are used effectively. 
• Multi-cloud support and integrations: The platform supports integration with major cloud providers and offers multi-cloud capabilities, allowing users to view and manage assets across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and private clouds.

Understanding CloudHealth Pricing 

Direct Pricing

According to Economize, CloudHealth offers a tiered pricing model based on an organization's monthly AWS spending. The base fee covers AWS spend up to $100,000 per month, after which additional charges apply.

• Base Pricing: A flat fee applies to AWS spending up to $100,000 per month. Beyond this threshold, CloudHealth charges 3% of the additional monthly spend.
• Minimum Fee: The minimum monthly charge is $1,000, ensuring access to CloudHealth's services regardless of cloud spend.
• Annual Pricing:
  • 12-month contract: $41,904 per year
  • 24-month contract: $83,808 per year
  • 36-month contract: $125,712 per year (includes a discount for long-term commitment)
• Overage Charges: If AWS spend exceeds the contracted amount, an additional charge of $0.03 per dollar over the limit applies.

CloudHealth Secure State and customer support, including onboarding assistance, are available for an additional fee:

• 12-month contract: $13,800 per year (for up to 100 cloud resources per month)
• 24-month contract: $39,060 for two years

AWS Marketplace Pricing

VMware Tanzu CloudHealth offers subscription tiers to align with an organization’s monthly AWS spending levels. Each tier specifies a maximum monthly AWS spend that can be managed under the contract, with additional charges applied if spending exceeds the threshold:

• CH150K: This tier supports AWS environments with monthly spending up to $150,000. It is suitable for smaller organizations or teams with limited cloud usage. Annual pricing starts at $45,000 for a 12-month contract, increasing proportionally for 24- and 36-month contracts.
• CH300K: Designed for medium-sized organizations or growing cloud environments, this tier allows up to $300,000 in monthly AWS spend. It costs $90,000 annually for a 12-month contract, with discounts available for longer commitments.
• CH500K: Tailored for enterprises or large-scale cloud operations, this tier accommodates up to $500,000 in monthly AWS spending. The cost begins at $150,000 annually for a 12-month contract and scales with contract length.

A 24-month contract doubles these costs:

• CH150K: $90,000 for two years.
• CH300K: $180,000 for two years.
• CH500K: $300,000 for two years.

A 36-month contract provides a 12% discount:

• CH150K: $118,800 for three years.
• CH300K: $237,600 for three years.
• CH500K: $396,000 for three years.

Additionally, usage that exceeds the contracted monthly spend incurs overage charges at a rate of $0.03 per dollar spent over the contract limit.

VMware CloudHealth Limitations 

In light of VMware Tanzu CloudHealth’s steep pricing and long-term commitment requirements, it’s important to be aware of some important limitations of the product. These limitations were reported by users on the G2 platform:

• Lack of a centralized cost-saving recommendations view: CloudHealth provides recommendations on cost optimizations, such as unused resources or commitment adjustments. However, it lacks a consolidated view for all cost-saving opportunities.
• Customization and navigation constraints: The platform’s navigation is limited by a static fast bar on the side, which cannot be personalized. Users may find this lack of customization inconvenient, as it prevents quick access to frequently used sections.
• Performance issues: CloudHealth users have reported occasional lag, with screen freezes and slowdowns occurring intermittently.
• Limited report export options: Although CloudHealth generates detailed graphical reports, it does not support export formats compatible with Microsoft Office.
• Connectivity challenges with other VMware products: Integrations with other VMware solutions can face connectivity and speed issues.
• Scalability limitations on Google Cloud Platform: CloudHealth’s performance and scalability are less robust on Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

In addition, the platform has some important functional gaps:

• Automation gaps: Lags in real-time automation and predictive analytics.
• Kubernetes tracking: Limited support for granular Kubernetes cost tracking and modern containerized workloads.
• Chargeback weaknesses: Basic chargeback and showback capabilities that struggle to meet the needs of large, dynamic environments.

Related content: Read our guide to CloudHealth competitors

Finout: Ultimate Alternative to CloudHealth

Finout is the premier alternative to CloudHealth, providing a modern, enterprise-grade cloud cost management solution tailored for FinOps professionals. Unlike CloudHealth, which can be complex to configure and lacks real-time cost attribution, Finout offers a patented data layer with Instant Virtual Tagging, enabling precise and automated cost allocation without requiring engineering-heavy efforts. Its modern dashboards come with endpoints for multiple integrations, ensuring seamless connectivity with cloud providers, SaaS platforms, and third-party tools. Additionally, Finout delivers unit economics insights, allowing businesses to track cost per customer, feature, or transaction with unprecedented clarity. By consolidating all cloud expenses—including AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, and SaaS—into a single, unified MegaBill, Finout simplifies cloud financial management while enhancing cost visibility and control. For companies seeking a scalable, agile, and engineering-light FinOps solution, Finout is the superior alternative to CloudHealth.