> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.pump.co/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.pump.co/getting-started/introduction/how-pump-works.md). # How Pump Works ## How Pump Works Pump reduces your cloud costs through multiple levers, each targeting a different layer of your spend. This page explains the billing model, how savings are generated, and what each optimization mechanism does. **The billing model** Pump is a licensed solutions provider for AWS, GCP, and Azure. When you join Pump, your cloud billing routes through Pump. You receive invoices from Pump instead of your cloud provider directly. Your infrastructure, workloads, and configurations are untouched. | Provider | How it works | | -------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | AWS | Your account joins a Pump-managed billing organization. You receive invoices from Pump instead of AWS. | | GCP | Your Cloud Billing account is managed under Pump's billing relationship. You receive invoices from Pump instead of Google. | | Azure | Your subscriptions are billed through Pump's billing relationship. You receive invoices from Pump instead of Microsoft. | ### How Pump reduces your costs Pump optimizes your cloud spend through multiple levers. Each targets a different layer of cost, and they work together to maximize your savings. **Commitment Management (AWS, GCP, Azure)** Cloud providers offer significant discounts when you commit to a certain level of usage over one or three years, in the form of Reserved Instances (AWS), Savings Plans (AWS), and Committed Use Discounts (GCP/Azure). The challenge is that purchasing these commitments correctly requires continuous analysis of usage patterns, expiration timelines, and coverage gaps. Pump handles this for you. For AWS, Pump provides a full commitment lifecycle: usage analysis, purchase execution, utilization and coverage tracking, forward planning, and renewal management. Your account team works with you to determine how purchases are reviewed and executed. For GCP and Azure, Pump generates commitment recommendations based on your usage patterns. You review each recommendation and decide whether to proceed. All commitments are purchased in your own cloud account. Pump does not pool commitments across customers. Each commitment belongs to you and remains in your account, even if you leave Pump. **Infrastructure Recommendations (AWS)** Pump analyzes your running AWS resources and identifies idle or oversized infrastructure. Each recommendation includes the specific resource, the suggested change (resize, terminate, or modify), estimated monthly savings, and an implementation command you can run. You review and apply changes yourself. **Enterprise Agreement Support (AWS, GCP, Azure)** For organizations with significant cloud spend, Pump supports EDP (AWS), cross-service PPA (GCP), and Enterprise Agreement (Azure) negotiations. Pump's team brings deep experience across these processes to help you secure better terms with your cloud provider. **Coming soon** Two additional optimization mechanisms are in development: * **Kubernetes Auto-Scaling:** Optimizes pod-level CPU and memory sizing using histogram-based analysis. Recalibrates horizontal scaling parameters. * **Spot Autoscaling:** Automated spot instance management for fault-tolerant workloads, handling bidding strategy, interruption handling, and fallback to on-demand capacity. ### How savings are measured Pump calculates savings by comparing your actual billed cost to a reconstructed on-demand baseline: ``` original_cost = actual_cost + pump_attributed_savings + pre_existing_savings ``` Where: * **actual\_cost** is what you pay on your invoice * **pump\_attributed\_savings** are savings from commitments Pump purchased (Savings Plans + Reserved Instances + optimized rates) * **pre\_existing\_savings** are savings from commitments you had before joining Pump The savings figure shown in your dashboard reflects gross cloud provider savings. Pump's fee is billed separately and is not deducted from the displayed savings number. Currently, the headline savings number reflects commitment management savings. Right-sizing and infrastructure recommendations are tracked separately in the Recommendations section. ### What Pump needs from you To get started, Pump requires two things: 1. **Read-only access** to your billing and usage data (or a CSV upload for an initial estimate). Pump never accesses your infrastructure, application code, or customer data. 2. **Billing partner authorization** to purchase commitments on your behalf and issue your cloud invoices. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://help.pump.co/getting-started/introduction/how-pump-works.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.