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

# Frequently Asked Questions

> Common enterprise questions about KOSTRA deployment, security, pricing, integration, and roadmap.

# Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to the questions that come up most often when enterprises evaluate KOSTRA. If yours isn't here, contact the KOSTRA team.

## Deployment

**Is KOSTRA SaaS or self-hosted?**
Both. KOSTRA is offered as a fully managed SaaS, and can also be self-hosted in your own environment when data residency or policy requires it. The software is identical; only who operates it differs.

**How quickly can we get started?**
On the managed SaaS you connect your cloud accounts and begin — there is no infrastructure to stand up. Self-hosting takes longer because you deploy and operate the platform, but the KOSTRA team supports sizing, deployment, and upgrades.

**Can we self-host in a specific region?**
Yes. When self-hosted, KOSTRA runs in a Kubernetes cluster you control, including in the cloud region you choose, so it can sit alongside the workloads it analyzes.

**How do I connect a cloud account?**
You provide read-oriented credentials for the account and select the provider. KOSTRA validates the credentials and, for each provider, handles the provider-specific setup automatically where it can.

## Security

**Where does my cost data live?**
On the managed SaaS, KOSTRA hosts and protects it with encryption and access control. If your policy requires that data never leave your infrastructure, self-host KOSTRA — then billing data, credentials, and analytics stay entirely in your environment.

**How are cloud credentials stored?**
Encrypted at rest. Secrets entered through the interface are write-only from the user's side — they can be set and rotated but not read back.

**Is traffic encrypted?**
Yes. Web and API traffic is served over HTTPS, with certificates provisioned and auto-renewed.

**How is access controlled?**
Through role-based permissions aligned to a pool structure that mirrors your teams and budgets, so you can grant visibility broadly while restricting configuration.

## Pricing

**How is KOSTRA priced?**
By edition — Essentials, Professional, and Enterprise — plus optional professional services, and available as a SaaS subscription or self-hosted. KOSTRA is not priced as a percentage of your cloud bill. See [Pricing Overview](/pricing) and contact the team for a quote.

**Is there an evaluation option?**
Yes. Ask about an evaluation so you can validate coverage against your own accounts before committing.

## Integration

**Which clouds does KOSTRA support?**
AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Huawei Cloud — broader coverage than most FinOps tools, so an estate that spans several providers is managed as one. See [Supported Clouds & Services](/supported-clouds).

**Which services are covered per provider?**
Coverage includes billing, resource discovery, and recommendations across providers. For Huawei Cloud specifically — the provider most often missing from other tools — ECS, EVS, OBS, EIP, RDS, ELB, and IMS are discovered and optimized today; NAT is tracked through billing, with DCS and CCE discovery on the roadmap. The service matrix has the detail.

**Can KOSTRA notify my team?**
Yes. KOSTRA sends email notifications for alerts, reports, and account events, and can be branded to your organization.

## Roadmap

**What is coming next?**
Broader per-service resource discovery — including additional Huawei Cloud services such as NAT Gateway, CCE, and DCS — and continued expansion of the recommendation catalog across providers.

**Will more AI models be supported?**
Yes. AI-assisted narration uses a language-model provider you configure and control (Anthropic, OpenAI, or DeepSeek today), and support for additional models is planned.

## Related pages

* [Product Overview](/product-overview)
* [Supported Clouds & Services](/supported-clouds)
* [Security & Data Protection](/security-and-data-protection)
* [Pricing Overview](/pricing)