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You are correct: The Cost Explorer (CE) filters often do not show "Bundled Discounts" because CE is designed for trend analysis and frequently "nets out" these discounts directly against the usage line items (showing $0 cost instead of a separate discount line).
To get a report that matches your Bill 1:1 via CLI, you should switch from the Cost Explorer API to the AWS Cost and Usage Report (CUR):
- The Problem: CE's "Charge Type" dimension is limited and often aggregates or ignores specific Free Plan bundles in its granular view.
- I would try the to enable CUR (delivered to S3) and query it via Amazon Athena.
- CLI/SQL: In the CUR data, you can filter specifically by the column
line_item_line_item_type(look for BundleDiscount) or search theline_item_line_item_descriptionfor the exact string "Bundled discount" you see on your bill.
To me, the Cost Explorer is great for visualization, but for automated custom reporting that includes every cent of bundle discounts, the CUR is the "Source of Truth."
PS: If you must stick with the Cost Explorer API for now, try comparing UnblendedCost vs. NetUnblendedCost. However, for 100% accuracy with bundle discounts, the CUR is the only "Source of Truth."
Based on the differences between billing data and Cost Explorer data in AWS, there are some important distinctions in how discounts and charges are presented that may explain what you're experiencing.
The billing data on the Bills page and Cost Explorer handle certain charges differently. While Cost Explorer includes refunds and credits, the way various discounts are categorized and displayed can vary between these two views. Cost Explorer groups costs into more granular categories for analysis purposes, which can sometimes result in discounts being reflected differently than they appear on your invoice.
For CloudFront-related discounts, including bundle discounts, you should be able to filter by charge types in Cost Explorer. When analyzing costs through the CLI or Cost Explorer, you can use the "Charge Type" dimension to filter out or include specific types of charges. For enterprise customers with discount programs, it's recommended to use the Charge Type filter to exclude certain discount types when you want to see undiscounted costs.
If you're generating custom monthly reports through the Cost Explorer CLI and the CloudFront bundle discount isn't being properly reflected, you may want to:
- Check the available charge type filters in your Cost Explorer API calls to ensure you're capturing all relevant discount categories
- Review whether the specific CloudFront bundle discount appears under a particular charge type that you can filter on
- Consider that Cost Explorer data is refreshed at least once per day and provides more granular analysis, while billing data is monthly and represents the final invoiced amounts
If the specific CloudFront Flat-Rate Free Plan bundle discount isn't appearing as a filterable charge type in Cost Explorer, this may be a limitation in how that particular discount type is categorized, and you might need to contact AWS Support to understand if there's a specific way to capture this discount through the API or if it's a feature that needs to be added.
Sources
Knowing the differences between Billing and Cost Explorer data - AWS Billing
Knowing the differences between Billing and Cost Explorer data - AWS Cost Management
How can CloudFront Security Savings Bundle save up to 30% on your Amazon CloudFront costs? | AWS re:Post
That's the issue, there aren't any charge type filters for this kind of discounts.
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Thanks Florian, that make sense, I just wanted to ask as I might be missing something in CE that allowed me to get that discount without much changes in my current automated report. I will try to refactor it to use CUR then.
(Already tried UnblendedCost vs. NetUnblendedCost and it's not being contemplated either).
Thanks, have a nice one!