Vela Savings Calculator

Learn how Vela helps you save ~3× on compute and other cloud resources with better developer experience and fewer platform engineering hours.

Most teams run 1× production plus many staging/QA/test databases (often 5×) — multiplying CPU, RAM, storage and I/O. With Vela, you keep 1× production and spin thin clones for the rest. Clones reuse base data and resources, so you mainly pay for data changes and light overhead — usually ~1–2× instead of ~6×.

Your Current Setup

Assumptions: Infrastructure and compute cost is based on AWS I3EN 6xlarge instances (~$2.7/h on demand). Staging environments match production size. Current footprint = (1 + N) × production resources across CPU, RAM, storage and I/O. Infra costs approximate an NVMe‑optimized instance bundle (compute+RAM+NVMe); numbers are illustrative.

With Vela we assume 2× production resources plus a $19/vCPU‑month license. Infra is still paid to your cloud provider. Platform effort drops ~85% with Vela’s managed Postgres, storage, Kubernetes and platform services.

CO₂ estimates use conservative factors across CPU, RAM and NVMe with standard PUE and grid intensity. Tree equivalence uses ~21 kg CO₂ absorbed per tree per year (~1.75 kg/month).

Results

Current total cores
Current monthly infra
Current personnel cost
Current monthly total (infra + personnel)
Vela total cores (2× resources)
Vela monthly infra
Vela license ($19/vCPU)
Vela personnel cost
Vela monthly total (infra + license + personnel)
Monthly savings
Cost reduction
Cores reduced:
RAM reduced:
Storage reduced:
CPU RAM Storage I/O Networking
Estimated CO₂ reduction/month
Equivalent trees planted/month
Note: Savings reflect reductions across CPU, RAM, storage and I/O. Thin clones reuse base resources and store only change data. Personnel savings come from Vela operating Postgres + storage + Kubernetes + platform services for you.

Why this works

Thin clones reuse production data and compute. You only pay for data changes and light overhead, not 5+ full copies of the database.

1–2× vs ~6×

Compute typically drops from many environments to near production‑only.

Instant clones

Copy‑on‑write branching in seconds for QA, previews, and migrations.

Prod‑like testing

Better signal → fewer surprises and rollbacks in production.

FAQ

Does i3en pricing cover CPU only?

No. i3en instance pricing represents a bundle: compute, RAM, local NVMe storage and network. We model your current infra cost using this bundle so savings reflect the full footprint—not just CPU.

How is Vela priced?

Vela is licensed per vCPU allocated ($19/vCPU‑month). You keep paying your cloud provider for infrastructure. In this calculator we assume 2× production resources on your cloud plus the Vela license.

Why assume 2× with Vela?

Vela’s thin clones reuse base data and resources. Most teams land around 1–2× of production resources for all staging/QA/test environments combined. We use 2× as a conservative default.

What about data growth on clones?

Clones pay primarily for change data and temporary writes. Heavy write loads in many clones can increase costs, but typically far less than maintaining N full copies.