Estimating your costs

Creating an estimate

1. In the IBM Cloud console, go to Cost estimator icon.

2. From the Estimating your costs page, click Create estimate.

3. Enter a name and description for the estimate.

4. Click Create

5. From the estimate details page, click Go to catalog to add products to the estimate.

6. Select the product that you are interested in.

   Depending on the product, an interim informational page might be displayed. For example, if you select Bare Metal Servers, an informational page that describes various features is displayed. Click Continue.

7. Select your pricing plan and enter other configuration details if needed. Then, click Add to estimate.

   Some products might require that you log in to add them to an estimate.

8. Enter your estimated usage, and click Calculate Cost. You can adjust the estimated usage and recalculate the cost to see how different usage levels affect the overall cost.

   By default, the estimator shows the pricing and billing currency set for your account. Pricing can vary by region. If you're estimating costs for a different location or currency, you might have to select the appropriate currency on the order summary page for the product or change the currency on your account.

9. Click Save and select the estimate that you'd like to add the product to, and then add the calculated cost to your estimate by clicking Save.

10. When you're done adding products to your estimate, review the product details, and click View estimate.

Updating an existing estimate

You can always update the name and description of an estimate as your needs change. To edit an estimate, complete the following steps:

1. From the View Estimate page, identify the estimate that you want to edit.
2. Click the Actions icon > Edit.
3. Enter the updated name and description.
4. Click Save

Saving and sharing your estimate

When you create an estimate, you can save each estimate's unique link to share or revisit directly through your browser. To share an estimate, complete the following steps:

1. From the View Estimate page, identify the estimate that you want to share.
2. Click the Actions icon > Share.
3. Click Copy link and share the link with users in your account.

Creating quotes for classic infrastructure services

You can generate and view quotes for only Bare Metal Servers, Virtual Server, and Gateway add-ons. Any user with access to the account can create quotes. To view quotes, you need to either be the account owner or have the Add/Upgrade Storage (StorageLayer), Add Server, or Add/Upgrade Services classic infrastructure permission.

1. Generate a quote by clicking Save as quote from the Order Summary section on the product details page. Or contact a IBM Cloud sales representative.

   If you're in a Lite account, select Email quote when you enter your contact details so that you can view your quote after you create it. Only billable accounts can view quotes in the console.

2. View your quote by going to Manage > Billing and usage, and select Sales > Device quotes. If you have access, you can purchase the quoted product by clicking the quote and confirming the order.

Supported billing currencies

The following table lists the supported billing currencies.

Any Pay-As-You-Go accounts created after 25 October 2021 are billed in USD. There are exceptions that apply to users in India who are billed in INR by using a credit card. Also, if you're working with IBM Cloud Sales to set up a Subscription account or the Enterprise Savings Plan billing model, you can still be billed in your local currency.