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GCP Logging Cost Calculator

Cost Cloud Logging ingestion after exclusion filters and the free tier, plus retention beyond the default 30 days.

About GCP Logging Cost Calculator

Cloud Logging charges once for ingestion and then again for retention beyond 30 days, and the only lever that reduces ingestion is an exclusion filter — sinks route a copy elsewhere but do not reduce what you already ingested. That is why the exclusion saving is shown separately from the sink line. Logging bills are dominated by high-volume, low-value entries such as load-balancer health checks, and excluding those is usually a one-line filter that removes a third of the bill. Confirm the per-GiB ingestion and retention prices in the Google Cloud pricing calculator, and remember the free allotment is per project rather than per organisation.

Formula

GCP Logging Cost

billed GiB = volume × (1 − exclusions) − free allotment; cost = billed GiB × ingestion price + retained GiB × extra retention months × retention price + sink storage.

exclusions
Share of matching log entries dropped before ingestion, and therefore before billing
free allotment
50 GiB of ingestion included per project each month
extra retention
Days configured beyond the 30 included in the ingestion price

Worked example

With the default values below, GCP Logging Cost Calculator returns Monthly Cost of $122.60. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Log volume generatedaccepts 0–10,000,000 GiB/month
400 GiB/month
Volume removed by exclusion filtersaccepts 0–99 %
30 %
Free ingestion allotmentaccepts 0–10,000 GiB
50 GiB
Ingestion price per GiBaccepts 0–100 USD/GiB
0.5 USD/GiB
Retention configured on the bucketaccepts 1–3,650 days
90 days
Retention days included freeaccepts 0–365 days
30 days
Retention price per GiB-monthaccepts 0–10 USD/GiB-month
0.01 USD/GiB-month
Volume routed to a Cloud Storage sinkaccepts 0–10,000,000 GiB
200 GiB
Sink storage price per GiBaccepts 0–10 USD/GiB-month
0.01 USD/GiB-month
Volume queried through Log Analyticsaccepts 0–10,000,000 GiB
100 GiB
Analytics query price per GiBaccepts 0–100 USD/GiB
0 USD/GiB

Results

Monthly Cost
$122.60
Billed Ingestion
230.0 GiB
Ingestion Charge
$115.00
Extended Retention Charge
$5.60
Sink Storage Charge
$2.00
Saved by Exclusion Filters
$60.00
Volume Covered by the Free Tier
17.9%
Effective Cost per Generated GiB
$0.3065

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2GCP Logging Cost
  3. 3Monthly Cost= 122.60
  4. 4Billed Ingestion= 230.0 GiB
  5. 5Ingestion Charge= 115.00
  6. 6Extended Retention Charge= 5.60
  7. 7Sink Storage Charge= 2.00
  8. 8Saved by Exclusion Filters= 60.00

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 11 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 4 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is GCP Logging Cost calculated?

billed GiB = volume × (1 − exclusions) − free allotment; cost = billed GiB × ingestion price + retained GiB × extra retention months × retention price + sink storage. Cloud Logging charges once for ingestion and then again for retention beyond 30 days, and the only lever that reduces ingestion is an exclusion filter — sinks route a copy elsewhere but do not reduce what you already ingested. That is why the exclusion saving is shown separately from the sink line.

Why does GCP Logging Cost matter?

Logging bills are dominated by high-volume, low-value entries such as load-balancer health checks, and excluding those is usually a one-line filter that removes a third of the bill. Confirm the per-GiB ingestion and retention prices in the Google Cloud pricing calculator, and remember the free allotment is per project rather than per organisation.

What values do I need to enter?

This calculator takes 11 inputs: Log volume generated, Volume removed by exclusion filters, Free ingestion allotment, Ingestion price per GiB, Retention configured on the bucket, Retention days included free, Retention price per GiB-month, Volume routed to a Cloud Storage sink, Sink storage price per GiB, Volume queried through Log Analytics, Analytics query price per GiB. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.

Do exclusion filters and sinks reduce the same cost?

No. An exclusion filter drops entries so they are never ingested and never billed. A sink copies entries to another destination and the original ingestion is still charged, so use sinks for retention or analysis and exclusions for cost.

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