Infrastructure audits for SMBs & startups
Cut your AWS bill. Drastically.
Most SMB stacks are overbuilt, over-provisioned, and under-scrutinized. Plainstack audits yours and hands you an exact plan to simplify, cut costs, and move faster — in under a week.
30 min · No pitch · Read-only access only
01 — Where the money goes
Overbuilt stacks all leak the same way.
You don’t have a unique cost problem. You have the usual six.
Over-provisioned compute
Instances sized for the traffic you hoped for, not the traffic you have.
Multi-AZ everything
High availability on services that could be down for an hour without anyone noticing.
Dev environments that never sleep
Staging runs 24 hours a day. Your team works eight.
Zombie resources
Idle IPs, unattached volumes, years-old snapshots, load balancers pointing at nothing.
Managed-service premiums
Paying top-tier prices for workloads a smaller instance class would handle fine.
Mystery data transfer
Cross-AZ chatter and egress that nobody can explain — and nobody owns.
02 — The process
Three steps. No workshops, no discovery phase.
Book a call
30 minutes. We look at your setup together and tell you honestly whether an audit is worth it. If it isn't, we'll say so and you keep the free advice.
We audit
You grant read-only IAM access — we never touch your infrastructure. Every service gets read line by line. 5–7 business days, no meetings required.
See the exact IAM policy →You get the plan
A written report, Loom walkthroughs, and a 90-day execution plan your team can start shipping the same day. Quick wins are flagged first.
03 — Deliverables
A report you can act on the day it lands.
See a full sample report →- ✓Full cost breakdown, service by service
- ✓Quick wins flagged first — often $500–$2k/mo, same week
- ✓Right-sizing recommendations with exact instance specs
- ✓Architecture simplification roadmap
- ✓Security & compliance observations included
- ✓Written report + Loom walkthroughs + 1-hour live call
04 — Do the math
What’s your stack wasting?
Drag the slider to your monthly AWS bill. Audits typically surface 25–45% in recoverable spend — see what that means in your numbers.
Have your real numbers? Run the free teardown →Estimate based on typical audit findings — some stacks are leaner. We’ll tell you honestly on the call.
05 — Pricing
Flat rate, known upfront.
A service about predictable spend shouldn’t bill by the hour.
The low-risk way to find out if there's anything worth chasing. No account access needed.
- You send a Cost Explorer export
- Top five findings, ranked by dollars
- 20-minute Loom walkthrough
- No IAM access required
- Credited against an audit booked within 30 days
The full read of your account, and the plan that comes out of it.
- Complete AWS spend audit
- Service-by-service cost breakdown
- Right-sizing recommendations
- Architecture simplification notes
- Written report + Loom walkthroughs
- 1-hour live walkthrough call
For teams that want the bill to stay fixed, not just get fixed once.
- Everything in Rescue Audit
- Monthly infrastructure review
- Hands-on implementation support
- Slack access for async questions
- Cost anomaly alerts & monitoring
- Pause or cancel anytime
Audits fit best above $5,000/mo in AWS spend. Below that, we’ll say so.
06 — Who does the work
You talk to the person who does the audit.
Plainstack is one senior engineer, not an agency. The same person scopes your audit, reads your account, and walks you through the findings — no handoffs, no juniors, no offshore bench. When you book a call, you’re talking to the engineer who will read every line of your bill.
hello@getplainstack.com07 — FAQ
Plain answers.
How long does the audit take?
For most companies, 5–7 business days from the time we get read-only AWS access. We don't drag it out.
Who actually does the work?
One senior engineer, start to finish. You're not handed off to a junior, a contractor, or an offshore bench — the person on your call is the person who reads every line of your bill.
Do you need production access to our AWS account?
Read-only IAM access is all we need, and the full policy is published on our security page so your team can review it before you book. We never touch your infrastructure without explicit written approval.
Is there a minimum AWS bill size?
We work best with companies spending $5,000/month or more on AWS. Below that the savings rarely justify the fee — and we'll tell you that on the call rather than take the work. The free teardown tool is a better starting point at that size.
Can we pause the retainer?
Yes. The retainer can be paused with 30 days notice and restarted anytime. No lock-in, no penalty.
What if the audit findings aren't that bad?
That's a great outcome — you'll know your infra is solid. Either way, you get a full written report and walkthrough, no asterisks.
Last line item
Find out what your stack is actually costing you.
A 30-minute call. We’ll tell you if an audit makes sense — and what to expect if it does.
No commitment · No pitch