Simpler billing, clearer savings: A FinOps guide to updated spend-based CUDs

Optimizing cloud spend is one of the most rewarding aspects of FinOps — and committed use discounts (CUDs) remain one of the most effective levers to pull. In July 2025, we began rolling out updates to the spend-based CUD model to make it easier to understand your costs and savings, expand coverage to new SKUs (including Cloud Run and H3/M-series VMs), and offer increased flexibility. These changes are now available to all customers. Let’s dive into how this new model simplifies your FinOps practice. 1. What is the spend-based CUD data change all about? The most important shift is the move from a credit-based system to a direct discounted price model using consumption models. Under the old credits model , you committed to an hourly on-demand amount. To find your savings (the actual cost reduction realized), you had to use three different numbers: the full on-demand cost, the commitment fee, and the offsetting credit. 1. The old math: $10.00 (On-demand) + $5.50 (Commitment fee) - $10.00