Duolingo successfully reduced its cloud spending by 20% through various methods such as improving observability, removing unnecessary resources, leveraging AWS optimization strategies, and reducing cloud traffic. The key steps included using third-party tools for cost tracking, deleting unused data and services, optimizing compute resource allocation, and refining RDS and EC2 usage strategies. These initiatives not only saved money but also improved code health and engineering practices.
Table of contents
Observability is crucialThe obvious: don’t pay for what you don’t needThe semi-obvious: leverage built-in optimization strategiesReduce cloud trafficConclusion: cost optimization and code health go hand in handSort: