Help & Support

Find answers to common questions about setting up and using CostPulse. If you need further help, reach out to our support team.

The CloudFormation stack fails to deploy
  • Make sure you are signed in to the correct AWS account before opening the deployment link.
  • Verify the AWS region is supported. CostPulse defaults to eu-central-1, but you can choose any region in the setup screen.
  • Check that your IAM user or role has permission to create CloudFormation stacks and IAM roles. If you see an "AccessDenied" error, ask your account administrator for the required permissions.
  • If a previous CostPulse stack already exists in the same region, delete it first from the CloudFormation console, then retry.
I cannot add a new AWS account
  • Ensure your CostPulse subscription supports the number of accounts you are trying to link. The Free plan is limited to one account.
  • After deploying the CloudFormation stack, return to the app and wait for the automatic detection. This usually takes 10–30 seconds.
  • If detection times out, verify that the stack deployment completed successfully in the CloudFormation console (status: CREATE_COMPLETE).
How do I remove an AWS account?
  • Open CostPulse, go to your account list, swipe left on the account, and tap "Delete".
  • CostPulse will automatically clean up the anomaly subscription, neutralize the IAM trust policy, and delete the CloudFormation stack.
  • If automatic stack deletion fails, the app shows a direct link to the CloudFormation console where you can delete the stack manually.
  • After deletion, one orphaned IAM role with a disabled trust policy may remain. It has no usable permissions and can be safely deleted from the IAM console.
Cost Explorer data is not showing up
  • AWS Cost Explorer must be enabled in your account. Go to the AWS Billing console → Cost Explorer → "Launch Cost Explorer". Activation can take up to 24 hours.
  • If you recently enabled Cost Explorer, data may not be available yet. AWS needs time to process historical cost data.
  • Verify that the CostPulse Cost Reader role exists in your account and has the ce:GetCostAndUsage permission (this is automatically configured by the CloudFormation stack).
  • Open the account settings in CostPulse and tap "Check & Repair". The built-in Account Doctor validates your IAM role access and reports the exact issue.
Budget alerts are not working
  • Budget alerts are delivered through the SNS topic created by the CloudFormation stack. Verify the topic exists in your account (named costpulse-{hash}-alerts).
  • Make sure push notifications are enabled for CostPulse in your iOS Settings → Notifications.
  • AWS Budgets may take up to 5 hours to evaluate a new budget threshold. Alerts are not instant after budget creation.
  • If you see budgets in the app but receive no alerts, check that the SNS subscription is in "Confirmed" status (not "PendingConfirmation") in the SNS console.
  • Use the "Check & Repair" button in your account settings. The Account Doctor verifies budget management access and creates a test budget to confirm everything works end-to-end.
Anomaly detection is not detecting anything
  • AWS Cost Anomaly Detection uses machine learning and needs at least 10 days of cost history to establish a baseline.
  • For new accounts or accounts with very low spend, anomaly detection may not trigger because there is not enough data to identify unusual patterns.
  • Verify the anomaly monitor was created successfully by checking the AWS Cost Explorer → Cost Anomaly Detection console.
  • Tap "Check & Repair" in your account settings. The Account Doctor can automatically recreate a missing anomaly monitor and subscription for you.

Still need help?

If your question is not covered above, reach out to our support team:

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