Cost and credit usage for Snowflake App Runtime¶
This topic describes how Snowflake bills compute used by Snowflake App Runtime and where to track that usage.
How App Runtime compute is billed¶
Snowflake App Runtime uses a dedicated service type:
| Service type | Description |
|---|---|
SNOWFLAKE_APP_RUNTIME | Compute used to build and host Snowflake App Runtime services. |
All apps in an account share a single Snowflake-managed compute pool. Credit
usage is billed at the account level under the SNOWFLAKE_APP_RUNTIME service
type, separate from your warehouses and other compute. Per-app cost
attribution isn’t available.
Credit rate¶
App Runtime credits are charged per compute-hour at the rate listed in the
Snowflake Service Consumption Table
under “Serverless Feature Credit Table” for the SNOWFLAKE_APP_RUNTIME service
type. The managed compute pool uses CPU_X64_S nodes (3 vCPU, 13 GiB RAM).
This rate reflects a discount relative to the equivalent self-managed SPCS
compute pool node rate.
You aren’t billed per request or per concurrent user. Cost depends on how long the underlying compute nodes run, regardless of whether your app is handling traffic.
You pay for nodes, not instances. App Runtime packs multiple instances onto a node when resource requests allow it, so a new node is added only when existing ones are full.
Billing lifecycle¶
App Runtime billing follows the same lifecycle as SPCS compute pools. For details on how costs accrue in each state (ACTIVE, IDLE, SUSPENDED), see Compute pool cost.
Apps left running while idle still accrue credits. If you deploy an app for testing or occasional use, suspend it when not needed.
Find App Runtime usage in metering views¶
App Runtime credits appear in the same metering views that report other Snowflake compute usage:
- METERING_HISTORY: hourly credit usage for the last 365 days.
- METERING_DAILY_HISTORY: daily credit usage rolled up by service type.
For cross-account roll-ups, use organization-level metering views such as USAGE_IN_CURRENCY_DAILY.
The following query returns hourly App Runtime credit usage for the last 30 days:
Inspect App Runtime credit usage¶
For a focused view of App Runtime credit usage, query SNOWFLAKE_APP_RUNTIME_COMPUTE_HISTORY. The view returns hourly account-level credit usage for App Runtime over the last 365 days.
Reduce App Runtime cost¶
App Runtime apps run continuously once created. An app that is deployed but not actively used still consumes compute until it is suspended or dropped. To control cost:
- Suspend idle apps. Use
ALTER APPLICATION SERVICE ... SUSPENDto release compute for apps not in active use. Resume them withALTER APPLICATION SERVICE ... RESUMEwhen needed. - Drop unused apps. Use
DROP APPLICATION SERVICEto permanently remove apps you no longer need. - Monitor app state. Use Observability for Snowflake App Runtime to find apps stuck in unexpected states that may still be consuming compute.
See also¶
- Observability for Snowflake App Runtime: service state and logs.
- SNOWFLAKE_APP_RUNTIME_COMPUTE_HISTORY view: hourly App Runtime credit usage view.
- Understanding compute cost: general cost concepts for Snowflake compute.