CloudRate Pro.
Product documentation

01. What is included

CloudRate Pro is a self-hosted AWS infrastructure cost estimator. It provides a customizable resource builder, month/year summaries, region comparison, 90-day shared estimate snapshots, PDF and CSV reports, and manual pricing administration.

02. Installation — Easy Install Edition

No folder named public_html required: This edition is designed to upload and extract directly into the empty domain root of an Apache or LiteSpeed PHP 8.2+ website.

1. In cPanel > Domains, find the Document Root for your intended domain. In File Manager, browse to exactly that folder.
2. Upload the ZIP and extract its contents directly into that folder. Confirm that index.php, assets/, _cloudrate/, and .htaccess are directly inside it; do not leave them inside an extra subfolder.
3. Enable PHP 8.2+, HTTPS and Apache/LiteSpeed .htaccess rewrite rules.
4. Open https://yourdomain.com/. The installation assistant automatically checks server requirements, URL routing and protected files.
5. Read the unique one-time installation code from the private file path printed on the installer. Use the hosting File Manager; never publish the code.
6. Enter your administrator credentials and finish the wizard. Delete the uploaded ZIP from the domain root after successful extraction.

The installer requires a verifiable account home outside public web folders (or an explicitly configured CLOUDRATE_PRIVATE_STORAGE absolute path) and automatically creates a writable cloudrate-private-xxxxxxxxxxxx/ folder outside the public website to hold accounts, sessions, rates and saved estimates. PHP must have permission to write it. No database, Composer or WordPress is required for the core calculator.

Local development

php -S 127.0.0.1:8080 -t . router.php

Run this command from the extracted ZIP root; the development router blocks private files. Do not use PHP's built-in server as public hosting.

03. Administrator setup and login

The wizard at /install collects your administrator username, 12+ character password and one-time proof code. This code is stored outside the public website and is removed when the administrator account is created. It prevents an outsider from claiming a fresh site simply by visiting it first.

1. Open the website and wait until installation checks pass.
2. In File Manager, open setup-token.txt at the exact absolute path displayed on the installer, outside the domain root. Copy the code and paste it into the installation form.
3. Create your unique administrator credentials; the account is saved privately and you are signed in automatically.
4. Use /control/login for later sign-ins. Password changes invalidate other login sessions. No default shared password is included.

Recovering a password

On hosts with SSH or a console, use:

php _cloudrate/bin/reset_admin.php

This CLI-only operation requires hosting access. Never expose password reset as an unprotected public web page.

04. Update prices directly from AWS

The Update from AWS action does not require an AWS account or access keys. It retrieves a regional CSV file from the official public AWS Price List endpoint, checks rows against the supported calculation dimensions, and replaces matching local entries only.

1. Open Admin → Refresh prices from AWS.
2. Select Amazon EC2 or Amazon RDS.
3. Select the AWS region you want to refresh.
4. Click Update from AWS and confirm.

   Keep the page open while the PHP server downloads and processes that region's price list. Large files can take time, and some hosting plans may impose limits.

5. Review the result summary.

   The panel displays matched entries, changed entries, unmatched keys, and ambiguous rates that were skipped.

6. Refresh additional service/region combinations as needed.

   Nothing runs on a schedule. All AWS downloads are administrator-initiated.

Exactly what official refresh supports

Command-line alternative for large files

When your hosting plan limits long web requests but provides SSH or terminal access, run the same manual public importer using:

php _cloudrate/bin/update_public_rates.php --service=ec2 --region=us-east-1

This command uses the same validation rules as the admin button. No cron or AWS credentials are needed. Administrator overrides are not overwritten by the EC2/RDS refresh.

What happens when a rate is missing?

If a target SKU is unavailable, unmatched, or ambiguous, the importer does not guess a price. It leaves the previous local entry in place and reports how many entries were not updated. The local catalog can therefore contain a mix of AWS-published reference rates, administrator-maintained rates and illustrative demo rates. Administrator overrides are preserved when using the AWS refresh button.

Public AWS file format

The server fetches official region-scoped files with this URL structure:

https://pricing.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/offers/v1.0/aws/
AmazonEC2/current/us-east-1/index.csv

AWS documents regional price-list CSV/JSON files publicly at AWS Billing — Price List files. Data access is free, but your web host's bandwidth, disk, timeouts, and memory restrictions still apply.

05. Edit rates and import pricing

Single-rate override

Use Edit a price manually to set an explicit price in one region. Choose the region, enter the internal pricing key and numeric USD-per-unit rate, then optionally include a source SKU. The resulting rate is labeled Administrator override — not AWS verified.

Bulk CSV import

Create a UTF-8 CSV file with headers region,key,rate,sku. Choose the file, validate, and confirm the import. The downloadable sample CSV is a structural template, not a price reference.

region,key,rate,sku
us-east-1,ec2.t3.medium,0.0416,VERIFY-THIS-EXAMPLE
us-east-1,ebs.gp3.gb,0.08,VERIFY-THIS-EXAMPLE

Bulk JSON import

Switch the import panel to JSON and paste an array of rate objects:

[
  {
    "region": "us-east-1",
    "key": "ec2.t3.medium",
    "rate": 0.0416,
    "sku": "VERIFY-THIS-EXAMPLE"
  }
]

These numbers only illustrate data format. Review the rate, region, AWS SKU, operating system, pricing tier, and billing unit independently before using them.

Each import replaces matching region + key entries and preserves unrelated entries. Updates are written atomically and recorded in the admin history. Existing saved reports stay unchanged.

Rate units reference

For the complete set of keys and model limits, see _cloudrate/docs/PRICING.md in the download.

06. How the calculator works

Visitors select a region and add resources from the service library. Each resource has its own configuration. The browser sends those values to the PHP calculation engine; PHP validates inputs, finds the exact local regional rate for each implemented billing key, and returns an itemized cost result.

Example calculations

When a needed regional billing key is absent, the resource is flagged incomplete. The result should not be treated as a complete estimate. The application never silently assumes the missing charge is zero.

Region comparison recalculates the same resource settings against selected AWS regions, exposing missing prices instead of fabricating regional percentages.

07. Supported resource models

Not all AWS services, savings models or pricing dimensions are implemented. A configured region is not a promise that every selected resource has a price there.

08. Saving, sharing and reports

1. Build your estimate and inspect the line items and warnings.
2. Choose Save & share to create a snapshot.

   The snapshot stores the configuration, calculated totals and the pricing metadata at the time of saving.

3. Send the generated read-only link or download its PDF and CSV reports.

   Saved links use random tokens, but anyone with the link can view the estimate.

4. Use JSON export/import to transfer project configuration between installations.

Price refreshes do not change previously saved snapshots. To obtain a new estimate using refreshed pricing, reopen the configuration, recalculate and save a new snapshot.

PDF reports are generated by the PHP backend. CSV exports contain individual line items including units, quantities, rates and SKUs, while JSON is intended for configuration transfer and technical integrations.

09. Embed on any website

You can embed the standalone calculator into an HTML website or CMS using an iframe. No WordPress plugin or external JavaScript package is required.

<iframe
  src="https://your-domain.example/embed"
  width="100%"
  height="900"
  loading="lazy"
  title="CloudRate Pro cost estimator">
</iframe>

Replace the example domain with the URL of your CloudRate Pro installation. Use HTTPS for production. If embedding should be restricted to particular sites, configure appropriate framing restrictions at your hosting or reverse-proxy layer.

10. Security & maintenance

• Extract the upload-ready package directly into the domain root. The _cloudrate/ source folder is protected by Apache/LiteSpeed .htaccess; account data and saved reports are automatically stored in a separate directory outside the web root.
• Always use HTTPS for production. Session cookies are HTTP-only and SameSite=Strict; the Secure attribute is applied when PHP sees an HTTPS request.
• Passwords are hashed with PHP's password_hash(). There are no hard-coded buyer credentials, shared demo administrator accounts, or browser-stored admin keys.
• Administrator pricing writes require a verified session and CSRF token. Cross-origin submissions are rejected. Login attempts are rate-limited.
• Changing your password invalidates earlier sessions. Use the Sign out button when finished, especially on shared computers.
• Installation requires the one-time code in the outside-root private storage folder. It is removed after setup and the setup route redirects to sign-in after installation.
• Keep backups of admin-user.json, rates.json, pricing-history.json and projects/ inside your automatically created private folder. Treat backups as private.
• Do not disable the protective .htaccess files or move the outside-root private folder into public_html. The installer checks access rules before account creation.
• Maintain PHP, TLS, server permissions, proxy configuration, and host security updates. Independent production security review is recommended before accepting real customer data.

Account recovery from SSH

php _cloudrate/bin/reset_admin.php

Run the included checks

php _cloudrate/bin/test.php
php _cloudrate/bin/test_pricing.php
python3 _cloudrate/bin/test_install.py

The installation suite launches a local PHP server against an isolated temporary installation; it does not change your real administrator credentials. For a separate calculator HTTP test, start the PHP development server on port 8765 and run python3 _cloudrate/bin/test_http.py.

11. Accuracy & scope limitations

Do not sell or describe the included fixtures as live AWS pricing. Rates from an official public file reflect their source and publication date, but an AWS bill may include discounts, commitments, fees, tiers, minimums, account-specific conditions, and charges not modeled in this software.

• AWS public refresh is limited to eligible EC2 and RDS On-Demand instance-hour pricing keys.
• Other dimensions (storage, transfer, Lambda, S3 and the rest) must be verified and maintained separately.
• AWS bulk CSV file processing depends on the hosting provider's bandwidth, response timeout and PHP execution limits.
• Reservations, Savings Plans, Spot, free-tier eligibility, tax, specialized licensing and actual customer usage integrations are not implemented.
• CloudFront, S3 and some data transfer examples use simplified first-tier assumptions; high-volume estimates may require additional billing tiers.
• Support for 34 selectable region identifiers does not imply complete price coverage in all 34 regions.
• No automatic background price refresh is included. An administrator must initiate updates manually.

The included source files are provided for your own deployment and customization; test thoroughly and consult official AWS documentation before commercial use. CloudRate Pro is an independent tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by AWS.

12. Troubleshooting

13. Package contents and technical reference

YOUR DOMAIN DOCUMENT ROOT/
├── index.php              Public routes and calculator
├── install.php            Setup wizard template (HTTP access blocked)
├── control.php            Login template (HTTP access blocked)
├── admin.php              Management template (HTTP access blocked)
├── router.php             PHP local development server only
├── .htaccess              Rewrite + private-file protection
├── assets/                Calculator, admin and installer styles/scripts
├── _cloudrate/            INTERNAL (web access denied)
│   ├── .htaccess
│   ├── src/                Calculator, auth, API, installer, pricing
│   ├── data/               Region/catalog/example rates
│   ├── docs/               Buyer and API reference manuals
│   └── bin/                CLI tools and QA suites
├── README.md
├── INSTALL.md
└── START_HERE.txt

ACCOUNT HOME (OUTSIDE THE DOCUMENT ROOT)/
└── cloudrate-private-xxxxxxxxxxxx/
    ├── admin-user.json
    ├── sessions/
    ├── projects/
    └── rates.json           Created after first rate edit

Runtime files are stored outside the public website automatically. The original uploaded ZIP should be removed from the domain folder after extraction. For live server operation, check the Apache/LiteSpeed deny rules on the actual hosting account.