How to lower costs while scaling your CI/CD: Use Spot Instances

Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines automate workflows such as building, testing, and deploying software, allowing engineers to focus on shipping updates and improving team processes. However, costs can increase as more pipelines are created and run more often. Spot Instances offer a solution by providing virtual machines at significantly discounted prices, which can be terminated with little notice when demand increases or spare capacity is needed elsewhere. While Spot Instances have some challenges, such as being interruptible and potentially unavailable at desired price points, they can provide significant cost savings for CI/CD infrastructure. By taking a pragmatic approach to implementing Spot Instances, teams can optimize costs while mitigating operational risks.