Direct, tag-driven, account-driven
Direct allocation works when a resource is dedicated to one owner. Tag-driven works when every resource is tagged with the right values — rare in practice. Account-driven works when business units have their own cloud accounts — the cleanest model, but the most upfront work to set up.
Proportional and stepwise
Proportional allocation splits shared infrastructure (a database serving many products, a Kubernetes cluster running many namespaces) by a usage signal: requests, CPU time, storage, customer count. Stepwise allocation does it in stages: first allocate shared cloud infra to products, then allocate product cost to customers. Stepwise is the only sane way to get all the way down to per-customer COGS in a multi-tenant SaaS.
Who tovin.io is for
Frequently asked
Which model should a small team start with?
Account-driven plus tag-driven. Account boundaries are unambiguous; tags fill in the gaps. Proportional allocation should wait until those two are reliable.
Is one allocation model best?
No — production SaaS usually blends three or four. The mistake is picking one model and forcing every resource into it.