Cloud cost management and cloud cost optimization are often used interchangeably but they solve different problems. Understanding the distinction matters if you want to actually move the needle on your cloud bill. Cloud cost management is about visibility and control: tracking spend, allocating costs to teams, setting budgets, and reporting on where cloud dollars go. Cloud cost optimization is about action: reducing infrastructure costs through rightsizing, eliminating waste, and purchasing discounted commitments like Savings Plans or Reserved Instances. Most organizations start with management tools. They build dashboards, implement tagging, and get spend reports by service and team. That foundation is necessary but it doesn't reduce the bill on its own. What Cloud Cost Management Actually Covers Cost management gives you the financial picture.…