Why we built a cloud layer
The MeshFlow OSS framework solves the per-run problem: every workflow gets cost caps, compliance profiles, and an audit chain. The framework is the right layer for those controls — they need to be enforced at the kernel level, not as post-hoc analytics.
But the OSS layer has a limit. It sees one run at a time. It can't tell you that Team A's summarizer costs 3× Team B's for the same task class, or that the new prompt you shipped last Tuesday increased org-wide LLM spend by 23%.
That's what MeshFlow Cloud is for.
Design principle
Everything in Cloud must satisfy one test: could a solo developer building one agent workflow live without this?
If no: it stays in OSS. Free forever.
If yes: it belongs in Cloud. These are things that require a server and multiply in value when shared across teams.
This is the Stripe parallel. stripe-python is MIT and complete. Stripe Dashboard (analytics, dispute management, team access, compliance reports) is the SaaS. No developer ever needed the Dashboard to accept their first payment. But every company with a finance team pays for it.
Token Cost Intelligence
The OSS `WorkflowAnalytics` shows per-run cost. Cloud aggregates across every run, every agent, every team, every model — continuously.
The dashboard surfaces: - Daily LLM spend by model, team, and workflow type - ModelRouter analytics — which routing decisions fired, what model was selected, how much was saved vs always-frontier - Cost-per-workflow trending — detects cost drift before it becomes a billing surprise - Cross-team benchmarking — "Team A's summarizer costs 3× Team B's for the same task class"
The ROI story: at $300K/year in LLM costs, a 30% reduction is $90K/year saved. The dashboard makes that visible and reportable to the CFO.
CI/CD Cost Gates
The OSS has a `CostRegressionGate` that compares against a local baseline file. The Cloud version stores baselines centrally and comments on PRs automatically.
# .github/workflows/cost-gate.yml
- name: Cost regression gate
run: |
meshflow cost-gate \
--baseline cloud \
--threshold 20% \
--pr-commentWhen a PR increases org token cost by more than 20%, the gate posts a comment:
> Cost regression detected > This PR increases org token cost by +23% ($47/day). > Top driver: new summarizer prompt +400 tokens. > Baseline: $204/day → After merge: $251/day
And optionally blocks the merge.
Managed Compliance Evidence
The most differentiated Cloud feature. The OSS audit chain lives in a local SQLite file. Cloud retains it for 7 years, verifies chain integrity on every write, and generates on-demand auditor reports.
The reports are structured to match what auditors actually want: - HIPAA §164.312(b): access log with agent identity, action, timestamp, policy verdict - SOC 2 CC7.2: anomaly detection log with incident review records - GDPR Art.30: records of processing activities with data category mapping - EU AI Act Art.9: risk management documentation with tier distribution
Each report is a signed, timestamped PDF that a compliance officer can hand directly to an auditor.
Pricing
We price Cloud on org retention tiers, not seat count and not execution count. A compliance officer buying audit retention thinks in terms of risk reduction and retention obligations, not seats or API calls.
- Developer ($49/mo): 30-day retention, basic cost dashboard
- Team ($299/mo): 90-day retention, CI cost gates, compliance reports
- Enterprise (custom): 7-year retention, signed exports, on-premises option
The OSS framework is Apache 2.0 and free forever. Cloud is where enterprises pay.