# Virtual tags

> Allocation rules that assign spend to teams and products without changing the tags on the underlying resources.

Source: https://levelfour.ai/glossary/virtual-tags

Updated: 2026-10-23

Virtual tags are allocation rules, defined in a cost platform, that assign spend to a business dimension such as team, product, cost center, or environment without changing the tags on the underlying cloud resources. A rule matches cost lines by account, service, provider tag, project, or any other field on the bill, and sets a value: team=Payments for one AWS account, one OpenAI project, and one Anthropic workspace, for example. Rules run in order, so the first match claims a line, and spend that no rule matches stays in view as unallocated. Because virtual tags live outside the resources, they reach spend that cannot carry tags at all, such as support charges, SaaS invoices, and AI API bills, and a platform can apply a new rule to past months as well as new spend. Showback, chargeback, budgets, and unit costs then group by the virtual tag across every provider. LevelFour builds its boards, budgets, and chargeback on virtual tags.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the difference between virtual tags and resource tags?

Resource tags are key-value labels attached to each resource in a cloud account, and they cover only the resources someone tagged. Virtual tags are rules in the cost platform that read the bill, so they can label untagged resources, shared costs, and providers that have no tags, without touching the infrastructure.

### Do virtual tags replace a tagging policy?

They complement one. Good resource tags make virtual tag rules shorter and more precise, while virtual tags fill the gaps a tagging policy leaves and bring providers without tags into the same allocation.

## Related terms

- [Showback and chargeback](https://levelfour.ai/glossary/showback-and-chargeback.md)
- [AI cost allocation](https://levelfour.ai/glossary/ai-cost-allocation.md)
- [Kubernetes cost allocation](https://levelfour.ai/glossary/kubernetes-cost-allocation.md)

## About LevelFour

The FinOps platform that actually cuts costs. One system of record for Cloud, SaaS, and AI spend. LevelFour applies each saving, or your engineers merge it as code.

- **Cloud Savings**: 30% success fee on savings found and applied. No hidden charges, only pay on what you actually save.
- **Pro**: $30 per month · Up to $2,500 spend/mo
- **Scale**: $200 per month · Up to $7,500 spend/mo
- **Enterprise**: Custom · Unlimited spend

[Pricing](https://levelfour.ai/pricing.md) · [Guide for agents (llms.txt)](https://levelfour.ai/llms.txt) · [Documentation](https://docs.levelfour.ai) · MCP server: `https://mcp.levelfour.ai/mcp`