Price checkMonthly
Free TierFreePay-As-You-Go (B1s)$7.59/moPay-As-You-Go (D2s v3)$70.08/mo
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Quick Answer
Last verified:
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Microsoft Azure costs $1 to $12 per month as of March 2026, with 5 plans available including a free tier. Plans: Free Tier (free), Pay-As-You-Go (B1s) at $7.59/month, and Pay-As-You-Go (D2s v3) at $70.08/month. Enterprise pricing is available on request. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.

Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.

  • Free tier: Yes

Microsoft Azure offers 5 pricing tiers: Free Tier, Pay-As-You-Go (B1s), Pay-As-You-Go (D2s v3), Azure Savings Plan (1-Year), Reserved Instances (3-Year). A free plan is available. Paid plans include Pay-As-You-Go (B1s) at $7.59/month, Pay-As-You-Go (D2s v3) at $70.08/month. The Pay-As-You-Go (B1s) plan is lightweight workloads, development servers, and testing environments.

Compared to other cloud infrastructure software, Microsoft Azure is positioned at the budget-friendly price point.

  • Median contract: $841/yr from 0 purchases
  • Average negotiated discount: 92%
  • 8 documented hidden costs beyond list price
Last verified: | Sources: 1 pricing pages and reviews

How much does Microsoft Azure cost?

Microsoft Azure offers 5 pricing plans, starting with a free tier and scaling to custom enterprise pricing. Plans include Free Tier (free), Pay-As-You-Go (B1s) at $7.59/month, Pay-As-You-Go (D2s v3) at $70.08/month, Azure Savings Plan (1-Year) (custom pricing), Reserved Instances (3-Year) (custom pricing).

Microsoft Azure Pricing Overview

Microsoft Azure has 5 pricing plans, including a free tier. Paid plans range from $1 to $12/month. The Free Tier plan is free and is best for developers and startups exploring azure or building initial prototypes. The Pay-As-You-Go (B1s) plan costs $7.59/month, best for lightweight workloads, development servers, and testing environments. The Pay-As-You-Go (D2s v3) plan costs $70.08/month, best for production web servers, small databases, and general-purpose applications. The Azure Savings Plan (1-Year) plan requires contacting sales for a custom quote and is designed for organizations with predictable azure spend seeking long-term discounts. The Reserved Instances (3-Year) plan requires contacting sales for a custom quote and is designed for enterprise workloads with stable, predictable vm usage over multiple years.

The median Microsoft Azure customer pays $841/year, with an average 92% discount available through negotiation.

There are at least 8 documented hidden costs beyond Microsoft Azure's list price, including implementation, training, and add-on fees.

This pricing was last verified in February 4, 2026 from 1 independent sources.

Visit Microsoft Azure Pricing

Microsoft Azure is the second-largest cloud infrastructure provider with approximately 25% global market share. Azure offers over 200 products and services including virtual machines, databases, AI services, and DevOps tools. Its deep integration with the Microsoft ecosystem (Windows Server, SQL Server, Active Directory, Microsoft 365) makes it a natural choice for enterprise organizations.

Azure pricing follows a pay-as-you-go model starting at $7.59/month for a B1s burstable VM. Production workloads on D-series VMs typically cost $70-300/month per instance. Azure Savings Plans offer up to 65% off, Reserved Instances save up to 72%, and Azure Hybrid Benefit provides additional 40% savings for organizations with existing Microsoft licenses.

How Microsoft Azure Pricing Compares

Compare Microsoft Azure pricing against top alternatives in Cloud Infrastructure.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) $0-$10000/user/mo View pricing → DigitalOcean $4-$200/user/mo View pricing → Google Cloud Platform (GCP) $300.0-$999.0/user/mo View pricing →

All Microsoft Azure Plans & Pricing

Plan Monthly Annual Best For
Free Tier Free Free Developers and startups exploring Azure or building initial prototypes
Pay-As-You-Go (B1s) $7.59 /month $7.59 /year Lightweight workloads, development servers, and testing environments
Pay-As-You-Go (D2s v3) $70.08 /month $70.08 /year Production web servers, small databases, and general-purpose applications
Azure Savings Plan (1-Year) Contact Sales Contact Sales Organizations with predictable Azure spend seeking long-term discounts
Reserved Instances (3-Year) Contact Sales Contact Sales Enterprise workloads with stable, predictable VM usage over multiple years
View all features by plan

Free Tier

  • $200 credit for first 30 days
  • 750 hours/month B1s, B2pts v2, and B2ats v2 VMs (12 months)
  • 5 GB Blob Storage (12 months)
  • 250 GB SQL Database (12 months)
  • 15 GB outbound data transfer/month
  • 55+ always-free services including Functions and Cosmos DB
  • Azure DevOps with 5 users free
  • Azure Active Directory free tier

Pay-As-You-Go (B1s)

  • 1 vCPU, 1 GiB memory
  • Burstable CPU performance
  • Per-second billing
  • No upfront commitment
  • Linux or Windows OS options
  • Available in 60+ regions worldwide
  • Integrated with Azure Monitor

Pay-As-You-Go (D2s v3)

  • 2 vCPUs, 8 GiB memory
  • Dedicated compute performance
  • Premium SSD support
  • Accelerated networking
  • Per-second billing
  • Availability zone support
  • Azure Hybrid Benefit eligible

Azure Savings Plan (1-Year)

  • Up to 65% off Pay-As-You-Go rates
  • Flexible across VM sizes, regions, and OS
  • 1-year or 3-year commitment
  • Applies to VMs, App Service, Functions, and Container Instances
  • Hourly commitment model
  • Automatic discount application
  • Combinable with Azure Hybrid Benefit

Reserved Instances (3-Year)

  • Up to 72% off Pay-As-You-Go rates
  • Instance-specific discounts
  • Priority capacity allocation
  • 3-year commitment for maximum savings
  • All Upfront, Monthly, or No Upfront payment options
  • Exchangeable for different VM sizes within same family
  • Stackable with Azure Hybrid Benefit for additional 40% off Windows
See Microsoft Azure Plans & Sign Up

Compare Microsoft Azure vs Alternatives

Before committing to Microsoft Azure, compare pricing with these 3 alternatives in the same category.

VSAmazon Web Services (AWS)
Free

Developers learning AWS, small experiments, and proof-of-concept projects

Compare pricing
VSDigitalOcean
From $4/user/mo

Evaluating DigitalOcean services

Compare pricing
VSGoogle Cloud Platform (GCP)
From $300.0/user/mo

Developers exploring GCP, data analytics experimentation, and serverless prototyping

Compare pricing

All Microsoft Azure alternatives & migration guides

What Companies Actually Pay for Microsoft Azure

The median Microsoft Azure buyer pays $841/year based on 0 verified purchase transactions, with an average 92% savings through negotiation.

What companies actually pay $841/yr Median across 0 purchases
92% avg. savings
with negotiation
Review scores
TrustRadius 8.4/10 (1,080)
Trustpilot 1.1/5 (18)
Top pricing complaints
Unpredictable and surprise billing chargesPoor customer support — meaningful help requires expensive paid support plansComplex, opaque pricing that is difficult to predictServices continuing to charge after attempted cancellation or deletion
Source: Vendr buyer database — median calculated from 0 real purchase transactions. Savings figure reflects negotiated discounts reported by buyers.
Visit Microsoft Azure Pricing

Microsoft Azure Year 1 Total Cost by Company Size

Real deployment costs including licenses, implementation, training, and admin — not just the sticker price.

Developer Workstation $12 Year 1 total

B1s VM with 32 GB managed disk, Azure DevOps free tier, and basic monitoring

Small Business Application $150 Year 1 total

D2s v3 VM, Azure SQL Basic, 50 GB Blob Storage, and Application Gateway

Production Web Platform $1,200 Year 1 total

AKS cluster with D4s v3 nodes, Azure SQL Standard, Redis Cache, and Front Door

Enterprise Hybrid Cloud $8,000 Year 1 total

Multiple VMs with ExpressRoute, Azure AD Premium, Azure Firewall, and Unified Support

Development / Low-Traffic Web App (B1s VM) $7 Year 1 total
$91.08/year
Total $7

Single B1s virtual machine on Pay-As-You-Go for a basic web application, development environment, or low-traffic production workload.

Medium Production Workload (D2s v3 VM) $70 Year 1 total
$840.96/year
Total $70

Single D2s v3 virtual machine on Pay-As-You-Go with 2 vCPUs and 8GB RAM for a production application, API server, or database host.

Learning & Proof-of-Concept (Free Tier) $0 Year 1 total

Azure Free Tier account for initial exploration, certification study, or proof-of-concept development using always-free services.

How Microsoft Azure Pricing Compares

Software Starting Price Top Price
Microsoft Azure $1/month $12/month
Amazon Web Services (AWS) Free $10000/month
DigitalOcean $4/month $200/month
Fly.io Custom Custom
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) $300/month $999/month
Linode (Akamai) Free $992/month

Browse all Cloud Infrastructure pricing →

8 Microsoft Azure Hidden Costs Beyond the List Price

Beyond the listed price, Microsoft Azure has at least 8 documented hidden costs that can significantly increase total cost of ownership.

Watch for 8 hidden costs
  • Unpredictable Billing & Surprise Charges 5-100% of license costs
    critical 3 sources
    Reddit "The cost of this configuration mistake was about 12 times our normal monthly cost."
    Trustpilot "I explicitly deleted the SQL and closed the database service, yet my charges jumped by 70%. I have no active database, but I'm still getting billed."
    Trustpilot "Azure's pricing is deceptive, with unexpected fees that blindsided me."
  • CSP Subscription Lacks Cost Management Visibility 5-50% of license costs
    high 1 source
    Reddit "Never move to a CSP if there is no cost management + billing feature. It can get very expensive without you knowing until the bill arrives and its very hard to get help."
  • Premium Support Costs $100-$300/month
    high 2 sources
    Trustpilot "Hidden costs on everything you do, and if you don’t pay 99€ a month for priority support, they will just redirect your queries to some indians who doesn’t even comprehend English enough to understand your query, not solving it at all."
    Trustpilot "We pay thousands for their unreliable services which are down again and they refuse to speak to you unless you pay them more money and then when you pay they still won't speak to you."
  • Feature Gating Behind Higher Service Tiers $70/month
    medium 1 source
    Trustpilot "In order to put an SSL binding on a web app, you need a basic service account, which costs almost $70/month. That's on top of paying for the server, on top of paying for the domain. Just the binding, requires that price tag. That's price gouging."
  • Marketplace Charges Billed Separately 5-15% of license costs
    medium 1 source
    TrustRadius "Along lines of cost, the costs in “marketplace” should be included in the billing to Microsoft and not separate"
  • Complex Pricing Structure Difficulty 10-30% of license costs
    high 3 sources
    TrustRadius "Pricing structure remains unnecessarily complex and difficult to predict."
    G2 "Sometimes, the pricing can be a bit complex, and navigating the vast array of services can be overwhelming for newcomers."
    G2 "Understanding azure bills can be tricky, especially if you use lots of different services. You have to watch your usage carefully to avoid getting surprises in bills."
  • Data Egress & Archive Retrieval Costs $20/TB retrieval
    medium 1 source
    Reddit "Amazon and Azure's cheapest archive tier cost $1/TB but retrieval will can take hours and it will cost $20/TB for both plus bandwidth charges."
  • Account & Data Deletion After Overdue Invoices 10-100% of license costs
    critical 1 source
    Trustpilot "Microsoft Azure just deleted all my our company’s work that was stored in my account for the past 4-5 yrs. This was based on a ridiculous policy that after 90 days of an overdue invoice the system automatically deletes the account."
Tip

Ask your Microsoft Azure sales rep about these costs upfront. Getting them in writing before signing can save you from surprise charges later.

Full hidden costs breakdown →

Intelligence sourced from 5 independent sources
Reddit User discussions Trustpilot Consumer reviews TrustRadius Enterprise reviews G2 B2B reviews Vendr Verified buyer transactions
Key claims include inline source attribution. Data verified against multiple independent sources. 21 source citations total.

Microsoft Azure Contract Terms

Microsoft Azure contracts do not auto-renew. Changes require advance notice. These terms are sourced from verified buyer experiences.

Contract Terms
Auto-Renewal No
Minimum Commitment None for Pay-As-You-Go; 1 year for Azure Savings Plan; 1 or 3 years for Reserved Instances
Mid-Term Downgrade Allowed
Payment Terms Pay-As-You-Go billed monthly based on usage; Reserved Instances available upfront or monthly installments
Price Escalation No published schedule found in sources; CSP agreement pricing may vary by partner
Note

Pay-As-You-Go allows resource scaling at any time; Reserved Instances have limited exchange and cancellation options

Based on 2 verified sources

How to Negotiate Microsoft Azure Pricing

Microsoft Azure contracts are negotiable — buyers save an average of 92% off list price. These 5 tactics are sourced from real buyer experiences and procurement specialists.

Negotiation Playbook 5 tactics
Commit to Reserved Instances for Stable Workloads high success

For predictable, stable workloads, 1-year or 3-year Reserved Instances offer significant discounts vs Pay-As-You-Go. Microsoft allows reserved pricing to be moved across compatible resources if workload needs change.

reddit, CURRENT TIER DATA
Use Azure Savings Plan for Flexible Commitment high success

The Azure Savings Plan (1-Year) provides custom-priced discounted rates compared to Pay-As-You-Go without locking into specific VM types, offering flexibility for teams whose workloads shift while still reducing costs.

CURRENT TIER DATA
Apply for Microsoft Nonprofit Pricing high success

Microsoft offers significant nonprofit discounts across Azure services. Azure AD and Intune are reportedly free for nonprofits for up to 50 users. Qualifying nonprofits should apply through the Microsoft for Nonprofits program before purchasing.

reddit
Start Pay-As-You-Go Before Committing to Reserved Instances high success

Run workloads on Pay-As-You-Go for 2-3 months to baseline actual resource consumption before committing to Reserved Instances. This prevents over-provisioning and ensures you buy the right instance type and size.

reddit
Use a Microsoft Partner or CSP for Better Pricing medium success

Engaging a Microsoft Certified Partner (CSP) can unlock better pricing, invoicing terms, and support compared to standard Pay-As-You-Go. Ensure the CSP provides access to Azure Cost Management before moving — some CSP subscriptions historically lacked this feature.

reddit
High success Medium Low / difficult

Full negotiation guide →

Microsoft Azure Pricing FAQ

01 How much does Microsoft Azure cost?

Azure uses pay-as-you-go pricing. A B1s VM costs $7.59/month, a D2s v3 costs $70.08/month, and production environments typically range $200-$5,000+/month. New accounts receive $200 in free credits plus 12 months of free popular services.

02 Does Azure have a free tier?

Yes, Azure offers a generous free tier: $200 credit for the first 30 days, 750 hours/month of B1s VMs free for 12 months, and 55+ always-free services including Azure Functions (1M requests/month), Cosmos DB (1,000 RU/s), and Azure DevOps (5 users).

03 What hidden costs should I expect with Azure?

Key hidden costs include data egress ($0.087/GB), managed disk storage ($0.075/GB/month for Premium SSD), Load Balancer fees, Azure Monitor log ingestion ($2.76/GB), and static IP charges. Support plans add $100-$1,000/month depending on the tier.

04 How can I save money on Azure?

Use Azure Savings Plans for up to 65% off or Reserved Instances for up to 72% off. Azure Hybrid Benefit saves up to 40% on Windows VMs with existing licenses. Spot VMs offer up to 90% discounts for interruptible workloads. Use Azure Advisor for cost optimization recommendations.

05 Is Azure cheaper than AWS?

Azure and AWS have comparable pricing for similar instance types. Azure offers advantages with Hybrid Benefit for existing Windows/SQL Server licenses (saving up to 40%), while AWS has broader Savings Plans flexibility. Azure is often cheaper for Microsoft-centric organizations.

06 What is the cheapest way to run a VM on Azure?

The lowest-cost entry point is the Free Tier ($0/month) for learning and exploration. For lightweight production workloads, the Pay-As-You-Go (B1s) plan runs $7.59/month. For stable, predictable workloads, the Azure Savings Plan (1-Year) or Reserved Instances (3-Year) offer custom-priced discounts versus Pay-As-You-Go rates.

07 Why is my Azure bill higher than expected?

Azure billing complexity is a widely reported issue. Bills can spike due to misconfiguration (e.g., excessive Log Analytics data ingestion), services continuing to run after you believe they are stopped, data egress and retrieval fees, marketplace add-on charges billed separately, and feature gating that requires higher service tiers for basic functionality. It is critical to enable Azure Cost Management alerts and set spending limits to avoid surprise charges.

08 Does Azure charge for data retrieval from archive storage?

Yes. Azure's cheapest archive blob storage tier costs approximately $1/TB for storage, but retrieval can take hours and costs approximately $20/TB, plus additional bandwidth charges. This is separate from and on top of the storage cost.

09 What happens if my Azure account invoice goes unpaid?

Azure suspends and then permanently deletes accounts after approximately 90 days of an overdue invoice. Once data is deleted under this policy, it cannot be recovered. Keep payment methods current and resolve any billing disputes promptly to avoid permanent data loss.

10 Is Azure the right choice for Microsoft-stack organizations?

Yes. Azure integrates seamlessly with Office 365, Active Directory, SQL Server, and .NET applications, and provides native tools like Windows Virtual Desktop and Azure DevOps. Organizations without existing Microsoft investments may find AWS or GCP more neutral starting points, as Azure's value scales with Microsoft ecosystem usage.

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