Let us start with the basics: Microsoft Azure is Microsoft's cloud service. Azure is one of the most well-known cloud providers, ranking with GCP and AWS. Azure's unique features include hybrid choices and, of course, seamless connectivity with other Microsoft services.
Asking "how much does Azure pricing each month?" isn't exactly a simple question. Visit Intercept Cloud's blog for the most comprehensive Azure pricing breakdown. They explain everything and help you understand the numbers.
Azure's Monthly Price
Cost varies according to the services used and the quantity needed. A small system may be cheap, but scaling up can be expensive. The cheapest Windows VMs, the Bs-series, are $3.80 a month and are designed to handle traffic spikes. It's just the essentials. Running 5 B2ats v2 VMs full-time for 30 days will cost $71.28. Add $24 if your Azure Function executes 4 million times a day. For storage, 200GB on Blob Storage (Hot tier) costs $3.60. It would cost about $100 for this configuration.
Still, this rate is for the US and may vary based on where you host. So, bear in mind that Azure's price is continually changing, and you should anticipate it to vary based on service kind, usage, and location.
Azure normally has "pay as you go" pricing, but you can obtain discounts if you commit to one or three years of subscription. Azure also provides a free tier, albeit services are much more limited, with some services available for the first 12 months and others indefinitely.
What Criteria Determine Azure Pricing?
Three primary things influence your Azure pricing:
- Compute
- Storage
- Networking
More peripherally, additional small elements influencing your pricing include:
- AI + Machine Learning
- Analytics
- Blockchain
- Containers
- DevOps and Developer Tools
- Databases
- Integration
- The Internet of All Things
- Migration
- Mixed Reality
- Mobile and Web
Azure's Security Center is an extremely essential added feature. In this age of cyber-attacks, where the cost of cybercrime is estimated to exceed $10.5 trillion by 2025, investing in additional security is always beneficial. Azure's baseline tier of Security Center includes Microsoft's automatic resource protection—unless you choose to opt out.
Other Azure Pricing Models
Azure provides several price structures, including spot pricing and reserved instances. These alternatives let you scale your tools and cloud storage as needed while still committing to a partial fee. Azure also offers pricing based on the service you require, with separate price models for VMs (virtual machines), functions, networking, and storage.
Spot pricing allows you to acquire unused processing power at discounts of up to 90% (relative to pay-as-you-go charges). However, this comes with the risk of spot instances being interrupted at short notice. You should only consider this option if your project can handle interruptions.
How to Keep Azure Pricing in Check?
Azure's Cost Management tools are pretty solid for helping you see how much you're spending and where. You can set budgets, track usage, and even predict your costs going forward.
Azure's cost management tools have one (major) disadvantage: they are offered by the same firm as the tool, and the best interest isn't always cost reduction but rather user pleasure. If you want tools that can help you break down the cost of working with Azure, such as easy-to-understand dashboards and precise budget estimates, you should employ a cloud cost optimization tool. Intercept can help you optimize your usage, so you're not left paying for things you don't need. And remember, Azure pricing can shift, but with the right strategies, you'll stay on top of it.
