Enterprise-grade information retrieval and search for AI applications
Azure AI Search is an information retrieval and search platform, designed to optimise retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) within Gen AI applications. Organisations can store, index and search their own data, delivering current information to AI models. Surface the most relevant information with cutting-edge technology including semantic ranking, vector and hybrid search.
Explore pricing options
Apply filters to customise pricing options to your needs.
Prices are estimates only and are not intended as actual price quotes. Actual pricing may vary depending on the type of agreement entered with Microsoft, date of purchase, and the currency exchange rate. Prices are calculated based on US dollars and converted using London closing spot rates that are captured in the two business days prior to the last business day of the previous month end. If the two business days prior to the end of the month autumn on a bank holiday in major markets, the rate setting day is generally the day immediately preceding the two business days. This rate applies to all transactions during the forthcoming month. Sign in to the Azure pricing calculator to see pricing based on your current programme/offer with Microsoft. Contact an Azure sales specialist for more information on pricing or to request a price quote. See frequently asked questions about Azure pricing.
US government entities are eligible to purchase Azure Government services from a licensing solution provider with no upfront financial commitment, or directly through a pay-as-you-go online subscription.
Important—The price in R$ is merely a reference; this is an international transaction and the final price is subject to exchange rates and the inclusion of IOF taxes. An eNF will not be issued.
US government entities are eligible to purchase Azure Government services from a licensing solution provider with no upfront financial commitment, or directly through a pay-as-you-go online subscription.
Important—The price in R$ is merely a reference; this is an international transaction and the final price is subject to exchange rates and the inclusion of IOF taxes. An eNF will not be issued.
| Free | Basic | Standard S1 | Standard S2 | Standard S3 | Storage Optimised L1 | Storage Optimised L2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Storage1 | 50 MB |
15 GB
(max 45 GB per service) |
160 GB
(max 1.9 TB per service) |
512 GB
(max 6 TB per service) |
1 TB
(max 12 TB per service) |
2 TB
(max 24 TB per service) |
4 TB
(max 48 TB per service) |
| Max indexes per service | 3 | 15 | 50 | 200 | 200 or 1,000/partition in high density mode | 10 | 10 |
| Scale out limits | N/A |
Up to 9 units per service2 (max 3 partition; max 3 replicas) |
Up to 36 units per service (max 12 partition; max 12 replicas) |
Up to 36 units per service (max 12 partition; max 12 replicas) |
Up to 36 units per service (max 12 partition; max 12 replicas) up to 3 partitions in high density3 mode |
Up to 36 units per service (max 12 partition; max 12 replicas) |
Up to 36 units per service (max 12 partition; max 12 replicas) |
| Price per SU (Scale Unit) | $- | $- | $- | $- | $- | $- | $- |
1The limits listed here apply to Basic and Standard tier services created after April 3, 2024 and Storage Optimised tier services created after May 17, 2024. The storage limits available for a new search service may differ in your desired region. For more information on the available storage for new and existing services in each region, refer here.
2Basic services created before April 3, 2024 can only have a single partition with max 2 GB storage per service.
3High density (HD) mode is an option available within the standard S3 service that allows a larger number of indexes to be created in a single service. For information on supported limits, refer here.
Learn more about service limits and constraints.
Pricing Options for Additional Features
| What This Feature Does | Pricing Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Customised Entity Lookup Skill |
Looks for text from a customised, user-defined list of words and phrases and labels all documents containing matching entities. Available for all Basic, Standard and Storage-Optimised tiers. When to use: you want to define and detect specific entities in your data. |
0-1M text records $- per 1,000 text records 1M-3M text records $- per 1,000 text records 3M-10M text records $- per 1,000 text records 10M+ text records $- per 1,000 text records |
| Document Cracking: Image Extraction |
Extracts content from a file within the enrichment pipeline. Text extraction is free. Image extraction is billed during the initial document cracking step and when invoking the Document Extraction skill. When to use: you have documents that contain images. |
0-1M images $- per 1,000 transactions 1M-5M images $- per 1,000 transactions 5M+ images $- per 1,000 transactions |
| Semantic ranker |
Uses AI models to improve the relevance of the search results by finding content that is semantically similar to query terms. The service is only available for accounts on Basic, Standard tiers (S1, S2 and S3), and Storage-Optimised (L1 and L2) and has two pricing plans within those tiers. When to use: you want to improve the quality of search results and optimise the user experience. |
First 1,000 requests per month free. $- per 1,000 additional requests |
Guidance for how to select the right SKU for your business
Every business has unique needs as it grows and evolves. Explore the guidance below to learn how to start with the right business model for your organisation.
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Prior to selecting a SKU, it's valuable to think through the requirements you have for your search service. The following are important questions to ask:
- What are example queries your application users may write?
- What kind of information will they search for?
- Will users want to filter or sort through search results?
- How many indexes will you need?
- What is the size of your raw data files or blob storage?
- Will you need headroom for ingesting new documents/data in the future?
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Azure AI Search is offered in combinable search "units" that vary by storage and throughput. Selecting the optimal pricing tier for your solution is based on the following factors:
- Storage requirements: This refers to the amount of data you need to store in your search service. Each tier has a storage limit per partition, and you can add up to 12 partitions on a search service. It's important that your service has enough space for your data and has headroom to grow if you plan on ingesting more data.
Pro Tip: The storage size of your search index will typically be smaller than the size of your raw data, particularly for files like PDFs and images. The best way to assess the storage size required for your search index is to index a representative sample of documents into your search index in the Azure portal with the Import Data Wizard.
- Queries per Second (QPS): The throughput of your search service, often measured in QPS, will depend on your data and the types of queries users will issue. It's best to run performance tests to understand the throughput a particular tier can handle for your scenario but we have performance benchmarks that show the throughput different customer scenarios. Check out our performance benchmarking guidance to see sample customer scenarios.
For additional guidance, please see our documentation: Choosing a Pricing Tier.
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Customers can further optimise their search experience with add-on services in the "Additional Features" table below. We also recommend customers read the following guidance on how to manage costs:
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For additional help, please see our options for one-on-one guidance.
Azure pricing and purchasing options
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Azure AI Search
Learn more about Azure AI Search features and capabilities.
Pricing calculator
Estimate your expected monthly costs for using any combination of Azure products.
SLA
Review the Service Level Agreement for Azure AI Search.
Documentation
Review technical tutorials, videos, and more Azure AI Search resources.
Frequently asked questions
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With Microsoft Azure AI Search, you are billed on a flat, predictable hourly rate based on the number of units that have been used during any given hour.
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You are billed the last search unit count detected within an hour. If you start with two units, then scale to four units, and then scale back down to two units all within an hour, you will likely be charged for two units.
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The stop button is meant to stop traffic to your service instance. As a result, your service is still running and will continue to be charged the hourly rate.
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You are billed the flat rate for each hour the unit exists, regardless of usage or if the unit is active for less than an hour. For example, if you create a unit and delete it five minutes later, your bill will reflect a charge for one unit hour.
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Azure AI Search units combine to provide additional throughput and storage. For example, to scale from 15 million documents to 30 million (additional partitions), a customer can purchase two units. To increase throughput (additional replicas), they can purchase two units. To increase both storage and throughput, a customer would need to purchase four units (2 replicas x 2 partitions = 4 search units).
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Free is a free version of Azure AI Search designed to provide developers a sandbox to test features and implementations of Azure AI Search. It is not designed for production workloads. Basic, standard and storage optimised are the go-to options for building applications that benefit from a self-managed search-as-a-service solution. Standard delivers storage and predictable throughput that scales with application needs. Storage Optimised editions offer significantly more storage at a reduced price per TB. For very high-demand applications, please contact azuresearch_contact@microsoft.com.
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Azure AI Search is available in the new Microsoft Azure portal. First, you must sign up for an Azure subscription, then you can add an Azure AI Search account to your Azure subscription via the gallery in the preview portal. Get more information.
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