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Azure

Azure Hybrid Benefit

Accelerate your cloud adoption and maximise your Azure savings

Save up to 56% on the latest Linux VMs in several Azure regions for a limited time. Terms apply.

Azure Hybrid Benefit is an Azure offer that helps organizations reduce expenses during their migration to the cloud. By providing Azure discounts on Windows and SQL Server licenses, and Linux subscriptions, it supports infrastructure modernization and a cloud-first strategy.

Azure Hybrid Benefit coverage includes Azure VMware Solution, Nutanix, and other services through Windows Server with Software Assurance or Subscription, plus support for RedHat and SUSE Enterprise Linux customers.

Optimise your Azure SQL server costs at scale using centrally managed Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server.

Azure Hybrid Benefit Savings Calculator

Enter the number of core licences that you own that are covered with active Software Assurance or Windows Server Subscriptions

Enter planned Azure deployment of Windows Virtual Machines

Learn more about Windows Server instances
Eligible Virtual Machines based on instance size selection
Learn more about eligibility

Enter the number of SQL Server licence cores with Software Assurance

Enter planned Azure deployment of SQL Server Instances

With Azure Hybrid Benefit Windows Server and SQL Server customers can save up to 85% over standard pay-as-you go pricing

Eligible Virtual Machines with SQL Server Enterprise edition based on your Instance selection

Enter the number of SQL Server licence cores with Software Assurance

Enter planned Azure deployment of SQL Server Instances

Eligible number of Managed Instance General Purpose instances based on your Instance selection

Enter the number of SQL Server licence cores with Software Assurance

Enter planned Azure deployment of SQL Server Instances

Eligible number of Single Instance General Purpose instances based on your Instance selection

Monthly estimates

Without Azure Hybrid Benefit per month
With Azure Hybrid Benefit per month
Savings across eligible Virtual Machines per month Savings across eligible databases per month
(% savings)

Annual estimates

Your estimated annual savings on Azure across all virtual machines Your estimated annual savings on Azure across all databases

Eligible number of virtual machines is 0. You need at least cores in licences with Software Assurance to be eligible for at least 1 virtual machine of your instance size selection.

Please enter more than zero hours per month

Sorry, the selected Windows Virtual Machine instance is not available in the selected region. Please make another selection.

Total licences must be greater than zero

Sorry, the selected SQL Server instance is not available in the selected region. Please make another selection.

Eligible number of virtual machines is 0. You need at least cores in licences with Software Assurance to be eligible for at least 1 virtual machine of your instance size selection.

Sorry, the selected SQL Database instance is not available in the selected region. Please make another selection.

Eligible number of SQL Database instances is 0. You need at least cores in licences with Software Assurance to be eligible for at least 1 SQL Database.

Sorry, the selected SQL Database instance is not available in the selected region. Please make another selection.

Eligible number of SQL Database instances is 0. You need at least cores in licences with Software Assurance to be eligible for at least 1 SQL Database.

Why Azure Hybrid Benefit?

SQL Server

  • With Azure Hybrid Benefit Windows Server and SQL Server customers can save up to 85% over standard pay-as-you go pricing.3
  • Use Azure Hybrid Benefit in Azure SQL platform as a service (PaaS) environments.
  • Apply to SQL Server 1 to 4 vCPUs exchange: For every 1 core of SQL Server Enterprise Edition, you get 4 vCPUs of SQL Managed Instance or Azure SQL Database general purpose, or 4 vCPUs of SQL Server Standard edition on Azure VMs.
  • Get 180 days of dual-use rights between on-premises and Azure.

SQL Server savings example

  • Savings based on 8-Core D13 v2 VM in East US 2 region.
  • Savings are calculated from full price (licence included) for SQL Server Enterprise edition VM against reduced rate (applying Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server and Windows Server), which excludes Software Assurance costs for SQL Server and Windows Server, which may vary based on EA agreement.
  • Actual savings may vary based on region, instance size and compute family.
  • Prices as of 5 June 2018, subject to change.

Windows Server

Only on Azure can you:

  • Save up to 80% over standard pay-as-you-go rate for Windows Server with Azure Hybrid Benefit and Azure Reserved VM Instance.
  • Get 180 days of migration rights between on premises and the cloud.

Windows Server savings example

  • 744 hours/month for 12 months.
  • US East 2 region rate as of 9 October 2017.
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise rate for US East 2 as of 9 Oct 2017.
  • Software Assurance cost (Level A) for one 2-proc Windows Server Standard license or 16 cores as of 9 Oct 2017.

Learn how to deploy new VMs with Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server

Linux

Only on Azure can you apply or convert existing Linux VM's and drop the software cost entirely:

  • The software fee is already covered by your existing licence and applies to all Azure Marketplace Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server pay-as-you-go images -- pay only for your VM compute costs.
  • Save time with seamless post-deployment conversions – there’s no need for production redeployment.
  • Lower your ongoing operational costs with automatic image maintenance, updates and patches.
  • Enjoy the convenience of unified user interface integration between the Azure Portal and CLI, as well as scalable batch conversions.
  • Get co-located technical support from Azure, Red Hat, and SUSE with just one ticket.

Learn how to apply Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux VMs

AKS

  • Deploy and manage containerized applications with AKS in your datacentre
  • Extend AKS to Windows Server and Azure Stack HCI at no additional cost for Windows Server Software Assurance (SA) and Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) subscription customers.

Learn more on how to deploy AKS hybrid clusters in your datacentre and edge environments

Azure Stack HCI

  • Modernise existing datacentre and edge infrastructure to run their VM and container-based workloads
  • Windows Server Datacentre SA customers can use Azure Stack HCI at no additional cost.

Learn how to exchange your Windows Server for Azure Stack HCI cores

See how customers are saving with Azure Hybrid Benefit

Allscripts realised big savings by taking advantage of the Azure Hybrid Benefit to move 600 on-premises Windows Server and SQL Server virtual machines to Azure.

"Azure Hybrid Benefit is very important to us for controlling our cost for our long running 24/7/365 applications. Through the use of Azure Hybrid Benefit, we'll be able to reduce our overall costs by up to 82 percent."

Jeff Brady, Sr. Programme Manager, Allscripts
Read the story

Activate your Azure Hybrid Benefit

Windows Server VMs:

Learn how to deploy new VMs with Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server

SQL Server on Azure VMs:

Learn how to apply Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server to Azure VMs

Learn how to setup centrally managed Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server

Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance:

Learn more on how to apply Azure Hybrid Benefit to Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance

Linux VMs:

Learn how to apply Azure Hybrid Benefit for Linux subscriptions to Azure VMs

New to Azure? Create a free account

Azure Hybrid Benefit Frequently asked questions

  • Azure Hybrid Benefit is an Azure offer that helps organisations reduce expenses during their migration to the cloud. By providing Azure discounts on Windows and SQL Server licences, and Linux subscriptions, it supports infrastructure modernisation and a cloud-first strategy.

    Azure Hybrid Benefit coverage includes Azure VMware Solution, Nutanix, AKS, and other services through Windows Server with Software Assurance or Subscription, plus support for RedHat and SUSE Enterprise Linux customers.

    You can combine Azure Hybrid Benefit with other strategic pricing offerings like Azure Reserved VM Instance to save up to 80% over standard PAYG rate for Windows Server.

  • SQL Server and Windows Server core licences with active Software Assurance or qualifying subscription core licences have Azure Hybrid Benefit eligibility in Azure, including:

    • Windows Server Datacentre edition.
    • Windows Server Standard edition.
    • SQL Server Enterprise Edition.
    • SQL Server Standard Edition.

    If you don't have Software Assurance, please work with your Microsoft account team or a Cloud Service Provider partner.

    The offer is available in all Azure regions.

  • You can combine Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server and Windows Server when you use SQL Server with Azure Virtual Machines and Azure Dedicated Host. The process of applying Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines depends on the deployment option.

    For pay-as-you-go or bring-your-own-licence images from Azure Marketplace:

    • In the Azure Portal, check the boxes for Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server and Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server either during provisioning or for an existing virtual machine.

    For self-installation:

    • Use the resource provider to activate Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server. Then apply Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server using the PowerShell instructions.

    You can activate the benefit in the Azure portal by affirming that you have sufficient active licences with Software Assurance or qualifying subscription licences.

  • Yes. However, to protect data and applications during the end-of-support transition, we recommend adding a subscription for extended security updates. Learn more.

  • With the Azure Hybrid Benefit discount, Windows Server customers can save an average of 36% compared to the leading cloud provider1 and up to up to 80% over standard PAYG rate for Windows Server with Azure Hybrid Benefit and Azure Reserved VM Instance.

    The licence for Windows Server is covered by Azure Hybrid Benefit, so you only need to pay for the base compute rate of the VM. The base compute rate is equal to the Linux rate for VMs. To qualify for Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server, you need on-premises core licences for Windows Server from an applicable programme with active Software Assurance or qualifying subscription licences. Software Assurance and qualifying subscription licences are only available as part of certain commercial licensing agreements. To learn more about commercial licensing, see Microsoft Licensing Resources. To learn more about Windows Server core licences, see Windows Server product licensing.

    You need a minimum of 8 core licences (Datacentre or Standard edition) per VM. For example, 8 core licences are still required if you run a 4-core instance. You may also run instances larger than 8 cores by allocating licences equal to the core size of the instance. For example, 12 core licences are required for a 12-core instance. For customers with processor licences, each processor licence is equivalent to 16 core licences. For more information refer to Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server | Microsoft Learn.

  • The base compute rate is equal to the Linux rate for virtual machines.

  • Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server in Azure Dedicated Host can be used in three ways:

    • Windows Server Standard edition
      A set of 8-core licenses entitles you to run an instance up to 8 cores. You may also run instances larger than 8-cores by allocating licenses equal to the core-size of the instance (for example, 12-core licenses for a 12-core instance). You’ll also get 180 days of concurrent use rights on-prem while migrating servers.
    • Windows Server Datacenter edition for virtual machines
      Choose to apply your Azure Hybrid Benefit to individual virtual machines or to the entire host. When using individual virtual machines, a set of 8-core licenses entitles you to run an instance up to 8 cores. You may also run instances larger than 8-cores by allocating licenses equal to the core-size of the instance (for example, 12-core licenses for a 12-core instance). When using individual virtual machines, Datacenter licenses allow for simultaneous use on-premises and in Azure.
    • Windows Server Datacenter edition for a physical host
      When you license all available cores at the host level, Datacenter licenses provide unlimited virtualization rights on that host. When using the Azure Hybrid Benefit at the host level with unlimited virtualization, you’ll get 180 days of concurrent use rights on-prem while migrating servers.

    Learn more about Azure Dedicated Host.

    (For customers with processor licenses, each two-core processor license is equivalent to 16-core licenses.)

  • SQL Server customer can save an average of 28% compared to the leading cloud providers with Azure Hybrid Benefit and up to 85% versus pay-as you go.3

    Azure Hybrid Benefit is applicable to these products and services for SQL Server on Azure:

    • vCPU-based service tiers of Azure SQL Database (excluding serverless).
    • Azure SQL Managed Instance.
    • SQL Server in Azure Virtual Machines.
    • SQL Server Integration Services.
    • Azure Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance.

    *When you apply Azure Hybrid Benefit to your existing deployments, the base rate will be calculated beginning with when you select the benefit in the Azure portal. Credit will not be issued retroactively.

    Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server also provides:

    • The ability to apply your licences to a fully managed platform-as-a-service (PaaS) product.
    • Four cores in the cloud for every one core on-premises for Enterprise edition customers using Azure SQL Database (General Purpose and Hyperscale service tiers, excluding serverless), Azure SQL Managed Instance (General Purpose service tier), SQL Server Standard Virtual Machines, or Azure Data Factory and SQL Server Integration Services (Standard).
    • 180 days of dual-use rights to apply to current deployment (on-premises or third-party cloud) and in Azure to allow for data migration.

    For a hosted solution with maximum savings, combine Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server with Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server.

    For more details go to Azure Hybrid Benefit - Azure SQL Database & SQL Managed Instance | Microsoft Learn.

  • The virtualisation benefit available with Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server applies to highly virtualised workloads on-premises. The benefit is only available for Azure SQL Database (General Purpose and Hyperscale service tiers, excluding serverless), Azure SQL Managed Instance (General Purpose service tier), SQL Server Standard Virtual Machines, Azure Data Factory and SQL Server Integration Services (Standard). With it, you can convert one core of SQL Server Enterprise edition with active Software Assurance to receive up to four vCores or four vCPUs. For example, if you have four core licences of SQL Server Enterprise edition, you can receive up to 16 vCores of SQL Database General Purpose at the reduced base rate. This makes moving virtualised applications highly cost-effective.
  • No. Your licences must be used either on-premises or in the cloud, but you'll have 180 days of concurrent use rights while migrating servers.
  • To use Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows and SQL Server, your Software Assurance or subscriptions must be active. If you choose not to renew your Software Assurance when it expires, you'll need to remove your Azure Hybrid Benefit selections from your resources in the Azure portal.

  • Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server gives you more value from your SQL Server licences and savings of up to 55 percent* on SQL Server Integration Services. You can apply the benefit to SQL Server Enterprise Edition and SQL Server Standard Edition core licences covered by active Software Assurance or qualifying subscriptions, and use your SQL Server licences to run SQL Server Integration Services packages on Azure at a lower base rate.

    *Actual savings may vary based on region, instance type, or usage.

  • If you're eligible for Azure Hybrid Benefit, you can apply it to Azure Dedicated Host under the same terms and conditions as individual virtual machines. Additionally, if you have Software Assurance with SQL Server Enterprise Edition and licence Azure Dedicated Host at the host level, you'll get unlimited virtualisation rights. If you're migrating existing workloads to Azure Dedicated Host, you'll have 180 days of concurrent use of your licences on-premises and in Azure during migration. Learn more about Azure Dedicated Host.
  • The Azure Hybrid Benefit applies to Linux subscription, allowing customers running Red Hat Enterprise Linux or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server licences.
  • No, you can't. Trying to enter a licence type that incorrectly matches the distribution running on your virtual machine will not update any billing metadata. But if you accidentally enter the wrong licence type, updating your virtual machine again to the correct licence type will still enable Azure Hybrid Benefit.
    • Drop the software cost entirely and pay only for your VM compute costs.
    • Save time with seamless post-deployment conversions—there's no need for production redeployment.
    • Lower on-going operational costs with automatic image maintenance, updates, and patches.
    • Added convenience of unified user interface integration between the Azure Portal and CLI, as well as scalable batch conversions.
    • Get co-located technical support from Azure, Red Hat, and SUSE with just one ticket.
  • It might take some time for your Red Hat Cloud Access subscription registration to propagate from Red Hat to Azure. If you still see the error after one business day, contact Microsoft support.
  • Yes, you can use Azure Hybrid Benefit for BYOS virtual machines to do this. Learn more about this capability.
  • No, you don't. RHEL or SLES images that you upload are already considered BYOS, and you're charged only for Azure infrastructure costs. You're responsible for RHEL subscription costs, just as you are for your on-premises environments.
  • Yes. You can use the licence type of RHEL_BYOS for RHEL virtual machines and SLES_BYOS for conversions of virtual machines deployed from Azure Marketplace RHEL and SLES SAP images.
  • Yes. Azure Hybrid Benefit on virtual machine scale sets for RHEL and SLES is available to all users. Learn more about this benefit and how to use it.
  • Yes. Azure Hybrid Benefit for pay-as-you-go virtual machines on reserved instances for RHEL and SLES is available to all users.
  • No. RHEL for Virtual Datacentres isn't supported on Azure at all, including Azure Hybrid Benefit.

  • Azure Hybrid Benefit for AKS allows customers with Windows Server Software Assurance or a Cloud Solution Provider subscription to use AKS on Windows Server and Azure Stack HCI in their own datacentres or edge infrastructure at no additional cost.

    Customers can activate Azure Hybrid Benefit for AKS through the Azure Command Line Interface (CLI) starting Dec. 1, 2022. Software Assurance must be active to use this benefit. If a customer chooses not to renew your Software Assurance when it expires, customers will need to remove their benefits from their resources in the Azure portal. Learn more in the documentation.

  • Azure Hybrid Benefit for Azure Stack HCI allows Windows Server Datacentre Software Assurance customers to use Azure Stack HCI at no additional cost. Specifically, these customers get the host fee and optional Windows Server subscription fee waived. Learn more about Azure Stack HCI pricing.

    Customers can activate Azure Hybrid Benefit for Azure Stack HCI directly from the Azure portal. Software Assurance must be active to use this benefit. If a customer chooses not to renew your Software Assurance when it expires, customers will need to remove their benefits from their resources in the Azure portal. Learn more in the documentation.

  • Centrally Managed Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server enables you to optimise costs by applying blocks of eligible licences across all Azure SQL VMs and PaaS resources within your overall account or subscriptions.

  • The new scope-level Azure Hybrid Benefit experience is available automatically to the following agreements:

    Enterprise agreements, including:

    • Microsoft Azure Enterprise - MS-AZR-0017P
    • Azure Government Enterprise - MS-AZR-USGOV-0017P

    Microsoft Customer Agreement - Microsoft Azure Plan - MS-AZR-0017G

  • The centralised Azure Hybrid Benefit management experience is part of Cost Management + Billing. It automatically applies qualifying SQL Server licences under Azure Hybrid Benefit to the following Azure resources. The total number of normalised core licences (NCL) created by SQL license assignment for a specific scope is applied. For more information about NCL, see How Azure applies assigned SQL licences to hourly usage.

    • SQL databases
    • SQL elastic pools
    • SQL managed instances
    • SQL virtual machines

    Note: The new centralised Azure Hybrid Benefit management experience currently doesn't support the following Azure services. For these services, you still need to use the resource-level Azure Hybrid Benefit option.

    • Azure Data Factory – SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
    • Azure Dedicated Host

  • You must consent to SQL IaaS extension registration first. This tool effectively manages the customer’s environment as Azure will have visibility of their SQL Server environment.

  • The new approach of centrally managing Azure Hybrid Benefit at a scope-level supports SQL Server in Azure Virtual machines. However, it’s essential that you have enabled automatic registration of the self-installed SQL server images with the IaaS extension before you assign SQL licences. The new experience includes a feature that informs you about current usage of Azure Hybrid Benefit and the usage of SQL licences that aren’t discounted. Assigning the number of SQL Server licences at the level of the current usage will ensure that you won’t experience unexpected pay-as-you-go charges. Because the unregistered SQL VMs aren’t recognised as SQL resources, registering them with the IaaS extension after you begin assigning licences at a scope-level could lead to the license assignments being insufficient to cover the newly recognised SQL VMs. In that case, those new SQL VMs from registration may incur unexpected pay-as-you-go charges.

    For more information about how to enable automatic IaaS registration, see Register SQL VMs in Azure with the SQL IaaS Agent extension.

    To get more information about the total number of unregistered SQL Server VMs in each subscription, you can use the SQL license usage PowerShell script.

  • No. Currently only SQL licence management is available.

Additional resources

Datasheet

Download a summary on Azure Hybrid Benefit

The Ultimate Guide to Windows Server on Azure

Learn why customers are choosing Azure for Windows workloads

Documentation

Explore technical tutorials and resources

1These savings are based on comparisons with AWS equivalent VM types and price plans, when applying the Azure Hybrid Benefit to Windows Server. They are calculated using sample VMs such as StandardB2ms, StandardD2sv3 and StandardD4s_v3 across various regions, including US West (Oregon), Frankfurt and Paris. The savings are based on on-demand pricing and include Licence and Software Assurance costs. Actual savings may vary depending on the region, instance size, compute family and customer agreement. Prices are as of September 2024 and are subject to change.

2The 76% savings is based on one standard D2s v3 Azure VM with RHEL or SLES subscription in the East US region running at a pay-as-you-go rate vs a reduced rate for a 3-year Reserved Instance. Based on Azure pricing as of October 2022. Prices subject to change. Actual savings may vary based on location, instance type, or usage.

3These savings are based on comparisons to AWS equivalent VM types and price plans, when applying the Azure Hybrid Benefit to Windows Server and SQL Server licences. They are calculated using sample VMs such as StandardB2ms, StandardD2sv3 and StandardD4s_v3 across various regions, including US West (Oregon), Frankfurt and Paris. The savings are based on on-demand pricing and include Licence and Software Assurance costs. Actual savings may vary depending on the region, instance size, compute family and customer agreement. Prices are as of September 2024 and are subject to change.

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