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Azure SQL Database pricing

Build apps that scale with managed and intelligent SQL database in the cloud

Part of the Azure SQL family of SQL database services, Azure SQL Database is the intelligent, scalable database service built for the cloud with AI-powered features that maintain peak performance and durability. Optimise costs without worrying about resource management with server-less compute and Hyperscale storage resources that automatically scale.

Azure SQL Database Hyperscale outpaces the competition with performance and value at open-source prices.

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.

vCore

A vCore-based purchase model is best if you are looking for flexibility, control and transparency of individual resource consumption. This model allows you to scale compute, memory and storage based upon your workload needs and provides a straightforward way to translate on-premises workload requirements to the cloud.

General purpose

Ideal for most business workloads, offering balanced and scalable compute and storage options.

Standard-series (Gen 5)

Standard-series (Gen 5) logical CPUs are based on Intel E5-2673 v4 (Broadwell) 2.3 GHz, Intel SP8160 (Skylake), Intel Xeon Platinum 8272CL 2.5 GHz (Cascade Lake) and Intel(R) Xeon Scalable 2.8 GHz processor (Ice Lake) processors. In the standard-series (Gen 5), 1 vCore = 1 hyper thread. The standard-series (Gen 5) logical CPU is great for most relational database servers.

vCORE Memory (GB) Max. number databases per pool Pay as you go Azure Hybrid Benefit1 price 1-year reserved capacity 2 3 year reserved capacity 2 3 years reserved with Azure Hybrid Benefit 2
2 10.2 100 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
4 20.4 200 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
6 30.6 500 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
8 40.8 500 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
10 51 500 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
12 61.2 500 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
14 71.4 500 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
16 81.6 500 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
18 91.8 500 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
20 102 500 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
24 122.4 500 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
32 163.2 500 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
40 204 500 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
80 396 500 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
128 652 500 $- $-
$-
$-
$-

1Applies to SQL Server Licences with active Software Assurance (SA). Learn more about Azure Hybrid benefit for SQL Server.

2Learn more about Azure reservations and Azure SQL Database reserved capacity pricing.

Compute is provisioned in virtual cores (vCores) with an option to choose between compute generations.

DC-series

The DC-series logical CPUs are based on Intel XEON E-2288G processors with Software Guard Extensions (Intel SGX) technology. In the DC-series, 1 vCore = 1 physical core. DC-series supports Always Encrypted with secure enclaves and it is designed to for workloads that process sensitive data and demand confidential query processing capabilities.

vCORE Memory (GB) Pay as you go Azure Hybrid Benefit1 price
2 9 $- $-
4 18 $- $-
6 27 $- $-
8 36 $- $-
10 45 $- $-
12 54 $- $-
14 63 $- $-
16 72 $- $-
18 81 $- $-
20 90 $- $-
32 144 $- $-
40 180 $- $-
1Applies to SQL Server Licences with active Software Assurance (SA). Learn more about Azure Hybrid benefit for SQL Server.
This hardware option is subject to regional availability. See our documentation for the latest list of available regions.
Compute is provisioned in virtual cores (vCores). A vCore represents a logical CPU offered with an option to choose between compute generations.

Fsv2-series

The Fsv2-series logical CPUs are based on Intel Xeon® Platinum 8168 (SkyLake) processors. In Fsv2-series, 1 vCore = 1 hyper thread. Fsv2-series is optimised for workloads demanding more CPU performance per vCore.

vCORE Memory (GB) Pay as you go Azure Hybrid Benefit1 price
8 15.1 $- $-
10 18.9 $- $-
12 22.7 $- $-
14 26.5 $- $-
16 30.2 $- $-
18 34 $- $-
20 37.8 $- $-
24 45.4 $- $-
32 60.5 $- $-
36 68 $- $-
72 136 $- $-

1Applies to SQL Server Licences with active Software Assurance (SA). Learn more about Azure Hybrid benefit for SQL Server.
This hardware option is subject to regional availability. See our documentation for the latest list of available regions.
Compute is provisioned in virtual cores (vCores). A vCore represents a logical CPU offered with an option to choose between compute generations.

Locally Redundant Storage

In the general purpose tier, you are charged for Azure premium locally redundant storage that you provision. Storage can be configured between 5 GB and 4 TB in 1 GB increments. Locally redundant storage copies your data synchronously three times within a single physical location in the primary region.

Storage Price
GB/month $-

Backup storage (point-in-time restore)

By default, seven days of database backups are stored in RA-GRS Standard blob storage. The retention period can be increased to up to 35 days. Any corrupted or deleted database can be restored to any point in time within that period. The storage is used by weekly full backups, daily differential backups and frequent transaction log backups in between. The backup cost depends on the size of the database, the rate of change and the configured retention period. The backup storage amount equal to the size of the configured data storage for the pool is provided at no extra charge. Additional backup storage consumption will be charged in GB/month. Learn more about automated backups, and how to monitor and manage backup costs.

Redundancy Price
LRS $-/GB/month
ZRS $-/GB/month
RA-GRS $-/GB/month

Long-term retention

Many applications have regulatory, compliance or other business purposes that require you to retain database backups for longer periods of time. By using the long-term retention (LTR) feature, you can store full backups for up to 10 years. You can then restore any backup as a new database. Learn more about long-term retention.

Redundancy Price
LRS $-/GB/month
ZRS $-/GB/month
RA-GRS $-/GB/month

Standard-series (Gen 5) – Zone redundant

Standard-series (Gen 5) logical CPUs are based on Intel E5-2673 v4 (Broadwell) 2.3 GHz, Intel SP8160 (Skylake) processors and Intel Xeon Platinum 8272CL 2.5 GHz (Cascade Lake) processors. In the standard-series (Gen 5), 1 vCore = 1 hyper thread. The standard-series (Gen 5) logical CPU is great for most relational database servers. Zone redundancy provides enhanced availability by automatically replicating data across the availability zones within a region. For the general purpose tier, this option incurs an additional cost.

vCORE Memory (GB) Max. number databases per pool Pay as you go Azure Hybrid Benefit1 price
2 10.2 100 $- $-
4 20.4 200 $- $-
6 30.6 500 $- $-
8 40.8 500 $- $-
10 51 500 $- $-
12 61.2 500 $- $-
14 71.4 500 $- $-
16 81.6 500 $- $-
18 91.8 500 $- $-
20 102 500 $- $-
24 122.4 500 $- $-
32 163.2 500 $- $-
40 204 500 $- $-
80 396 500 $- $-
128 652 500 $- $-

1Applies to SQL Server Licences with active Software Assurance (SA). Learn more about Azure Hybrid benefit for SQL Server.

Compute is provisioned in virtual cores (vCores) with an option to choose between compute generations.

Zone-redundant Storage

In the General Purpose tier, you are charged for the Premium file shares that you provision. Storage can be configured between 5 GB and 4 TB in 1 GB increments. Zone-redundant storage (ZRS) copies your data synchronously across three Azure availability zones in the primary region.

Storage Price
GB/month $-

Backup storage (point-in-time restore)

By default, seven days of database backups are stored in RA-GRS Standard blob storage. The retention period can be increased to up to 35 days. Any corrupted or deleted database can be restored to any point in time within that period. The storage is used by weekly full backups, daily differential backups and frequent transaction log backups in between. The backup cost depends on the size of the database, the rate of change and the configured retention period. The backup storage amount equal to the size of the configured data storage for the pool is provided at no extra charge. Additional backup storage consumption will be charged in GB/month. Learn more about automated backups, and how to monitor and manage backup costs.

Redundancy Price
LRS $-/GB/month
ZRS $-/GB/month
RA-GRS $-/GB/month

Long-term retention

Many applications have regulatory, compliance or other business purposes that require you to retain database backups for longer periods of time. By using the long-term retention (LTR) feature, you can store full backups for up to 10 years. You can then restore any backup as a new database. Learn more about long-term retention.

Redundancy Price
LRS $-/GB/month
ZRS $-/GB/month
RA-GRS $-/GB/month

Business critical

Business applications with high IO requirements. Offers highest resilience to failures using several isolated replicas. Because the zone-redundant configuration in the Premium or Business Critical service tiers does not create additional database redundancy, you can enable it at no extra cost.

Standard-series (Gen 5)

Standard-series (Gen 5) logical CPUs are based on Intel E5-2673 v4 (Broadwell) 2.3 GHz, Intel SP8160 (Skylake), Intel Xeon Platinum 8272CL 2.5 GHz (Cascade Lake) and Intel(R) Xeon Scalable 2.8 GHz processor (Ice Lake) processors. In the standard-series (Gen 5), 1 vCore = 1 hyper thread. The standard-series (Gen 5) logical CPU is great for most relational database servers.

vCORE Memory (GB) Max. number databases per pool Pay as you go Azure Hybrid Benefit1 price 1-year reserved capacity 2 3 year reserved capacity 2 3 years reserved with Azure Hybrid Benefit 2
4 20.4 50 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
6 30.6 100 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
8 40.8 100 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
10 51 100 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
12 61.2 100 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
14 71.4 100 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
16 81.6 100 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
18 91.8 100 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
20 102 100 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
24 122.4 100 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
32 163.2 100 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
40 204 100 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
80 396 100 $- $-
$-
$-
$-
128 652 100 $- $-
$-
$-
$-

1Applies to SQL Server Licences with active Software Assurance (SA). Learn more about Azure Hybrid benefit for SQL Server.

2Learn more about Azure reservations and Azure SQL Database reserved capacity pricing.

Compute is provisioned in virtual cores (vCores) with an option to choose between compute generations.

DC-series

The DC-series logical CPUs are based on Intel XEON E-2288G processors with Software Guard Extensions (Intel SGX) technology. In the DC-series, 1 vCore = 1 physical core. DC-series supports Always Encrypted with secure enclaves and it is designed to for workloads that process sensitive data and demand confidential query processing capabilities.

vCORE Memory (GB) Pay as you go Azure Hybrid Benefit1 price
2 9 $- $-
4 18 $- $-
6 27 $- $-
8 36 $- $-
10 45 $- $-
12 54 $- $-
14 63 $- $-
16 72 $- $-
18 81 $- $-
20 90 $- $-
32 144 $- $-
40 180 $- $-
1Applies to SQL Server Licences with active Software Assurance (SA). Learn more about Azure Hybrid benefit for SQL Server.
This hardware option is subject to regional availability. See our documentation for the latest list of available regions.
Compute is provisioned in virtual cores (vCores). A vCore represents a logical CPU offered with an option to choose between compute generations.

Storage

In the business critical tier, you are charged for local SSD storage that you provision for your database or elastic pool. Storage can be configured between 5 GB and 4 TB with 1 GB increments.

Storage Price
GB/month $-

Backup storage (point-in-time restore)

By default, seven days of database backups are stored in RA-GRS Standard blob storage. The retention period can be increased to up to 35 days. Any corrupted or deleted database can be restored to any point in time within that period. The storage is used by weekly full backups, daily differential backups and frequent transaction log backups in between. The backup cost depends on the size of the database, the rate of change and the configured retention period. The backup storage amount equal to the size of the configured data storage for the pool is provided at no extra charge. Additional backup storage consumption will be charged in GB/month. Learn more about automated backups, and how to monitor and manage backup costs.

Redundancy Price
LRS $-/GB/month
ZRS $-/GB/month
RA-GRS $-/GB/month

Long-term retention

Many applications have regulatory, compliance or other business purposes that require you to retain database backups for longer periods of time. By using the long-term retention (LTR) feature, you can store full backups for up to 10 years. You can then restore any backup as a new database. Learn more about long-term retention.

Redundancy Price
LRS $-/GB/month
ZRS $-/GB/month
RA-GRS $-/GB/month

Hyperscale

Build new, highly scalable cloud applications on Azure SQL Database Hyperscale. Hyperscale provides rapid, auto-scaling storage up to 100 TB per elastic pool to help you optimise database resources for your workload's needs. To enable zone redundancy, the database must have at least one secondary high availability replica. The pricing below is applicable for both primary and secondary (high availability) pool replicas. See the Azure Pricing Calculator for more information.

Standard-series (Gen 5)

Standard-series (Gen 5) logical CPUs are based on Intel E5-2673 v4 (Broadwell) 2.3 GHz, Intel SP8160 (Skylake), Intel Xeon Platinum 8272CL 2.5 GHz (Cascade Lake) and Intel(R) Xeon Scalable 2.8 GHz processor (Ice Lake) processors. In the standard-series (Gen 5), 1 vCore = 1 hyper thread. The standard-series (Gen 5) logical CPU is great for most relational database servers.

vCORE Memory (GB) Max. number of databases per pool Pay as you go 1-year reserved capacity 1 3 year reserved capacity 1
4 20.4 25 $- $-
$-
6 30.6 25 $- $-
$-
8 40.8 25 $- $-
$-
10 51 25 $- $-
$-
12 61.2 25 $- $-
$-
14 71.4 25 $- $-
$-
16 81.6 25 $- $-
$-
18 91.8 25 $- $-
$-
20 102 25 $- $-
$-
24 122.4 25 $- $-
$-
32 163.2 25 $- $-
$-
40 204 25 $- $-
$-
80 396 25 $- $-
$-

1Learn more about Azure reservations and Azure SQL Database reserved capacity pricing.

Compute is provisioned in virtual cores (vCores) with an option to choose between compute generations.

Premium-series

Premium-series logical CPUs are based on the latest Intel(R) Xeon (Ice Lake) and AMD EPYCTM 7763v (Milan) chipsets, 1 vCore = 1 hyper thread. The premium-series logical CPU is a great fit for database workloads that require faster compute and memory performance as well as improved IO and network experience over the standard-series hardware offering.

Hyperscale service tier premium-series and premium-series memory optimised hardware are available in the following regions.

vCORE Memory (GB) Max. number of databases per pool Pay as you go 1-year reserved capacity1 3 year reserved capacity1
4 20.8 25 $- $-
$-
6 31.1 25 $- $-
$-
8 41.5 25 $- $-
$-
10 51.9 25 $- $-
$-
12 62.3 25 $- $-
$-
14 72.7 25 $- $-
$-
16 83 25 $- $-
$-
18 93.4 25 $- $-
$-
20 103.8 25 $- $-
$-
24 124.6 25 $- $-
$-
32 166.1 25 $- $-
$-
40 207.6 25 $- $-
$-
64 332.2 25 $- $-
$-
80 415.2 25 $- $-
$-
128 625 25 $- $-
$-

1Learn more about Azure reservations and Azure SQL Database reserved capacity pricing.

Compute is provisioned in virtual cores (vCores). A vCore represents a logical CPU offered with an option to choose between compute generations.

Premium-series, memory-optimised

Premium-series memory-optimised logical CPUs are based on the latest Intel(R) Xeon (Ice Lake) and AMD EPYCTM 7763v (Milan) chipsets, 1 vCore = 1 hyper thread. This memory-optimised version provides nearly twice the memory per vCore and is great for database workloads that require improved memory performance over the standard-series.

Hyperscale service tier premium-series and premium-series memory optimised hardware are available in the following regions.

vCORE Memory (GB) Max. number of databases per pool Pay as you go 1-year reserved capacity1 3 year reserved capacity1
4 41.5 25 $- $-
$-
6 62.3 25 $- $-
$-
8 83 25 $- $-
$-
10 103.8 25 $- $-
$-
12 124.6 25 $- $-
$-
14 145.3 25 $- $-
$-
16 166.1 25 $- $-
$-
18 186.9 25 $- $-
$-
20 207.6 25 $- $-
$-
24 249.1 25 $- $-
$-
32 332.2 25 $- $-
$-
40 415.2 25 $- $-
$-
64 664.4 25 $- $-
$-
80 830.5 25 $- $-
$-

1Learn more about Azure reservations and Azure SQL Database reserved capacity pricing.

Compute is provisioned in virtual cores (vCores). A vCore represents a logical CPU offered with an option to choose between compute generations.

Storage

In the Hyperscale tier, you are charged for storage for your database based on actual allocation. Storage is dynamically allocated between 10 GB and 100 TB, in 10 GB increments.

Storage Price
GB/month $-

Backup storage (point-in-time restore)

By default, seven days of database backups are stored in RA-GRS Standard blob storage. The retention period can be increased to up to 35 days. Any corrupted or deleted database can be restored to any point in time within that period. The storage is used by weekly full backups, daily differential backups and frequent transaction log backups in between. The backup cost depends on the size of the database, the rate of change and the configured retention period. The backup storage amount equal to the size of the configured data storage for the pool is provided at no extra charge. Additional backup storage consumption will be charged in GB/month. Learn more about automated backups, and how to monitor and manage backup costs.

Redundancy Price
LRS $-/GB/month
ZRS $-/GB/month
RA-GRS* $-/GB/month
RA-GZRS* $-/GB/month
*Zone redundant storage (ZRS) must be used if zone redundancy is enabled.

Long-term retention

Many applications have regulatory, compliance or other business purposes that require you to retain database backups for longer periods of time. By using the long-term retention (LTR) feature, you can store full backups for up to 10 years. You can then restore any backup as a new database. Learn more about long-term retention.

Redundancy Price
LRS $-/GB/month
ZRS $-/GB/month
RA-GRS $-/GB/month
RA-GZRS $-/GB/month

In DTU-based SQL purchase models, a fixed set of resources is assigned to the database or elastic pool via performance tiers: Basic, Standard and Premium. This model is best for customers who prefer the simplicity of fixed payments each month, where the simplicity of pre-configured options is desired.


Pricing details

Elastic pools

Elastic pools let you manage the collective performance of a pool of databases rather than single databases. The databases in the pool automatically scale up and down to meet demand. You can easily add and remove databases from the pool, scaling your app from a handful of databases to thousands, all within a budget you control.

Elastic pools are available in basic, standard, and premium service tiers. Each tier is distinguished primarily by its overall performance, which is measured in elastic Database Transaction Units (eDTUs). See Service tiers for elastic database pools for details.

Create an elastic pool now

Basic

eDTUs per pool Included storage per pool Max storage per pool 1 Max number databases per pool Max eDTUs per database Price for eDTUs and included storage
50 5 GB 5 GB 100 5 $-
100 10 GB 10 GB 200 5 $-
200 20 GB 20 GB 500 5 $-
300 29 GB 29 GB 500 5 $-
400 39 GB 39 GB 500 5 $-
800 78 GB 78 GB 500 5 $-
1,200 117 GB 117 GB 500 5 $-
1,600 156 GB 156 GB 500 5 $-
1Max storage per database in a basic pool is 2 GB.

Standard

eDTUs per pool Included storage per pool Max storage per pool 1 Max number databases per pool Max eDTUs per database 2 Price for eDTUs and included storage 3
50 50 GB 500 GB 100 50 $-
100 100 GB 750 GB 200 100 $-
200 200 GB 1 TB 500 200 $-
300 300 GB 1.25 TB 500 300 $-
400 400 GB 1.5 TB 500 400 $-
800 800 GB 2 TB 500 800 $-
1,200 1.17 TB 2.5 TB 500 1,200 $-
1,600 1.56 TB 3 TB 500 1,600 $-
2,000 1.95 TB 3.5 TB 500 2,000 $-
2,500 2.44 TB 4 TB 500 2,500 $-
3,000 2.93 TB 4 TB 500 3,000 $-
1Max storage per database in a Standard pool is 1 TB.
2200 eDTUs per database and higher are well-suited for CPU intensive workloads. For IO intensive workloads, premium pools provide the best performance experience.
3An additional cost applies for extra storage that is provisioned above the amount of storage included. Please see the FAQ for details on how this cost is computed.

Premium

Premium – designed for IO-intensive production workloads with high availability and zero downtime. Premium is fault-tolerant and automatically handles read and write availability with a 99.99% availability SLA.

eDTUs per pool Included storage per pool 1 Max storage per pool 1,2 Max number databases per pool Max eDTUs per database Price for eDTUs and included storage 3
125 250 GB 1 TB 50 125 $-
250 500 GB 1 TB 100 250 $-
500 750 GB 1 TB 100 500 $-
1,000 1 TB 1 TB 100 1,000 $-
1,500 1.5 TB 1.5 TB 100 1,000 $-
2,000 2 TB 2 TB 100 1,750 $-
2,500 2.5 TB 2.5 TB 100 1,750 $-
3,000 3 TB 3 TB 100 1,750 $-
3,500 3.5 TB 3.5 TB 100 1,750 $-
4,000 4 TB 4 TB 100 4,000 $-
1More than 1 TB of storage in the Premium tier is available in all regions except the following: West Central US, US DoD Central, US DoD East, US Gov Texas, US Gov Arizona, US Gov Virginia. More widespread availability is planned. In these regions, the storage max in the Premium tier is limited to 1 TB.
2Maximum storage per database in a Premium pool is 1 TB.
3An additional cost applies for extra storage that's provisioned above the amount of storage included. Please see the FAQ for details on how this cost is computed.

See elastic pools to learn more about elastic pools, and see elastic jobs to learn how you can manage elastic databases in unison.

Note: Outbound data transfers are charged at regular data transfer rates.

SQL DB elastic pools is in general availability in all regions except India West.

Extra data storage

Service tier Price
Standard $-/GB/month
Premium $-/GB/month
Extra storage is only available in the Standard and Premium service tiers.

Long-term retention

Many applications have regulatory, compliance or other business purposes that require you to retain database backups for longer periods of time. By using the long-term retention (LTR) feature, you can store full backups for up to 10 years. You can then restore any backup as a new database. Learn more about long-term retention.

Storage Price
RA-GRS $-/GB/month

Elastic jobs

Elastic jobs saves you time by providing the ability to create and schedule tasks to automatically perform across one or a group of databases, using job agents. You define and maintain the Transact-SQL scripts and elastic jobs performs tasks like deploying schema changes, collecting tenant telemetry and gathering query performance results.

Refreshed for modern applications, elastic jobs now provides enhanced portal support, Azure Alerts and more.

Service Tier* Price
JA100 $-
JA200 $-
JA400 $-
JA800 $-

*Service tier is based upon the number of concurrent job targets.

Active geo-replication

Active geo-replication is a feature in SQL Database that lets you create a continuously synchronised readable geo-secondary database for a primary database. Both primary and geo-secondary are required to have the same service tier and it is also strongly recommended that the geo-secondary is configured with the same back up storage redundancy and compute size (DTUs or vCores) as the primary. Each geo-secondary is billed at the same price as a primary database with the same configuration. Backups are always taken on the primary database. If the secondary is configured with a different back up storage redundancy, then after a geo-failover, when the geo-secondary is promoted to the primary, new backups will be stored and billed according to the type of storage (RA-GRS, ZRS, LRS) selected on the new primary (previous secondary).

Each geo-secondary can be a single database or a database in an elastic pool. The databases in an elastic pool are on a single server and share a set number of resources at a set price, with billing occurring at the elastic pool level. Customers can add any number of secondaries to a pool, up to the maximum, without incurring additional charges.

Explore additional savings

Azure Hybrid Benefit

Save up to 55% on the costs of running workloads in the cloud and get more for your virtualised workloads by using your existing SQL Server licences with active Software Assurance.

Reservation pricing

Manage costs and help optimise budgeting and forecasting when you pre-commit to a 1- or 3-year term. Save up to 33 per cent on compute resources and even more when you combine with Azure Hybrid Benefit.

Development and test pricing

Receive discounted rates on Azure to support your ongoing development and testing.

Unique capabilities to reduce total cost of ownership

Fully managed service does more for you

SQL Database automates updates, provisioning, and backups so you can focus on application development.

Enhance performance with built-in AI

Built-in intelligence continuously monitors databases and dynamically adapts to changing workloads by applying tuning recommendations.

Optimise costs with compute that automatically scales

Serverless compute optimises price-performance with resources that automatically scale based on demand. Pay only for the resources you use.

Azure pricing and purchasing options

Connect with us directly

Get a walkthrough of Azure pricing. Understand pricing for your cloud solution, learn about cost optimisation and request a customised proposal.

Talk to a sales specialist

See ways to purchase

Purchase Azure services through the Azure website, a Microsoft representative or an Azure partner.

Explore your options

Additional resources

Azure SQL Database

Learn more about Azure SQL Database 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 SQL Database.

Documentation

Review technical tutorials, videos, and more Azure SQL Database resources.

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions about Azure pricing

Azure SQL Database pricing

  • A virtual core (vCore) represents the logical CPU available for your server, offered with a choice between generations of hardware. For servers created using Gen4 vCores, the vCores are based on Intel E5-2673 v3 (Haswell) 2.4 GHz processors. For servers created using standard-series (Gen5) vCores, the vCores are based on Intel E5-2673 v4 (Broadwell) 2.3 GHz, Intel SP8160 (Skylake) and Intel Xeon Platinum 8272CL 2.5 GHz (Cascade Lake) processors.

  • The vCore-based purchasing model gives you more flexibility and control, and a straightforward way to translate your on-premises workload requirements to the cloud. It also allows you to scale compute and storage resources independently, based upon your workload needs.

    The vCore-based model is available to SQL Database managed instance, single database and elastic pool deployment options and enables the use of Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server for each of these options. Pricing within the vCore-based model is therefore available with and without the hybrid benefit:

    • Licence included: Excludes Azure Hybrid benefit for SQL Server. This option is for customers who choose not to apply their existing SQL Server licences with Software Assurance to vCore-based SQL Database deployment options.
    • Base rate: Reduced price that includes Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server. Customers can opt into this price by using their SQL Server licences with Software Assurance.

    Azure Hybrid Benefit is not available in the serverless compute tier of SQL Database.

  • Moving to the vCore-based model is not required. The introduction of the vCore-based model to the Elastic Pool and Single Database deployment options reflects our commitment to customer choice and flexibility. If you want to continue using the DTU-based model, you do not need to take any action and your experience and billing will remain unchanged. The DTU-based model will remain a viable option for purchasing SQL Database resources, alongside the vCore-based model.

  • The DTU and vCore-based models will continue to exist side by side. We are launching the vCore-based model in response to customer requests for more transparency around their database resources and the ability to scale compute and storage separately. The vCore-based model also enables additional savings for customers with active Software Assurance through the Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server.

  • The Database Transaction Unit (DTU) is based on a blended measure of CPU, memory, reads and writes. The DTU-based performance levels represent preconfigured bundles of resources to drive different levels of app performance. If you do not want to worry about the underlying resources and prefer the simplicity of a preconfigured bundle while paying a fixed amount each month, you may find the DTU-based model more suitable for your needs.

    If you need more insight into the underlying resources or need to scale them independently to achieve optimal performance, the vCore-based model will be the best choice. Additionally, if you have an active Software Assurance (SA) for SQL Server, you can leverage your existing investment and save up to 55% with Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server. Both of the purchasing models provide the benefits of a fully managed service such as automated backups, software updates and patches.

  • The new service tiers offer a simple online conversion method that is similar to the existing process of upgrading databases from Standard to Premium service tier and vice versa. This conversion can be initiated using Portal, ARM, PowerShell, Azure CLI or T-SQL.

  • In the vCore-based model, the service is billed on a predictable, hourly rate based on the service tier, provisioned compute in vCores, provisioned storage in GB/month and consumed back up storage. If the back up exceeds the total database size (i.e., 100% of the database size) there will be additional charges. vCore hours, configured database storage, and back up storage are clearly itemised in the bill, making it easier to see the details of resources you have used. Back up storage up to 100% of the maximum database size is included, beyond which you will be billed in GB/month consumed in a month.

    For example:

    • If the SQL database exists for 12 hours in a month, the bill will show usage for 12 hours of vCore. If the SQL database provisioned an additional 100 GB, the bill will show storage usage in units of GB/Month prorated hourly.

    If the SQL database is active for less than one hour, you are billed for each hour the database exists using the highest service tier selected and provisioned storage applied during that hour, regardless of usage or whether the database was active for less than an hour.

    For example:

    • If you create a Managed Instance and delete it five minutes later, you’ll be charged for one database hour.
    • If you create a Managed Instance in the General Purpose tier with 8 vCores, and then immediately upgrade it to 16 vCores, you’ll be charged at the 16 vCore rate for the first hour.

  • Increasing your backup retention period increases the backup storage that’s consumed by your instance.

    In the vCore-based model, there’s no additional charge for backup storage for up to 100 per cent of your total provisioned database storage. Additional consumption of backup storage will be charged in GB per month. For example, if you have the database storage size of 100 GB, you’ll get 100 GB of backup at no additional cost. But if the backup is 110 GB, you’ll pay for the additional 10 GB.

    In the DTU-based model, the Backup Storage cost is included in the total price and the maximum retention period for a database depends on the service tier.

    See documentation to learn more about Backup Storage for Point-In-Time Restore.

  • In both the vCore-based and DTU-based models, consumption will be charged in GB per month.

    See documentation to learn more about Backup Storage for Long-term Retention.

  • Imagine that an S3 database has provisioned 1 TB. The amount of storage included for S3 is 250 GB, and so the extra storage amount is 1024 GB - 250 GB = 774 GB. The unit price for extra storage in the Standard tier is approximately $-/GB/month, and so the extra storage price is 774 GB * $-/GB/month = $-/month. Therefore, the total price for the S3 database is $-/month for DTUs + $-/month for extra storage = $-/month.
  • Suppose a 125 eDTU Premium pool has provisioned 1 TB. The amount of storage included for a 125 eDTU Premium pool is 250 GB, and so the extra storage amount is 1024 GB - 250 GB = 774 GB. The unit price for extra storage in the Premium tier is approximately $-/GB/month, and so the extra storage price is 774 GB * $-/GB/month = $-/month. Therefore, the total price for the pool is $-/month for pool eDTUs + $-/month for extra storage = $-/month.

Azure SQL Database pricing – Serverless

  • The key difference between the server-less and provisioned compute tiers is in the provisioning and billing of compute resources. In the server-less compute tier, compute resources automatically scale up or down based on the workload’s requirements and are billed on a per-second basis, automatically pausing during periods of inactivity. Currently, server-less auto-pausing is only supported in the General Purpose service tier.

    The server-less compute tier is generally better suited for single databases with variable usage patterns interspersed with periods of inactivity, or databases with compute resource usage that is difficult to predict. These can benefit from savings due to per-second billing based on the amount of compute resources used.

    The provisioned compute tier is generally better suited for:

    • Single databases with more uniform and more substantial compute utilisation over time. Databases with this usage pattern are generally less expensive in the provisioned compute tier.
    • Multiple databases with varying and unpredictable compute usage that can be consolidated within an elastic pool for better price optimisation.

  • Serverless is offered for vCore-based single databases on the General Purpose and Hyperscale service tier.

  • The total note is the summation of the compute note and storage note.

    Billing for compute is on a per-second rate based on actual usage of compute resources (for details, please see the next question: “How is the compute note calculated in the server-less compute tier?”).

    Billing for storage within a given service tier is the same for both the server-less and provisioned compute tiers.

  • Compute is billed on a per-second rate based on actual usage subject to billing for minimum compute resources provisioned while the database is online.

    The amount of compute billed each second is based on the maximum of CPU and memory used each second. To compare CPU with memory for billing purposes, memory is normalised into units of vCores by rescaling the amount of memory in GB by 3 GB per vCore. If the amount of CPU and memory used is less than the minimum amount provisioned, then the provisioned amount is billed. When the database is paused, customers pay nothing for compute and only storage-related costs are billed. Currently, server-less auto-pausing is only supported in the General Purpose service tier.

    Customers can configure the range of compute capacity available (min vCores and max vCores) for the database and the period of inactivity before a database is paused (auto-pause delay). See documentation for details.

    For example, consider a server-less database in the General Purpose service tier and let’s say you configure min vCores as 1, max vCores as 4 and auto-pause delay as 6 hours. This configuration corresponds to a minimum memory of around 6 GB and a maximum memory of 12 GB. The below table represents your note if usage varies as follows during a 12-hour period:

    Duration CPU used (vCores) Memory used (GB) Billed vCores Billed vCore-seconds
    1 minute (60 seconds) 1.5 3 1.5 (based on CPU used)1 90
    1 minute (60 seconds) 4 9 4 (based on CPU used) 240
    1 minute (60 seconds) 0.5 12 4 (based on memory used) 240
    6 hours (21,600 seconds) 0 2 1 (based on minimum compute resources)2 21,600
    5 hours 56 minutes (21,360 seconds) 0 0 0 (database is paused after 6-hour auto-pause delay) 0
    1 minute (60 seconds) 0.5 9 3 (based on memory used) 180
    Total: 12 hours Total: 22,350

    1CPU used (1.5 vCores) is greater than memory used after rescaling based on 3 GB per vCore (3 GB ÷ 3 vCores per GB = 1 vCore). Hence, 1.5 vCores are billed.

    2CPU used (0 vCores) and memory used after rescaling based on 3 GB per vCore (2 GB ÷ 3 vCores per GB = 0.67 vCores) are both lower than the minimum compute resources (1 vCore). Hence, 1 vCore is billed.

    Total note for compute during this 12-hour period will be $-.

Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server

  • The Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server helps you maximise the value from your current licensing investments and accelerate your migration to the cloud. Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server is an Azure-based benefit that enables you to use your SQL Server licences with active Software Assurance to pay a reduced rate (“base rate”) on SQL Database. Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server is available to all vCore-based options: SQL Database Managed Instance, Single Database and Elastic Pool. You can apply this benefit even if the SKU is active but note that the base rate will be applied from the time you select it in the portal. No credit will be issued retroactively.

    You can activate the Azure Hybrid Benefit via the Azure Portal by confirming that you have sufficient active licences with Software Assurance. The Azure Hybrid Benefit works as follows:

    • If you have Standard Edition per-core licences with Software Assurance, you can get one vCore in the General Purpose or Hyperscale tier option for every one licence core you own on-premises.
    • If you have Enterprise Edition per-core licences with Software Assurance, you can get one vCore in the Business Critical option for every one licence core you own on-premises. Note: The Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server for the Business Critical option is only available to Enterprise Edition customers.
    • If you have highly virtualised Enterprise Edition per-core licences with Software Assurance, you can get four vCores in the General Purpose or Hyperscale tier option for every one licence core you own on-premises. This is a unique virtualisation benefit available only on Azure.

    Azure Hybrid Benefit is not available in the serverless compute tier of SQL Database.

  • The virtualisation benefit is applicable to virtualised workloads on vCore-based Azure SQL Database. You can use it to convert 1 licence core of SQL Enterprise Edition with active Software Assurance to get up to 4 vCores in the General Purpose or Hyperscale tier at the base rate. This makes moving virtualised apps to vCore-based SQL Database options highly cost-effective. For example, if you have 4 core licences of SQL Enterprise Edition, you can receive up to 16 vCores of General Purpose at the base rate.

  • Your licences must be used either on-premises or in the cloud. However, you have a 180-day grace period during which you can use licences both on-premises and in the cloud to facilitate migration.

  • No. Azure Hybrid Benefit cannot be applied retroactively.

  • To use Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server, you need active Software Assurance. If your Software Assurance expires and you don’t renew it, you’ll be moved to the Licence Included pricing of the respective SKU.

Azure SQL Database reserved capacity

  • Azure SQL Database reserved capacity enables you to save up to 33%1 compared to licence-included pricing by pre-paying for your SQL Database compute capacity on a one or three-year term. It is an expansion of Azure reservation pricing, which also includes Azure reserved VM instances.

    Today, customers with active Software Assurance can save up to 55% using Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server with the new vCore-based purchasing model in SQL Database. Now, with support for reserved capacity on single databases, elastic pools and managed instances, you can unlock even more savings when you combine your Azure Hybrid Benefit with reserved vCore pricing to achieve savings of up to 80%2. You can lower your total cost of ownership by combining reservation pricing with licence-included prices to improve your budgeting and forecasting with a single upfront payment, making it easy to calculate your investments.

    Reserved capacity is not available in the server-less compute tier of SQL Database.

    1Savings based on eight vCore SQL Database Managed Instance General Purpose in West2 US Region, running 730 hours per month. Savings are calculated from on demand full price (licence included) against 3-year reserved capacity Licence Included. Actual savings may vary based on region, instance size and performance tier. Prices as of May 2018, subject to change.

    2Savings based on eight vCore SQL Database Managed Instance Business Critical in West2 US Region, running class="text-body5" hours per month. Savings are calculated from on demand full price (licence included) against base rate with Azure Hybrid Benefit plus 3-year reserved capacity. Savings excludes Software Assurance cost for SQL Server Enterprise edition, which may vary based on EA agreement. Actual savings may vary based on region, instance size and performance tier. Prices as of May 2018, subject to change.

  • Azure SQL Database reserved capacity is available in all public Azure regions except UK North. If you already have vCore-based SQL deployments in UK North and would like to purchase reserved capacity for them, you can open a Help+Support request and we will unblock your subscription in that region. Reserved capacity is currently not available in sovereign clouds, which includes Azure Germany, Azure US Government and China.
  • You can purchase one-year or three-year term SQL Database reserved capacity with a single, upfront payment. Reservations are available for purchase through https://portal.azure.com. The reservations menu will appear on the left pane in the Azure portal.

  • SQL Database reserved capacity has a scope of either a Single subscription or Shared. This scope controls how many subscriptions can leverage the billing benefit associated with the reservation, and it controls how the reservation is applied to specific subscriptions. 

    A reservation scoped to a single subscription means that the reserved capacity discount will only apply to SQL Database resources within the selected subscription.  

    A reservation with the scope of Shared means that the billing benefit for it can be shared across any subscription in the enrolment (Enterprise Agreement customers) or account (Pay-as-you-go customers) except for MSDN subscriptions in the enrolment or non-Pay-as-you-go subscriptions in the account.

  • The reservation start and end dates are based on the purchase date and duration of the reservation. The benefit will immediately apply to any existing running deployments that match the terms of the reservation based on where the reservation is made available, i.e. scoped to a single subscription or shared across the entire Azure account/enrolment. Otherwise, the reservation benefit will apply when you have new deployments that match the terms of the reservation.

  • For EA customers, reserved capacity purchases will always be deducted from any available Azure prepayment first; this deduction will happen in the month that the reserved capacity was purchased. In the event that you do not have enough Azure prepayment, or do not have any Azure prepayment, all reserved capacity purchases will show on your next overage invoice.

    For web direct customers, all reserved capacity charges will appear on the credit card on file or the next invoice if you have invoice terms established on your account.

  • You can view reserved capacity usage on the “Usage Summary” page under the “Reports” menu on the EA Portal (https://ea.azure.com). There, you will see a “Reservation” section that will show reserved capacity usage. In addition to this, you can find reserved capacity usage details in the detailed usage file (CSV) that you can download from the EA Portal (https://ea.azure.com). The “Additional Info” field will help you to identify the usage against reserved capacity.
  • Your deployments will continue running and will be billed at an on-demand rate once the reserved capacity benefit has expired. You will no longer receive the price benefit for reserved capacity.
  • Yes, you will receive email notifications at least 30 days prior to expiration. Additionally, you can view reservation details in the Azure portal.

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