Secure, develop, and operate infrastructure, apps, and Azure services anywhere
Extend Azure management and services anywhere
Azure Arc extends management and services from Azure to any infrastructure. As an extension of Azure, it offers the below core control plane at no cost to customers, while preserving consistent pricing on all management and services originated from Azure.
- Resource inventory and organization through Azure resource groups and tags
- Indexing and searching through Azure Resource Graph
- Access and security through RBAC and subscriptions
- Environments and automation through templates and extensions
Below Azure Arc-enabled services will be charged consistently as in the original Azure services, excluding any customer-provided infrastructure costs.
- Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server
- Azure Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance
- Azure Arc-enabled PostgreSQL (Preview)
- Other arc-enabled services that become available
Explore pricing options
Apply filters to customize 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 fall 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 upcoming month. Sign in to the Azure pricing calculator to see pricing based on your current program/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.
Extended Security Updates enabled by Azure Arc
Microsoft provides Extended Security Updates enabled by Azure Arc for Windows Server 2012/R2 and SQL Server 2012. With Azure Arc, organizations will be able to purchase and seamlessly deploy Extended Security Updates in on-premises or multicloud environments, right from the Azure portal. Extended Security Updates enabled by Azure Arc also gives more flexibility with a pay-as-you-go subscription model.
For Windows Server 2012/R2
| Extended Security Updates | Datacenter Monthly Rate | Standard Monthly Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Windows Server 2012 16 Core | $- | $- |
| Windows Server 2012 8 Core | $- | $- |
| Windows Server 2012 2 Core | $- | $- |
For SQL Server 2012
| Extended Security Updates | Enterprise Monthly Rate | Standard Monthly Rate |
|---|---|---|
| SQL Server 2012 2 Core | $- | $- |
Extended Security Updates will be available for free for customers on Azure, which includes workloads running on Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Dedicated Host, Azure VMWare Solutions, Nutanix Cloud Clusters on Azure, and Azure Stack Hub/Edge/HCI. Learn more about your options.
For customers who sign up after the end of support dates (October 10, 2023, Year 1 for Windows Server 2012/R2, July 11, 2023, Year 2 for SQL Server 2012), you will receive a one-time bill-back charge from the start of the Extended Security Updates year to your actual start date.
Questions? Check out some Frequently Asked Questions.
Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server
If you have an existing SQL Server license, you can also unlock Azure manageability and security with Azure Arc. See the complete set of features* available for customers with existing SQL Server licenses including different SQL Server licenses set billing options.
Manage SQL Server license and billing options - Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server | Microsoft Learn
*Some features may require SA.
For customers without an active SQL Server license:
For organizations who want to leverage a consumption-based model we now offer pay-as-you-go licensing for SQL Server, enabled by Azure Arc for versions 2014 and up. Pay by the hour for spikes and ad-hoc usage and eliminate the need for full upfront licensing costs.
| Pay-as-you-go | Monthly Rate | Hourly Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Edition | $- | $- |
| Enterprise Edition | $- | $- |
Pricing calculator for pay-as-you-go Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server available: here. View traditional SQL Server licensing options here.
Feature breakdown and licensing details for Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server available here.
For all Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server customers:
Additional services including, Microsoft Defender for Cloud*, Microsoft Purview and Azure Log Analytics are available for additional costs. These additional services are available for customers with existing SQL Server licenses who activate Azure Arc or for customers who leverage the pay-as-you-go licensing option for SQL Server.
*Customers can benefit from discounted pricing for Microsoft Defender when consumed through Azure Arc.
Questions? Check out some Frequently Asked Questions around getting started with Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server: here.
Azure Arc enabled servers
In addition to the included capabilities, Azure Update Management is offered for servers outside of Azure at no additional cost. Add-on Azure management services (Azure Policy guest configuration, Azure Monitor, Microsoft Defender for Cloud etc.) are charged for Azure Arc enabled servers when enabled.
Guest configuration feature of Azure Policy
Azure Policy's guest configuration feature provides compliance and configuration management of operating systems. Guest configuration can be used as a standalone platform or at-scale orchestrated by Azure Policy. Examples of compliance and configuration management include password policies, encryption protocols, administrative access, or validation of operational standards such as certificate expiration and network connectivity.
For more information about configuration assignments view the following docs page: https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/governance/policy/concepts/guest-configuration-assignments
Billing is based on the number of servers registered with the service that have one or more guest configurations assigned to them. Billing is pro-rated hourly. Offline machines, such as machines that are disconnected or powered-off for the entire hour, are not billed.
Azure Arc resources managed by guest configuration are excluded from billing in the following scenarios.
Azure Automation
- Guest configuration assignments are not billed if the machine is already managed by the state configuration or change tracking features offered by Azure Automation.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
- Azure Policy assignment of the Azure Security Benchmark initiative creates configuration assignment
- Azure Policy assignment of a built-in policy initiative in the "Regulatory Compliance" category creates configuration assignment
- Azure Policy assignment of a custom policy initiative created in Microsoft Defender for Cloud creates configuration assignment
Azure Stack HCI
Turn on Azure benefits on your Azure Stack HCI cluster so that guest configuration assignments can be used at no additional fee. Learn more about turning on Azure benefits on Azure Stack HCI.
- Virtual machines - Guest configuration assignments are not billed if the virtual machine is hosted by Azure Stack HCI.
- Physical machines - Guest configuration assignments are not billed if the machine is a node in an Azure Stack HCI cluster.
| Azure Resource | Azure Arc Resource | |
|---|---|---|
| Azure control plane functionality | Free | Free |
| Azure Policy guest configuration (includes Azure Automation change tracking, inventory, state configuration) | Free | $6/Server/Month |
Any other Azure service that is attached, for example Microsoft Defender for Cloud or Azure Monitor, will be charged as per the pricing for that service.
Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes
Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes enables customers to connect and configure Kubernetes clusters across customer datacenters, edge locations, and multi-cloud.
Any number of Kubernetes clusters can be connected and organized in the Azure Portal at no additional cost. Like Arc enabled servers, add-on Azure management services, like Kubernetes Configuration, are charged when enabled.
Kubernetes Configuration
Kubernetes Configuration delivers configuration management and application deployment using GitOps. With this capability, cluster admins can declare their cluster configuration and applications in Git. The development teams can then use pull requests and the tools they are familiar with (existing DevOps pipelines, Git, Kubernetes manifests, Helm charts) to easily deploy applications onto Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes clusters and make updates in production. The GitOps agents listen to changes and facilitate automated rollbacks if these changes result in system divergence from the source of truth. Billing is based on the number of vCPUs/hour in the cluster and is charged monthly. Clusters incur a single charge for configuration management no matter how many repositories are connected.
Clusters can function without a constant connection to Azure. When disconnected, each cluster’s charge will be determined based on the last known number of vCPUs that were registered with Azure Arc. If your cluster will be disconnected from Azure and you don’t want to be charged for Kubernetes Configuration, you can delete the configurations. The vCPU count is updated every 5 minutes when connected. The first 6 vCPUs are included at no cost.
| Azure Resource | Azure Arc Resource | |
|---|---|---|
| Azure control plane functionality | Free | Free |
| Kubernetes Configuration | Free | First 6 vCPUs are free, $-/vCPU/month thereafter* |
Other management services such as Azure Policy for Kubernetes, Azure Monitor for Containers and Microsoft Defender for Cloud are in preview so there is no cost to use the service at this time. However, for Azure Policy for Kubernetes and Azure Monitor for Containers, any data retained by those services may incur charges as per the pricing for that service.
Azure Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance
Azure Arc-enabled data services allow customers to run Azure SQL Managed Instance (generally available) and Azure PostgreSQL (still in public preview) databases on-premises and in multicloud environments on infrastructure of their choice. Customers would gain Azure innovations and cloud benefits, including a cloud billing model that helps to manage costs efficiently. In addition, SQL Server customers can use Azure Hybrid Benefit to adopt Azure Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance without the need to pay for SQL license again.
Customers can find two service tiers – General Purpose and Business Critical, to support their data workloads based on different performance, high-availability, and disaster recovery requirements. Customers can also choose to run their Arc-enabled data services in various connectivity modes and get billing automatically set up if there is no direct connection to Azure.
Find out more from Documentations on different services tier, billing set up if not directly connected, and minimum system environment.
General Purpose Tier
| 1 vCore / Month | Pay as you go | 1 year reserved instances | 3 year reserved instances |
|---|---|---|---|
| License Included | $- | $- | $- |
| Azure Hybrid Benefit* | $- | $- | $- |
Business Critical Tier
| 1 vCore / Month | Pay as you go** | 1 year reserved instances | 3 year reserved instances |
|---|---|---|---|
| License Included | $- | $- | $- |
| Azure Hybrid Benefit* | $- | $- | $- |
*Excluding Amazon Web Services, VMware on Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Alibaba Cloud.
**Customers on Pay-as-you-go will be charged based on the actual hours used in the month. Rates shown are maximum monthly rates.
For detailed information on this pricing, download the Licensing Guide.
Azure Arc enabled application services
In the current preview phase, Azure Arc enabled application services are offered at no additional cost.
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Azure Arc
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SLA
Review the Service Level Agreement for Azure Arc.
Documentation
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Frequently asked questions
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Azure Policy has different capabilities. Azure Policy guest configuration is charged in a per-server basis at $6/month on servers outside of Azure connected through Azure Arc. You can use any number of policies on that server.
Any other type Azure Policy that does not rely on guest configuration is offered at no additional cost, including VM extensions to enable services like Azure Monitor and Azure Security Center, or policies for auto tagging.
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Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes is now Generally Available. See updated pricing details above.
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We will update pricing details for Azure Arc enabled data services at General Availability.
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To find the price of a specific service you can go to its Azure.com page and click on the pricing tab.
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