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Azure Files pricing

Simple, secure and serverless enterprise-grade cloud file shares

Take advantage of fully managed file shares in the cloud that are accessible via the industry-standard SMB and NFS protocols. Azure file shares can be mounted concurrently by cloud or on-premises deployments of Windows, Linux, and macOS. Azure file shares can also be cached on Windows Servers with Azure File Sync for fast access near where the data is being used.

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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.

Azure Files supports two different media tiers of storage, SSD and HDD, which allow you to tailor your file shares to the performance and price requirements of your scenario:

  • SSD (“premium”): File shares hosted on solid-state drives (SSDs) provide consistent high performance and low latency, within single-digit milliseconds for most IO operations.
  • HDD (“standard”): File shares hosted on hard disk drives (HDDs) provide cost-effective storage for general purpose use.
Azure Files has multiple pricing models including provisioned and pay-as-you-go options. The following sections detail the specifics of each model to help you make a choice about which model works best for your scenario.

Provisioned v2

In a provisioned model, the primary costs of the Azure file share are based on the amount of storage, IOPS, and throughput you provision when you create or update your file share, regardless of how much you use. With the provisioned v2 billing model, you have the ability to separately provision storage, IOPS, and throughput, although we will recommend IOPS and throughput provisioning to you based on the amount of provisioned storage you select. For more information on the provisioned v2 billing model, see understanding the provisioned v2 billing model.

HDD (“standard”)
Quantity Price
Provisioned storage

The maximum storage size of the file share, specified in GiB. You are charged for the storage you’ve provision regardless of what you use. Provisioned storage can be changed after share creation.

$-
Provisioned IOPS

The maximum IOPS, or transactions per second, of the file share. You are charged for the IOPS you’ve provisioned regardless of how many IOs you use. Provisioned IOPS can be changed after share creation.

$-
Provisioned throughput

The maximum amount of data that can be transferred per second of the file share. You are charged for the throughput you’ve provisioned regardless of what you use. Provisioned throughput can be changed after share creation.

$-
Overflow snapshot used storage

In the provisioned v2 billing model, snapshot usage that fits within the provisioned storage of the share is free. Any additional snapshot storage that doesn’t fit within the provisioned storage of the share is charged with a usage-based charge per GiB. All snapshots are differential from the live file share and from each other.

$-
Soft-deleted used storage

When a file share is soft-deleted, the used portion of the storage is charged for the indicated soft-deleted period. All other meters are not charged unless the share is restored.

$-
Provisioned storage

The maximum storage size of the file share, specified in GiB. You are charged for the storage you’ve provision regardless of what you use. Provisioned storage can be changed after share creation.

$-
Provisioned IOPS

The maximum IOPS, or transactions per second, of the file share. You are charged for the IOPS you’ve provisioned regardless of how many IOs you use. Provisioned IOPS can be changed after share creation.

$-
Provisioned throughput

The maximum amount of data that can be transferred per second of the file share. You are charged for the throughput you’ve provisioned regardless of what you use. Provisioned throughput can be changed after share creation.

$-
Overflow snapshot used storage

In the provisioned v2 billing model, snapshot usage that fits within the provisioned storage of the share is free. Any additional snapshot storage that doesn’t fit within the provisioned storage of the share is charged with a usage-based charge per GiB. All snapshots are differential from the live file share and from each other.

$-
Soft-deleted used storage

When a file share is soft-deleted, the used portion of the storage is charged for the indicated soft-deleted period. All other meters are not charged unless the share is restored.

$-
Provisioned storage

The maximum storage size of the file share, specified in GiB. You are charged for the storage you’ve provision regardless of what you use. Provisioned storage can be changed after share creation.

$-
Provisioned IOPS

The maximum IOPS, or transactions per second, of the file share. You are charged for the IOPS you’ve provisioned regardless of how many IOs you use. Provisioned IOPS can be changed after share creation.

$-
Provisioned throughput

The maximum amount of data that can be transferred per second of the file share. You are charged for the throughput you’ve provisioned regardless of what you use. Provisioned throughput can be changed after share creation.

$-
Overflow snapshot used storage

In the provisioned v2 billing model, snapshot usage that fits within the provisioned storage of the share is free. Any additional snapshot storage that doesn’t fit within the provisioned storage of the share is charged with a usage-based charge per GiB. All snapshots are differential from the live file share and from each other.

$-
Soft-deleted used storage

When a file share is soft-deleted, the used portion of the storage is charged for the indicated soft-deleted period. All other meters are not charged unless the share is restored.

$-
Provisioned storage

The maximum storage size of the file share, specified in GiB. You are charged for the storage you’ve provision regardless of what you use. Provisioned storage can be changed after share creation.

$-
Provisioned IOPS

The maximum IOPS, or transactions per second, of the file share. You are charged for the IOPS you’ve provisioned regardless of how many IOs you use. Provisioned IOPS can be changed after share creation.

$-
Provisioned throughput

The maximum amount of data that can be transferred per second of the file share. You are charged for the throughput you’ve provisioned regardless of what you use. Provisioned throughput can be changed after share creation.

$-
Overflow snapshot used storage

In the provisioned v2 billing model, snapshot usage that fits within the provisioned storage of the share is free. Any additional snapshot storage that doesn’t fit within the provisioned storage of the share is charged with a usage-based charge per GiB. All snapshots are differential from the live file share and from each other.

$-
Soft-deleted used storage

When a file share is soft-deleted, the used portion of the storage is charged for the indicated soft-deleted period. All other meters are not charged unless the share is restored.

$-
Provisioned storage

The maximum storage size of the file share, specified in GiB. You are charged for the storage you’ve provision regardless of what you use. Provisioned storage can be changed after share creation.

$-
Provisioned IOPS

The maximum IOPS, or transactions per second, of the file share. You are charged for the IOPS you’ve provisioned regardless of how many IOs you use. Provisioned IOPS can be changed after share creation.

$-
Provisioned throughput

The maximum amount of data that can be transferred per second of the file share. You are charged for the throughput you’ve provisioned regardless of what you use. Provisioned throughput can be changed after share creation.

$-
Overflow snapshot used storage

In the provisioned v2 billing model, snapshot usage that fits within the provisioned storage of the share is free. Any additional snapshot storage that doesn’t fit within the provisioned storage of the share is charged with a usage-based charge per GiB. All snapshots are differential from the live file share and from each other.

$-
Soft-deleted used storage

When a file share is soft-deleted, the used portion of the storage is charged for the indicated soft-deleted period. All other meters are not charged unless the share is restored.

$-

Provisioned v2 file shares are billed hourly at an hourly rate.

Monthly prices shown in the table above are based on a 730-hour month.

Provisioned v1

In a provisioned model, the primary costs of the Azure file share are based on the amount of storage, IOPS, and throughput you provision when you create or update your file share, regardless of how much you use. In the provisioned v1 billing model, there is one provisioned quantity for which you will pay for your file share: provisioned storage. When you create your file share, the provisioned IOPS and throughput available on your share are determined based on the amount of storage you provision. If you need more IOPS or throughput, you’ll need to provision additional storage. The provisioned v1 model is only available for SSD file shares. For more information on the provisioned v1 billing model, see understanding the provisioned v1 billing model.

SSD (“premium”)
Quantity Price
Provisioned storage

The maximum storage size of the file share, specified in GiB. You are charged for the storage you’ve provision regardless of what you use. The provisioned IOPS and provisioned throughput capacity of the share is dependent on the amount of storage provisioned. Provisioning can be changed after share creation.

$-
Snapshot used storage

In the provisioned v1 billing model, all snapshots are billed on a usage-based charge per GiB. All snapshots are differential from the live file share and from each other.

$-
Soft-deleted used storage

When a file share is soft-deleted, the used portion of the storage is charged for the indicated soft-deleted period. All other meters are not charged unless the share is restored.

$-
Provisioned storage

The maximum storage size of the file share, specified in GiB. You are charged for the storage you’ve provision regardless of what you use. The provisioned IOPS and provisioned throughput capacity of the share is dependent on the amount of storage provisioned. Provisioning can be changed after share creation.

$-
Snapshot used storage

In the provisioned v1 billing model, all snapshots are billed on a usage-based charge per GiB. All snapshots are differential from the live file share and from each other.

$-
Soft-deleted used storage

When a file share is soft-deleted, the used portion of the storage is charged for the indicated soft-deleted period. All other meters are not charged unless the share is restored.

$-
Provisioned storage

The maximum storage size of the file share, specified in GiB. You are charged for the storage you’ve provision regardless of what you use. The provisioned IOPS and provisioned throughput capacity of the share is dependent on the amount of storage provisioned. Provisioning can be changed after share creation.

$-
Snapshot used storage

In the provisioned v1 billing model, all snapshots are billed on a usage-based charge per GiB. All snapshots are differential from the live file share and from each other.

$-
Soft-deleted used storage

When a file share is soft-deleted, the used portion of the storage is charged for the indicated soft-deleted period. All other meters are not charged unless the share is restored.

$-
Provisioned storage

The maximum storage size of the file share, specified in GiB. You are charged for the storage you’ve provision regardless of what you use. The provisioned IOPS and provisioned throughput capacity of the share is dependent on the amount of storage provisioned. Provisioning can be changed after share creation.

$-
Snapshot used storage

In the provisioned v1 billing model, all snapshots are billed on a usage-based charge per GiB. All snapshots are differential from the live file share and from each other.

$-
Soft-deleted used storage

When a file share is soft-deleted, the used portion of the storage is charged for the indicated soft-deleted period. All other meters are not charged unless the share is restored.

$-
Provisioned storage

The maximum storage size of the file share, specified in GiB. You are charged for the storage you’ve provision regardless of what you use. The provisioned IOPS and provisioned throughput capacity of the share is dependent on the amount of storage provisioned. Provisioning can be changed after share creation.

$-
Snapshot used storage

In the provisioned v1 billing model, all snapshots are billed on a usage-based charge per GiB. All snapshots are differential from the live file share and from each other.

$-
Soft-deleted used storage

When a file share is soft-deleted, the used portion of the storage is charged for the indicated soft-deleted period. All other meters are not charged unless the share is restored.

$-

Provisioned v1 file shares are billed hourly at a monthly rate.

Hourly prices shown in the table above are based on a 730-hour month.

Reservations

The provisioned v1 billing model supports the use of reservations, which provide you with a discount on the cost of provisioned storage by committing to one year or three years of Azure Files consumption. Reservations can be purchased in increments of 10 TiB and 100 TiB for 1-year and 3-year commitment duration. All prices are per month. For more information, please see understanding reservations.

1-year reservation term 3-year reservation term
Reservation size SSD (“premium”) provisioned storage SSD (“premium”) provisioned storage
10 TiB/month N/A N/A
100 TiB/month N/A N/A
10 TiB/month $- $-
100 TiB/month $- $-
10 TiB/month $- $-
100 TiB/month $- $-
10 TiB/month N/A N/A
100 TiB/month N/A N/A

Pay-as-you-go

In a pay-as-you-go model, the cost of the Azure file share is based on how much you use the file share, in the form of used storage, transaction, and data transfer costs. The pay-as-you-go model offers three “access tiers” on HDD (“standard”) storage which provide a way to balance the used storage versus used transaction prices:

  • The transaction optimized access tier offers the lowest cost transaction pricing for transaction heavy workloads that don’t need the low latency offered by SSD file shares. The transaction optimized access tier is recommended for migrating data into file shares using the pay-as-you-go billing model.
  • The hot access tier offers balanced storage and transaction pricing for workloads that have a good measure of both.
  • The cool access tier offers the most cost-efficient storage pricing for storage-intensive workloads.

Pay-as-you-go is only available for HDD file shares. We recommend using the provisioned v2 billing model for new HDD file share deployments. For more information on the pay-as-you-go billing model, see understanding the pay-as-you-go billing model.

HDD (“standard”)
Transaction optimized Hot Cool
Used storage

The logical storage size of the files stored on the Azure file share.

$- $- $-
Snapshot used storage

The physical storage size of the differential snapshots.

$- $- $-
Soft-deleted used storage

When a file share is soft-deleted, the used portion of the storage is charged for the indicated soft-deleted period. All other meters are not charged unless the share is restored.

$- $- $-
Metadata used storage

The file system metadata associated with files and directories such as access control lists (ACLs) or other properties.

Included $- $-
Write transactions (per 10,000)

Write transactions are any operations which modify a file’s data stream. This category also includes file handle operations, such as opening a file handle, even if the file is being opened for read.

$- $- $-
List transactions (per 10,000)

List transactions are any operations which enumerate parts of the file share, such as listing files and directories within a share.

$- $- $-
Read transactions (per 10,000)

Read transactions are any operations which read from a file’s data stream.

$- $- $-
All other operations (per 10,000)

Any other operations associated with Azure Files (share, snapshot, directory, etc.), except for delete operations which are free.

$- $- $-
Data retrieval (per GiB)

Data retrieval is a special charge which applies only to retrieving data from cool storage.

N/A N/A $-
Used storage

The logical storage size of the files stored on the Azure file share.

$- $- $-
Snapshot used storage

The physical storage size of the differential snapshots.

$- $- $-
Soft-deleted used storage

When a file share is soft-deleted, the used portion of the storage is charged for the indicated soft-deleted period. All other meters are not charged unless the share is restored.

$- $- $-
Metadata used storage

The file system metadata associated with files and directories such as access control lists (ACLs) or other properties.

Included $- $-
Write transactions (per 10,000)

Write transactions are any operations which modify a file’s data stream. This category also includes file handle operations, such as opening a file handle, even if the file is being opened for read.

$- $- $-
List transactions (per 10,000)

List transactions are any operations which enumerate parts of the file share, such as listing files and directories within a share.

$- $- $-
Read transactions (per 10,000)

Read transactions are any operations which read from a file’s data stream.

$- $- $-
All other operations (per 10,000)

Any other operations associated with Azure Files (share, snapshot, directory, etc.), except for delete operations which are free.

$- $- $-
Data retrieval (per GiB)

Data retrieval is a special charge which applies only to retrieving data from cool storage.

N/A N/A $-
Used storage

The logical storage size of the files stored on the Azure file share.

$- $- $-
Snapshot used storage

The physical storage size of the differential snapshots.

$- $- $-
Soft-deleted used storage

When a file share is soft-deleted, the used portion of the storage is charged for the indicated soft-deleted period. All other meters are not charged unless the share is restored.

$- $- $-
Metadata used storage

The file system metadata associated with files and directories such as access control lists (ACLs) or other properties.

Included $- $-
Write transactions (per 10,000)

Write transactions are any operations which modify a file’s data stream. This category also includes file handle operations, such as opening a file handle, even if the file is being opened for read.

$- $- $-
List transactions (per 10,000)

List transactions are any operations which enumerate parts of the file share, such as listing files and directories within a share.

$- $- $-
Read transactions (per 10,000)

Read transactions are any operations which read from a file’s data stream.

$- $- $-
All other operations (per 10,000)

Any other operations associated with Azure Files (share, snapshot, directory, etc.), except for delete operations which are free.

$- $- $-
Data retrieval (per GiB)

Data retrieval is a special charge which applies only to retrieving data from cool storage.

N/A N/A $-
Used storage

The logical storage size of the files stored on the Azure file share.

$- $- $-
Snapshot used storage

The physical storage size of the differential snapshots.

$- $- $-
Soft-deleted used storage

When a file share is soft-deleted, the used portion of the storage is charged for the indicated soft-deleted period. All other meters are not charged unless the share is restored.

$- $- $-
Metadata used storage

The file system metadata associated with files and directories such as access control lists (ACLs) or other properties.

Included $- $-
Write transactions (per 10,000)

Write transactions are any operations which modify a file’s data stream. This category also includes file handle operations, such as opening a file handle, even if the file is being opened for read.

$- $- $-
List transactions (per 10,000)

List transactions are any operations which enumerate parts of the file share, such as listing files and directories within a share.

$- $- $-
Read transactions (per 10,000)

Read transactions are any operations which read from a file’s data stream.

$- $- $-
All other operations (per 10,000)

Any other operations associated with Azure Files (share, snapshot, directory, etc.), except for delete operations which are free.

$- $- $-
Data retrieval (per GiB)

Data retrieval is a special charge which applies only to retrieving data from cool storage.

N/A N/A $-
Used storage

The logical storage size of the files stored on the Azure file share.

N/A N/A N/A
Snapshot used storage

The physical storage size of the differential snapshots.

N/A N/A N/A
Soft-deleted used storage

When a file share is soft-deleted, the used portion of the storage is charged for the indicated soft-deleted period. All other meters are not charged unless the share is restored.

N/A N/A N/A
Metadata used storage

The file system metadata associated with files and directories such as access control lists (ACLs) or other properties.

Included N/A N/A
Write transactions (per 10,000)

Write transactions are any operations which modify a file’s data stream. This category also includes file handle operations, such as opening a file handle, even if the file is being opened for read.

N/A N/A N/A
List transactions (per 10,000)

List transactions are any operations which enumerate parts of the file share, such as listing files and directories within a share.

N/A N/A N/A
Read transactions (per 10,000)

Read transactions are any operations which read from a file’s data stream.

N/A N/A N/A
All other operations (per 10,000)

Any other operations associated with Azure Files (share, snapshot, directory, etc.), except for delete operations which are free.

N/A N/A N/A
Data retrieval (per GiB)

Data retrieval is a special charge which applies only to retrieving data from cool storage.

N/A N/A N/A
GRS data transfer (per GiB)

The GRS data transfer charge is for bandwidth used to replicate data to the secondary Azure region.

$- $- $-

Used storage, snapshot used storage, soft-deleted used storage, and metadata used storage are billed hourly at a monthly rate. Transaction and data transfer meters are billed hourly.

Hourly prices shown in the table above are based on a 730-hour month.

Reservations

The pay-as-you-go billing model supports the use of reservations, which provide you with a discount on the cost of used storage by committing to one year or three years of Azure Files consumption. Reservations can be purchased in increments of 10 TiB and 100 TiB for 1-year and 3-year commitment duration. All prices are per month. For more information, please see understanding reservations.

1-year reservation term 3-year reservation term
HDD (“standard”) used storage
Hot Cool Hot Cool
10 TiB/month $- $- $- $-
100 TiB/month $- $- $- $-
10 TiB/month $- $- $- $-
100 TiB/month $- $- $- $-
10 TiB/month $- $- $- $-
100 TiB/month $- $- $- $-
10 TiB/month $- $- $- $-
100 TiB/month $- $- $- $-

File Sync

These are the costs of syncing your files from Windows servers to Azure file shares in the cloud. Learn more about Azure File Sync.

The total cost of Azure File Sync services is determined by the number of servers that connect to the cloud endpoint (Azure file share) plus the underlying costs of Azure Files (including storage and access costs) and outbound data transfer.

Below is the fixed monthly fee per server.

File Sync Price per month
Sync Server* $-
*One sync server free per storage sync service. Sync uses file operations to sync your data to the cloud and other servers, and you will be billed for any operations that are generated in the sync process. The number of file operations generated and the access costs scale with the number of file changes on the server and the number of servers that need to be kept in sync.

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Additional resources

Azure Files

Learn more about Azure Files 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 Files.

Documentation

Review technical tutorials, videos, and more Azure Files resources.

  • To see the complete breakdown of SMB and FileREST transactions, see About Azure Files and File Sync billing.

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