How to Buy Azure

There are three options for purchasing. Buy online to create an account yourself and pay as you go in the Azure portal. Buy with Microsoft to work with a specialist on scoping, pricing, and agreements for a larger or AI-first deployment. Buy through a partner for a managed or co-engineered solution with custom billing and hands-on delivery. Whichever you choose, you can add ISV and partner solutions through Microsoft Marketplace on the same Azure bill.

No. You can create an Azure account online in minutes and start deploying on your own with pay-as-you-go pricing, no partner and no upfront commitment required. A partner is optional. Choose one when you want someone to provision, deploy, and manage Azure for you, when you need industry or workload expertise, or when you prefer consolidated billing and support through a single provider.

Start with how much you want to own. If your team will build and manage workloads itself and wants to move today, buy online. If you need help scoping, modeling costs, or setting up an enterprise agreement, buy with Microsoft. If you want someone to run Azure for you, from migration through day-to-day management and optimization, buy through a partner. Many organizations mix paths across teams and change them as needs evolve.

Either way you get the same Azure services. The difference is who manages the relationship. Buying directly gives you full control of your subscriptions, billing, and support plan in the Azure portal. Buying through a partner gives you a managed experience: the partner handles provisioning and delivery, often provides first-line support, and invoices you. Choose directly for control and speed, a partner for delivery capacity and specialized expertise.

When you buy directly, Microsoft invoices you for your Azure usage and you manage payment methods and invoices in the Azure portal. When you buy through a partner, the partner is your billing contact: they receive your usage from Microsoft and invoice you, often bundling their managed services and support into a single bill with their own payment terms. Confirm invoicing, currency, and terms with your partner before you sign.

Create an Azure account online. It takes a few minutes, and new accounts start with a $200 credit plus a set of free services. From there you can move to pay-as-you-go, add payment details, and deploy from the Azure portal. If you are planning a larger or AI-first deployment, contact sales instead: a specialist can help scope the workload, model costs up front, and set up an enterprise agreement or volume purchasing option.

Yes. Your purchase path is not permanent. Subscriptions can be moved between billing arrangements, so you can start self-serve online and later move to a partner-managed agreement, or bring a partner-managed subscription back under your own direct billing. Timing, eligibility, and any commitments already in place, such as reservations or savings plans, affect how a transfer works. Review the details with your partner or Microsoft account team first.

Use the Microsoft partner directory to search by solution area, industry, service type, and location, then compare partners by their specializations and customer references. Look for the specializations that match your workload, such as migration, data and AI, security, or industry-specific delivery. You can also ask your Microsoft account team for recommendations, or buy partner-built solutions and services through Microsoft Marketplace.

Yes. You use the same Azure services, the same Azure portal, and the same Microsoft platform investments in security, compliance, and AI. What changes is who manages the commercial relationship: your partner handles ordering, billing, and usually first-line support, and escalates to Microsoft when needed. Your terms are set in your agreement with Microsoft and in your agreement with the partner.

Every Azure account includes basic support: billing and subscription help, documentation, and community resources. If you buy online or with Microsoft, you can add a paid support plan for faster response times and technical guidance, up to designated support for mission-critical workloads. If you buy through a partner, the partner typically provides first-line support as part of their managed service and escalates to Microsoft when needed.

Buying online, you pay as you go with a credit or debit card and can change or upgrade at any time. Larger customers can request invoicing, and enterprise agreements and volume purchasing options let you commit spend up front. You can lower what you pay with Azure Reservations, Azure savings plan for compute, and Azure Hybrid Benefit. If you buy through a partner, the partner sets your payment terms and invoices you directly.

An Azure plan is the commercial arrangement a Microsoft partner uses to sell you Azure services under the Microsoft Customer Agreement. It sets the terms for your Azure usage in a partner-managed purchase: the partner provisions subscriptions under the plan, you use the same Azure services and the same Azure portal, and the partner invoices you for usage plus any services they add. If you buy online or directly from Microsoft, you do not need a separate Azure plan.