Unlocking Azure SQL Pricing: How Much Does it Really Cost?

Within Microsoft Azure, there are many options when it comes to SQLs. 

However, to go through each of their strengths, features, etc would take days. 

For now, we are going to start with these 3:

1. Azure SQL Database (PaaS)
2. Azure SQL Managed Instance (PaaS)
3. Azure SQL Server on Azure VM (IaaS)

These SQL products are especially interesting for you if you’re from a Microsoft environment and have experience with Microsoft SQL Server. 

That said, let’s jump into them:

 

What is Azure SQL Database?

Azure SQL Database is a fully managed relational database with AI-driven features that optimise performance and security. As one of Microsoft’s many PaaS services, Azure SQL Database takes care of operational concerns so you can focus on building and running your applications. It is excellent for modern cloud applications that need scalability, high availability, and seamless integration with other Azure services. 

It's often the go-to option when moving to the cloud and needing a database management system. There’s a good reason for that – it’s easy to deploy, simple to manage, cost-effective and includes built-in scaling and straightforward pricing – which we’ll get back to.

Use Case

Best for SaaS apps that need multi-tenancy and can scale quickly. You can start small and grow as needed – ideal for apps with unpredictable or spiky traffic.

For example: An online retailer expecting a 10x traffic spike during Black Friday. Azure SQL Database scales automatically to handle it – no manual intervention is needed.

 

What is Azure SQL Managed Instance?

Azure SQL Managed Instance is a fully managed database service offering close to full compatibility with the latest SQL Server (Enterprise Edition). Its broad compatibility makes it ideal for lift-and-shift migrations from on-premises SQL. It blends the advantages of PaaS with the feature set of traditional SQL Servers, making it ideal for migrating existing apps that rely on SQL Server-specific capabilities.

It delivers the core features of SQL Server while handling updates, backups, high availability, and security as part of the managed service. This allows you to move to the cloud with minimal changes to your current setup.

Use Case

Perfect for migrating on-prem SQL Server workloads with minimal changes. Azure SQL Database itself might not always be compatible, but a Managed Instance usually will be.

For example: a company migrating its core business systems to the cloud can leverage Managed Instance's SQL Server compatibility. Even when it doesn't work with Azure SQL Database, it typically works with Managed Instance. This gives you the benefits of abstracted management, easy security configuration, and less overhead.

Source: Microsoft

 

What is Azure SQL Server on Azure VM?

SQL Server on an Azure Virtual Machine (VM) lets you run full SQL Server instances on Windows or Linux VMs inside Azure. Unlike the managed options, it’s not as scalable or hands-off. You’re responsible for maintaining the OS, managing updates, and configuring the environment. But it gives you complete control and flexibility.

It’s the best fit when your applications need specific SQL Server features or custom configurations that aren’t supported by Azure SQL Database or Managed Instance. You can run SQL Server on both Windows and Linux VMs, and it’s ideal for workloads that need features or custom setups not supported in managed SQL offerings like Azure SQL Database or SQL Managed Instance.

Use Case

Use when PaaS options aren’t a fit and complete control is required, even if it means managing the OS and all the overhead that comes with it – patching, antivirus, browsers, etc.

Example: A healthcare provider with strict compliance needs that require custom SQL Server configurations. They choose Azure VM for control and flexibility, while still using cloud benefits like backup and disaster recovery. The trade-off: more to manage.

Now we understand these SQL database options, let’s look at what you came for: pricing. We’ll explore them for each of the three options, starting off with Azure SQL Database.  

 

Azure SQL Database Pricing

The different Azure SQL Database Deployment Models

In total there are three deployment options for Azure SQL Database: 

• Single Database
• Elastic Pool
• Manage Instance

Single Database

This model represents a fully managed database. With Single Database, each database runs with dedicated resources. It is suitable for most modern cloud applications and microservices. It's the most basic deployment model and is ideal for applications with a specific, singular focus.

Elastic Pool

It is for businesses with multiple smaller applications. In Elastic Pool, multiple databases share the same set of resources on the same infrastructure. This makes Elastic Pools more cost-effective for workloads with variable usage across databases.

Managed Instance

This model suits businesses moving from on-prem SQL Server to Azure. It replicates core SQL Server features within Azure, making it easier to migrate apps with minimal rework.

 

Azure SQL Database Deployment Models

Deployment Model	Best For	Cost Efficiency	Key Benefits
Single Database	Cloud-first apps needing isolated performance	Moderate	Serverless option, auto-scaling, easy to manage
Elastic Pool	Apps with multiple databases and variable usage	High	Shared resources, budget-friendly for inconsistent loads
Managed Instance	Moving on-prem SQL Server workloads to the cloud	Moderate	Full SQL Server feature set, VNet integration, easy lift-and-shift

 

What are the Azure SQL Database Pricing Models?

Azure SQL Database pricing is built with flexibility in mind and offers two main models:

• DTU (database transaction units) based
• vCore-based

Let’s start with DTU, which is for predictable and simplified pricing.

 

DTU (Database Transaction Unit) Model

This is the original and simpler option. It abstracts underlying hardware into a single unit of measure. Instead of separating CPU, memory, and I/O, it bundles it into a single unit called a DTU (Database Transaction Unit). This makes it easier for users without deep database tuning knowledge. It’s a good fit for infrastructure teams looking for straightforward pricing without having to fine-tune resource allocations.

As you scale DTUs up, database max size and costs increase correspondingly. You can buy additional storage beyond default limits.

The DTU purchasing model has predefined performance tiers: basic, standard, and premium, each with fixed resources and corresponding limits.

• Basic: Starts at $4.8971 per month, best for small, low-usage applications.
• Standard: Prices start as low as $14.7187 a month and can reach up to $4,415.5875 monthly.
• Premium: The lowest price is $456.25 a month, with $15,698.89 as the most costly.

The table below breaks it down further for each:

Basic

	DTUs	Included storage	Max storage	Price for DTUs and included storage
B	5	2 GB	2 GB	$4.8971/month

 

Standard

	DTUs	Included storage	Max storage	Price for DTUs and included storage 1
S0	10	250 GB	250 GB	$14.7187/month
S1	20	250 GB	250 GB	$29.4343/month
S2	50	250 GB	250 GB	$73.6084/month
S3	100	250 GB	1 TB	$147.1772/month
S4	200	250 GB	1 TB	$294.3725/month
S6	400	250 GB	1 TB	$588.7450/month
S7	800	250 GB	1 TB	$1,177.4900/month
S9	1600	250 GB	1 TB	$2,354.9800/month
S12	3000	250 GB	1 TB	$4,415.5875/month

 

Premium

	DTUs	Included storage 1	Max storage	Price for DTUs and included storage 2
P1	125	500 GB	1 TB	$456.2500/month
P2	250	500 GB	1 TB	$912.5001/month
P4	500	500 GB	1 TB	$1,825.0000/month
P6	1000	500 GB	1 TB	$3,650.0000/month
P11	1750	4 TB	4 TB	$6,868.3876/month
P15	4000	4 TB	4 TB	$15,698.8934/month

Note that all prices are in US dollars, with Eastern US as the picked region.

 

vCore-based model (Provisioned and Serverless)

A vCore (virtual core), on the other hand, provides granular control over resource allocation. It allows users to choose the exact number of cores, offering flexibility to scale resources up or down based on specific workload requirements. Users who prefer precise control to resource allocation typically choose the vCore model. It’s simply ideal for DBAs who want detailed control over performance and cost. In addition, it is also more suitable for complex workloads.

Service Tiers within vCore Pricing

• General Purpose:
  Suited for most business workloads, this tier offers balanced, scalable compute and storage. Compute and storage are separated, giving you flexibility and better cost control.
  Pricing starts at around $0.001 per vCore per second, making it a cost-effective choice for standard use cases.
• Business Critical:
  Business Critical (or Premium) is built for production apps that need low latency and high resilience. It uses local SSDs for fast performance and replicates data across four nodes for fault tolerance. One replica can be used for read operations, and zone redundancy is included at no extra cost. 
  Pricing starts at $1.35/hour for 2 vCores, with storage at $0.25/GB a month. You get top-tier performance and built-in high availability, but max storage is limited to 4T.
• Hyperscale:
  Hyperscale is architected to be a cloud-native database. Opting for means fully taking advantage of everything the cloud has to offer. Unlike Business Critical, storage in Hyperscale is decoupled from compute. That means you can run a 2 vCore database with up to 100 TB of storage with no size-to-vCore constraints. Performance matches or exceeds Business Critical in internal tests, making Hyperscale ideal for high-scale, high-performance workloads.
  Prices start from $0.366/hour, and storage costs $0.25GB monthly.

Compute Tiers in vCore Pricing

With the vCore model, you have two compute tiers:

• Provisioned Compute: Dedicated resources billed per hour.
• Serverless Compute: Resources are allocated on-demand and billed per second based on the vCores used.

Serverless lets you define min/max vCores, offering flexibility. The same is not true for Provisioned, where you have a fixed number of vCores.

The table below compares Provisioned and Serverless tiers by usage, scaling, and billing:

Tier	Provisioned	Serverless
Usage	Best for steady workloads with consistent compute needs	Suited for variable or unpredictable workloads with lower usage
Scaling	Manual scaling, managed by you	Auto-scaling, managed by Microsoft
Billing	Billed per hour	Billed per second

Typically, Azure SQL Database pricing includes both SQL Server and Windows Server licensing costs. With Azure Hybrid Benefit, you save up to 40% by using existing SQL Server licences, paying only for Windows Server licensing. Without it, you’ll pay the standard rates.

The pricing below applies to the East US region, based on Single Database deployment using the general purpose service tier:

vCORE	Memory (GB)	Pay as you go	1 year reserved capacity 2	3 year reserved capacity 2
2	10.2	$0.505/hour	$0.398/hour 21% savings	$0.337/hour 33% savings
4	20.4	$1.009/hour	$0.796/hour 21% savings	$0.674/hour 33% savings
6	30.6	$1.514/hour	$1.194/hour 21% savings	$1.011/hour 33% savings
8	40.8	$2.018/hour	$1.592/hour 21% savings	$1.348/hour 33% savings
10	51	$2.522/hour	$1.990/hour 21% savings	$1.685/hour 33% savings
12	61.2	$3.027/hour	$2.388/hour 21% savings	2.022/hour 33% savings
14	71.4	$3.531/hour	$2.786/hour 21% savings	$2.359/hour 33% savings
16	81.6	$4.035/hour	$3.183/hour 21% savings	$2.696/hour 33% savings
18	91.8	$4.540/hour	$3.581/hour 21% savings	$3.033/hour 33% savings
20	102	$5.044/hour	$3.979/hour 21% savings	$3.370/hour 33% savings
24	122.4	$6.053/hour	$4.775/hour 21% savings	$4.043/hour 33% savings
32	163.2	$8.070/hour	$6.366/hour 21% savings	$5.391/hour 33% savings
40	204	$10.088/hour	$7.958/hour 21% savings	$6.739/hour 33% savings
80	396	$20.175/hour	$15.915/hour 21% savings	13.477/hour 33% savings
128	652	$32.280/hour	$25.464/hour 21% savings	21.563/hour

But that’s not all. Expect additional costs beyond compute:

• Storage is billed separately, and premium Azure Blob Storage comes at a price tag of $0.115 per GB/month (LRS).
• If you need back up storage (also known as point-in-time recovery) it will be at least $0.10 per GB/month (LRS, ZRS)
• For long-term retention, you pay at least $0.05 per GB/month (RA-GRS & RA-GZRS)

Serverless Compute
The SQL Database serverless compute tier is designed for single databases with irregular or unpredictable usage. It auto-scales compute as needed and bills per second for what you use, making it cost-efficient and easier to manage.

With the vCore serverless compute option, you can scale between 0.5 to 80 vCores and 2.02 GB to 240GB of memory, adjusting resources as needed.

• Compute cost: $0.5218 per vCore/hour
• Storage: $0.115 per GB/month

Minimum vCores	Maximum vCores	Minimum Memory (GB)	Maximum Memory (GB)	Price
0.5	80	2.02	240	$0.0001450/vCore-second ($0.5218/vCore-hour)

Again, additional charges also incur, such as:

• Back up storage (Point-in-time restore): Min. $0.10 per GB/month (LRS, ZRS)
• Long-term retention: At least $0.05 per GB/month (LRS, ZRS)

 

Check out more on Microsoft’s page about Azure SQL Database Pricing.

 

Azure Managed Instance Pricing

Pricing models for SQL Managed Instance are based on vCore. You effectively build a virtual machine starting for less than $800 a month. You choose CPU (standard, premium or premium series memory-optimised) and select the amount of vCores you want, each with an allocated amount of RAM. Then, you must select either Business Critical or General Purpose. 

The table below breaks down the cost for Azure Managed Instance (next generation general purpose) with East US as the selected region:

Standard-series (Gen 5)

vCORE	Memory (GB)	Included Storage	Pay-as-you-go
4	20.4	First 32 GB/month	$736.378/month
8	40.8	First 32 GB/month	$1,472.755/month
16	81.6	First 32 GB/month	$2,945.510/month
24	122.4	First 32 GB/month	$4,418.264/month
32	163.2	First 32 GB/month	$5,891.019/month
40	204	First 32 GB/month	$7,363.773/month
64	326.4	First 32 GB/month	$11,782.037/month
80	408	First 32 GB/month	$14,727.546/month

 

vCORE	Memory (GB)	Included Storage	Pay-as-you-go
4	28	First 32 GB/month	$805.821/month
6	42	First 32 GB/month	$1,208.732/month
8	56	First 32 GB/month	$1,611.642/month
10	70	First 32 GB/month	$2,014.552/month
12	84	First 32 GB/month	$2,417.463/month
16	112	First 32 GB/month	$3,223.283/month
20	140	First 32 GB/month	$4,029.104/month
24	168	First 32 GB/month	$4,834.925/month
32	224	First 32 GB/month	$6,446.566/month
40	280	First 32 GB/month	$8,058.208/month
48	336	First 32 GB/month	$9,669.849/month
56	392	First 32 GB/month	$11,281.491/month
64	448	First 32 GB/month	$12,893.132/month
80	560	First 32 GB/month	$16,116.415/month
96	560	First 32 GB/month	$19,339.698/month
128	560	First 32 GB/month	$25,786.264/month

 

Balancing performance and budget is key. Azure SQL makes that easier with flexible, live scaling – so you can adjust resources as your needs change, without downtime.

The first 32 GB of storage per instance each month is included, with additional storage billed at $0.115 per GB per month.

For more information, take a look at Microsoft’s pricing page for Azure Managed Instance.

 

Azure SQL Server on Azure VM Pricing

SQL Server on Azure VM is priced like any other Azure VM – you pick the SKU, set up the virtual machine, and install SQL Server. Licensing is separate and must be factored in. 

This option gives you the most flexibility, letting you choose precisely the specs and setup you need. The ultimate price for running SQL Server on Azure VMs depends on several factors, including VM size, region, and any extra features or configurations you choose.

Entry-level pricing from $1.5140/hour (pay-as-you-go) for a B1s instance with 1 vCPUs and 1GiB of RAM. Conversely, larger VMs with more vCPUs and memory, such as those in the M-series or other high-end configurations, are designed for demanding workloads and are priced accordingly higher.

You can also use Premium SSDs for higher disk performance. This setup is ideal when an SQL-managed instance or SQL Database doesn’t fit your requirements.

That said, we wouldn’t recommend this as your first choice, but only if SQL Managed Instance and SQL Database aren't available for your database. If you're an organisation looking to modernise your application, you'll want to use PaaS instead of IaaS. And wherever possible, SaaS products.

We recommended using the Azure Pricing Calculator to determine the exact pricing for SQL Server Enterprise on Azure VMs.