Azure VM Cost Calculator
Price Azure VMs on Linux or Windows at pay-as-you-go, Spot, reservation and savings plan rates, in 13 regions.
Each one fills in the fields below for a typical workload of that kind. You can change any of them.
- At on-demand rates
- $5,606.40
- Saving from spot
- $0.00/mo
- Saving from a commitment
- $1,503.65/mo
$67,276.80 a year at these inputs.
Rightsizing is the largest single lever: these VMs are bigger than the workload.
The levers, strongest first
| Rightsize to D4s v5Peak CPU of 25% leaves room for one size down, and memory halves too, to 16 GiB from 32: check memory use first. | $2,803.20/mo |
| Reserved instance, 1 year38% off the compute ($0.237/hr), read from the price list. | $1,503.65/mo |
| Move the fleet to Spot79% off at the published Spot price, on the whole fleet. Azure evicts with 30 seconds' notice, so this suits batch and CI, not databases, and it is not counted until you mark the workload as tolerating eviction. | $4,422.89/mo |
| Shut down outside weekday hoursNot offered for production. Mark the fleet non-production to price a schedule. | n/a |
| All that apply, together | $3,554.44/mo |
Each lever is priced on its own. Together they save less than the sum: a commitment bought after rightsizing covers a smaller VM.
Every commitment for this fleet
| Commitment | Off the compute | Saves a month | Pays off above |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reserved instance, 1 yearyour pick | 38% | $1,503.65 | 451 h |
| Reserved instance, 3 yearssaves the most | 61% | $2,374.37 | 289 h |
| Savings plan, 1 year | 31% | $1,233.07 | 501 h |
| Savings plan, 3 years | 54% | $2,118.43 | 336 h |
On 70% of the 20 on-demand VMs at 730 hours a month. Pays off above: the hours a month a VM must run before the commitment saves anything. A reservation is tied to one VM series in one region and discounts more; a savings plan commits to a spend per hour and follows the fleet across sizes and regions. Neither covers Spot.
And the carbon
Running this today: about 1.13 to 2.72 t COâ‚‚e a year in East US (343 g/kWh).
- One size down, D4s v5saves 0.56 to 1.36 t COâ‚‚e a year (50%)
Spot and commitments change the price, not the hardware or the hours, so they save no carbon. An estimate of the servers’ electricity (compute and memory, with data center overhead), location-based, from Cloud Carbon Footprint’s coefficients; your provider’s own carbon tool is the authoritative figure. Estimate a whole workload or see the methodology.
What this model assumes
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- Pay-as-you-go list prices, East US. Windows rates include the Windows Server license. Reservations and savings plans discount the compute only, so on Windows the license stays pay-as-you-go.
- Azure Hybrid Benefit needs licenses you own. Windows Server core licenses with Software Assurance or a subscription, at least 8 per VM. With it a Windows VM bills at the Linux rate. Microsoft does not say whether it covers Spot VMs, so Spot stays at the Windows Spot rate. SQL Server licensing is not included.
- Every rate is read from the price list. Pay-as-you-go, Windows, Spot, reservations (the term price spread over its hours) and savings plans all come from the Retail Prices API. Spot prices move with demand, so that saving holds on the catalog date. Negotiated discounts are not included.
- Commitments cover on-demand capacity only. You cannot reserve a Spot VM, so the two levers do not stack on the same machine, and a reservation bought against capacity you later move to Spot is wasted.
- Rightsizing is one step: exactly half the vCPU. Halving a VM roughly doubles how busy it is, so it is suggested only below 40% peak CPU, and never two sizes at once.
- The combined figure applies the levers in order. One size down, then the schedule, then Spot, then the commitment on what is left on demand, each only where it applies to this workload.
- Not included: managed disks (see the disk calculator), bandwidth, load balancers, public IPs, or Azure Monitor.
Generated from the Azure Retail Prices API by script on 29 Oct 2026, for 13 regions.
Prices verified 29 Oct 2026. Public list prices in USD for 13 Azure regions, before any discount you have negotiated.
Want this done on your real bill?
Commitment Management: Each month we size your Savings Plans, Reserved Instances and committed use discounts; you approve and buy. From $500 a month, or 12%. Nothing paid upfront.
Questions
How much does an Azure VM cost?
A D8s v5 with 8 vCPU and 32 GiB is $0.384 an hour on Linux pay-as-you-go in East US, about $280 a month running all month, and $0.752 on Windows Server, about $549. The price depends on the region: the same VM is $0.46 an hour in West Europe and $0.496 in Japan East. This calculator prices 13 regions.
How much do Azure Spot VMs save?
Commonly 70% to 80% off pay-as-you-go. This calculator uses the published Spot meters: a D8s v5 drops from $0.384 to about $0.081 an hour in East US. Spot prices move with demand, so check the current price before you plan on it. The constraint is eviction: Azure can reclaim a Spot VM with 30 seconds of notice, which suits batch, CI and stateless workers and rules out databases.
How much do Azure reservations and savings plans save?
For a D8s v5 in East US on Linux: a reservation saves 38% for one year and 60% for three; a savings plan saves 31% and 54%. This calculator reads those rates from the Azure Retail Prices API, which publishes reservations as a price for the whole term (D8s v5: $2,075 for a year) and savings plans as an hourly rate. Both bill every hour of the month, so on VMs that run part of the month they save less. On Windows they discount only the compute: the license stays pay-as-you-go. Azure publishes no reservation for the Fsv2 series; a savings plan still covers it.
How much does Azure Hybrid Benefit save on a Windows VM?
The whole Windows Server license: $0.368 an hour on a D8s v5, about $269 a month per VM running all month, in every region this calculator covers. It needs Windows Server core licenses with Software Assurance or a subscription, at least 8 per VM; with them a Windows VM bills at the Linux rate. Pick Windows Server, with Azure Hybrid Benefit, as the operating system to price it. SQL Server licensing is a separate benefit, not modeled here.
Should I use a reservation or a savings plan on Azure?
A reservation locks to a VM series and region and discounts more (D8s v5: 38% against 31% for a year); a savings plan commits to an hourly spend and flexes across families and regions. Reservations suit a stable fleet you can name; savings plans suit one that keeps changing shape. Neither applies to Spot capacity, so committing against machines you plan to move to Spot is paying twice.
Which Azure region is cheapest for VMs?
Of the 13 regions here, East US, East US 2 and West US 2 are cheapest for a D8s v5 on Linux, at $0.384 an hour. West Europe is $0.46 and Japan East $0.496, up to 29% more. Spot prices move differently: on 29 October 2026 a D8s v5 Spot VM cost half as much again in East US 2 as in East US. Pick the region to see the whole fleet priced there.
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