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Azure VM Cost Calculator

Price an Azure VM fleet across 730 monthly hours with reserved-instance terms, Windows licensing and Azure Hybrid Benefit.

About Azure VM Cost Calculator

Azure meters a VM per second but bills a full month as 730 hours, so the compute line is simply rate × hours × instances. A reservation replaces the pay-as-you-go rate with a lower committed rate for the whole term, while the Windows Server licence is a separate per-vCPU meter that Azure Hybrid Benefit removes when you bring a Software Assurance licence. Compute is usually the largest line on an Azure invoice, and the same VM can differ by more than 60% between pay-as-you-go and a 3-year reservation with Hybrid Benefit — confirm the current rates in the Azure pricing calculator for your region before you commit.

Formula

Azure VM Cost

monthly = VMs × compute rate × 730 × commitment factor + VMs × vCPUs × Windows licence rate × 730 (licence dropped under Azure Hybrid Benefit).

730
Hours Azure bills for a full calendar month
commitment factor
Reserved-instance price as a fraction of pay-as-you-go
licence rate
Windows Server charge per vCPU-hour on top of the Linux rate

Worked example

With the default values below, Azure VM Cost Calculator returns Monthly Cost of $411.72. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Number of VMsaccepts 1–5,000 VMs
3 VMs
Compute rate per VMaccepts 0–100 USD/hour
0.096 USD/hour
Billed hours per monthaccepts 1–744 hours
730 hours
Commitment termone of Pay-as-you-go (no commitment), 1-year reserved instance, 3-year reserved instance, 3-year reserved + savings plan blend
Pay-as-you-go (no commitment)
Operating systemone of Linux (no licence charge), Windows Server
Windows Server
vCPUs per VMaccepts 1–416 vCPU
2 vCPU
Windows licence rateaccepts 0–5 USD/vCPU-hour
0.046 USD/vCPU-hour
Apply Azure Hybrid Benefit
No

Results

Monthly Cost
$411.72
Compute Charge
$210.24
Windows Licence Charge
$201.48
Cost per VM
$137.24
Saving vs Pay-as-you-go
$0.00
Discount Achieved
0.0%
Annual Cost
$4,940.64

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Azure VM Cost
  3. 3Monthly Cost= 411.72
  4. 4Compute Charge= 210.24
  5. 5Windows Licence Charge= 201.48
  6. 6Cost per VM= 137.24
  7. 7Saving vs Pay-as-you-go= 0.00
  8. 8Discount Achieved= 0.0

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 8 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Azure VM Cost calculated?

monthly = VMs × compute rate × 730 × commitment factor + VMs × vCPUs × Windows licence rate × 730 (licence dropped under Azure Hybrid Benefit). Azure meters a VM per second but bills a full month as 730 hours, so the compute line is simply rate × hours × instances. A reservation replaces the pay-as-you-go rate with a lower committed rate for the whole term, while the Windows Server licence is a separate per-vCPU meter that Azure Hybrid Benefit removes when you bring a Software Assurance licence.

Why does Azure VM Cost matter?

Compute is usually the largest line on an Azure invoice, and the same VM can differ by more than 60% between pay-as-you-go and a 3-year reservation with Hybrid Benefit — confirm the current rates in the Azure pricing calculator for your region before you commit.

What values do I need to enter?

This calculator takes 8 inputs: Number of VMs, Compute rate per VM, Billed hours per month, Commitment term, Operating system, vCPUs per VM, Windows licence rate, Apply Azure Hybrid Benefit. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.

Does a reservation cover the Windows licence?

No. A reserved VM instance discounts only the compute meter. The Windows Server licence continues to bill per vCPU-hour unless you apply Azure Hybrid Benefit, which is why the two lines are separated here.

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