3.2 Azure Pricing Calculator and Cost Management
Key Takeaways
The Azure Pricing Calculator models prospective Azure services before deployment; it is an estimate, not a bill.
The TCO Calculator has been retired and is not in the AZ-900 outline; Azure Migrate business case provides broader migration economics.
Microsoft Cost Management analyzes actual or forecasted Azure spend after usage begins.
Azure Advisor provides personalized recommendations across Cost, Security, Reliability, Operational Excellence, and Performance.
Budgets alert at configured actual or forecast thresholds; they do not automatically impose a hard pay-as-you-go spending cap.
Quick Answer: Pricing Calculator = estimate Azure cost before deploying. Azure Migrate business case = model on-premises-versus-Azure migration economics; this is broader planning context, not a named cost tool in the current AZ-900 objective. Microsoft Cost Management = monitor and optimize actual spend after deployment. Azure Advisor = ongoing personalized recommendations across five pillars. The current AZ-900 outline explicitly names the Pricing Calculator, Cost Management, and tags. Distinguish estimates from actual spend and recommendations.
Azure Pricing Calculator
The Azure Pricing Calculator is a free, sign-in-optional web tool that estimates the monthly cost of services you have not yet deployed.
Workflow:
- Open the calculator and add products from the catalog (VMs, Storage, SQL, etc.).
- Configure each product: region, tier, instance size, OS, and hours of use.
- Apply programs such as Reserved Instances or Azure Hybrid Benefit to model the discounted price.
- Review the rolled-up monthly estimate.
- Review or share the estimate using the options currently available in the calculator interface.
What it does NOT do: it never shows what you have actually spent — it only models hypothetical configurations. That distinction (estimate versus actual spend) is a key concept in this topic.
On the Exam: If a question mentions estimating cost before deploying or planning a new workload, the answer is the Pricing Calculator.
Worked example: To price a workload of two D4s v5 VMs in West US 2 running 730 hours/month plus 1 TB of Hot blob storage, you add each product, set the region and hours, then toggle a 3-year Reservation to see the discounted line. The calculator instantly re-totals — letting you compare pay-as-you-go versus committed pricing side by side before you spend a cent. The estimate is a model, not a quote: actual invoices can differ as usage varies.
Migration economics: Azure Migrate business case (context beyond the AZ-900 cost-tool objective)
Microsoft Learn states that the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculator has been retired, and it is not named in the July 20, 2026 AZ-900 cost objective. Azure Migrate business case can help compare modeled on-premises costs with Azure migration scenarios. It uses discovered inventory and assessment data; assumptions and eligibility affect the result.
Practical workflow:
- Discover and assess servers in Azure Migrate, with performance-based or as-is sizing inputs, as appropriate.
- Review the business-case assumptions for compute, storage, licensing, operations, and migration goals.
- Compare the modeled on-premises baseline with Azure options and test sensitivity to prices or workload changes.
Costs a migration business case may consider (beyond a simple VM price):
| Cost category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Hardware | Server purchase + periodic replacement |
| Software | OS, database, and virtualization licensing/renewal |
| Electricity | Power for servers and cooling |
| Facilities | Data-center rent, construction, physical security |
| Labor | IT staff salaries for patching and maintenance |
| Networking | Switches, routers, and outbound bandwidth |
On the Exam: For the current AZ-900 objective, remember that Pricing Calculator estimates proposed Azure services. For broader real-world migration analysis, Azure Migrate business case compares modeled on-premises and Azure scenarios; do not call it a current standalone TCO Calculator.
Microsoft Cost Management (Cost Management + Billing)
Microsoft Cost Management monitors, controls, and optimizes spend on resources that are already running.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Cost analysis | Charts of spend by resource, resource group, tag, region, or service |
| Budgets | Spending thresholds with automated alerts |
| Recommendations | Surfaces Azure Advisor cost tips |
| Exports | Scheduled export of cost data to Azure Storage |
| Invoices | View/download invoices and payment history |
| Cost allocation | Charge shared costs back to teams using tags |
Budgets and Alerts
| Alert basis | Fires when... |
|---|---|
| Actual cost | Real spend reaches X% of the budget (e.g., 80%, 100%) |
| Forecasted cost | Azure predicts spend will hit X% before period end |
| Action groups | Automate the response: email, SMS, or run a Logic App |
A budget tracks spend and alerts at configured thresholds; it may also trigger an action group if you configure one. A budget does not impose a native hard spending cap. Any automated resource action must be configured separately. An eligible free account has its own spending-limit and upgrade rules; inspect the specific offer before relying on them to control spend.
Scoping matters: budget scope and filtering depend on the billing account, subscription, and permissions; common scopes include subscriptions and resource groups, with tag filtering where supported. A team-level budget scoped to a resource group lets each department watch its own spend without seeing the whole organization's bill.
Azure Advisor
Azure Advisor is a free service that analyzes your environment and recommends improvements across five pillars:
| Pillar | Example recommendation |
|---|---|
| Cost | Right-size idle VMs, buy reservations, delete unused disks |
| Security | Enable MFA, apply network security group rules |
| Reliability | Add redundancy, configure backups, use Availability Zones |
| Operational Excellence | Configure diagnostics and Service Health alerts |
| Performance | Add caching, tune databases, resize undersized resources |
On the Exam: When a question asks how to get recommendations for cost or security, the answer is Azure Advisor — free and personalized.
Lifecycle Cheat Sheet
| Tool | When | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Calculator | Before deployment | Estimate Azure cost |
| Azure Migrate business case | Before migration | Model on-premises vs Azure economics; outside the current AZ-900 cost-tool objective |
| Cost Management | After deployment | Monitor + optimize actual spend |
| Azure Advisor | Ongoing | Recommendations across 5 pillars |
| Budgets | Ongoing | Threshold alerts on spend |
An architect needs to estimate the monthly cost of three VMs and a SQL Database she has not yet created. Which tool should she use?
Azure Migrate business case
Azure Pricing Calculator
Microsoft Cost Management
Azure Advisor
A migration team has discovered on-premises servers and wants a modeled comparison of its current data-center costs with Azure scenarios. Which current Azure capability supports that broader business-case analysis?
Azure Migrate business case
Azure Pricing Calculator alone
Microsoft Cost Management for existing Azure charges
Azure Advisor recommendations
Which Azure service provides free, personalized recommendations spanning Cost, Security, Reliability, Operational Excellence, and Performance?
Azure Monitor
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Microsoft Cost Management
Azure Advisor
You want an automated email when actual monthly spend reaches 80% of your limit. Which capability should you configure?
Pricing Calculator estimate
A budget alert in Microsoft Cost Management
An Azure Advisor cost recommendation
Azure Migrate business-case assumption
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.