Understanding Azure Storage Account Pricing
Azure Storage offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model. Costs are based on several factors including the type of storage service, capacity used, data transactions, data transfer, and redundancy options. This page provides an overview of the pricing components for Azure Storage accounts.
Core Pricing Components
The primary drivers of your Azure Storage costs are:
- Capacity: The amount of data you store, measured in gigabytes (GB).
- Transactions: The number of read, write, and delete operations performed on your data.
- Data Transfer: Ingress (data into Azure) is typically free, while egress (data out of Azure) incurs charges. Data transfer within the same Azure region is usually free.
- Redundancy: The level of data redundancy you choose (e.g., LRS, ZRS, GRS, RA-GRS) impacts the cost per GB stored.
Storage Account Tiers & Pricing Examples
Different storage account types and access tiers have different pricing structures. Below are simplified examples for standard performance tiers. For precise, up-to-date pricing, please refer to the official Azure Storage Pricing page.
| Service/Tier | Capacity (per GB/month) | Transactions (per 10,000) | Replication | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blob Storage (Hot Tier) | $0.0184 | Read: $0.0004, Write: $0.0040 | LRS: Included | Optimized for frequent access. |
| Blob Storage (Cool Tier) | $0.0100 | Read: $0.0100, Write: $0.0100 | LRS: Included | Optimized for infrequently accessed data, lower storage cost but higher access cost. |
| Blob Storage (Archive Tier) | $0.00099 | Read: $0.0250, Write: $0.0250 | LRS: Included | Lowest storage cost, highest retrieval time and cost. |
| File Storage (Standard) | $0.0400 | Per Transaction: $0.0050 | LRS: Included | For shared Windows file shares. |
| Table Storage (Standard) | $0.0184 | Per 10,000 Transactions: $0.0035 | LRS: Included | NoSQL key-value store. |
| Queue Storage (Standard) | $0.0184 | Per 10,000 Transactions: $0.0006 | LRS: Included | Message queuing service. |
Note: Prices shown are illustrative and based on a specific region (e.g., US East). Actual costs vary by region and are subject to change. Transaction costs may apply to specific operations. Data transfer costs apply to egress traffic.
Redundancy Options & Cost Impact
Choosing a higher level of redundancy increases durability but also increases the cost per GB stored.
- Locally-redundant storage (LRS): Lowest cost, data is replicated within a single data center.
- Zone-redundant storage (ZRS): Data is replicated across multiple availability zones within a region.
- Geo-redundant storage (GRS): Data is replicated to a secondary region hundreds of miles away.
- Read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS): GRS with read access to the secondary region.
For example, GRS typically costs approximately double that of LRS for capacity. Always choose the redundancy level that meets your availability and durability requirements.
Data Transfer Costs
Ingress: Data transferred into Azure Storage is free.
Egress: Data transferred out of Azure Storage to the internet or other Azure regions incurs a charge. Data transfer between Azure services within the same region is generally free.
Refer to the Azure Bandwidth pricing page for detailed rates.
Cost Management Tools
Azure provides several tools to help you monitor and manage your storage costs:
- Azure Cost Management + Billing: Visualize, analyze, and optimize your cloud spending.
- Azure Monitor: Track performance and set alerts for resource usage.
- Storage Analytics: Detailed metrics on transaction performance and availability.
Utilize these tools to identify cost-saving opportunities and ensure your storage usage aligns with your budget.