Pricing Calculators: TCO and Azure Pricing
Before you spend a dollar on Azure, use these two calculators. The Pricing Calculator estimates Azure costs. The TCO Calculator compares cloud vs on-premises.
Two calculators, two purposes
Think of buying a car vs keeping your old one.
Pricing Calculator = the dealership’s price configurator. “A blue sedan with leather seats and GPS costs $35,000.” It shows you what specific Azure resources will cost.
TCO Calculator = a comparison sheet. “Keeping your old car costs $8,000/year in repairs and fuel. A new electric car costs $5,000/year in charging and maintenance. You’d save $3,000/year by switching.” It compares your current on-premises costs with what Azure would cost.
Use the Pricing Calculator when you know what you want to build in Azure. Use the TCO Calculator when you’re deciding whether to move to Azure in the first place.
Pricing Calculator vs TCO Calculator
| Feature | Pricing Calculator | TCO Calculator |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Estimate cost of specific Azure resources | Compare on-premises cost vs Azure cost |
| When to use | Planning an Azure deployment | Deciding whether to migrate to Azure |
| Input | Azure services, sizes, regions, options | Your current on-prem workloads (servers, DBs, storage, networking) |
| Output | Estimated monthly/yearly Azure cost | Side-by-side comparison: on-prem vs Azure over 1-5 years |
| Includes hidden costs? | No — only Azure resource costs | Yes — electricity, cooling, labour, facility, licensing |
| URL | https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/calculator/ | https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/tco/calculator/ |
The Pricing Calculator in practice
Summit Construction wants to estimate the cost of running their project portal in Azure. They configure:
| Resource | Configuration | Estimated Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 2x D2s v5 VMs | Linux, Australia East | $140 |
| Azure SQL Database | Standard, 50 DTU | $75 |
| Blob Storage | 100 GB, Hot tier, LRS | $2 |
| Load Balancer | Standard | $18 |
| Outbound bandwidth | 50 GB/month | $4 |
| Total estimate | ~$239/month |
Key features:
- Add multiple services to a single estimate
- Adjust region, tier, and configuration
- Export estimates as Excel for budget approval
- Save and share estimates via link
The TCO Calculator in practice
Before migrating, Summit Construction’s CFO asks: “Will this actually save us money?”
The TCO Calculator compares:
| Cost Category | On-Premises (3 Years) | Azure (3 Years) |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware | $45,000 (servers + UPS) | $0 (included) |
| Software licences | $12,000 (Windows, SQL) | $8,640 (included in pricing) |
| Electricity | $5,400 | $0 (included) |
| Cooling | $2,700 | $0 (included) |
| IT labour | $36,000 (part-time admin) | $12,000 (reduced) |
| Networking | $3,600 | $1,440 |
| Total | $104,700 | $22,080 |
| Savings | ~$82,620 (79%) |
Key exam concept: The TCO Calculator accounts for “hidden” on-premises costs that organisations often forget: electricity, cooling, physical space, IT labour, hardware lifecycle, and software licence maintenance. The true cost of on-prem is typically much higher than just the hardware price tag.
Exam tip: Which calculator for which scenario?
Pricing Calculator:
- “Estimate how much a deployment will cost” → Pricing Calculator
- “How much will 3 VMs and a SQL database cost per month?” → Pricing Calculator
TCO Calculator:
- “Compare on-prem vs cloud costs” → TCO Calculator
- “Build a business case for migration” → TCO Calculator
- “What will we save by moving to Azure?” → TCO Calculator
Don’t confuse them — the exam tests whether you know which calculator to recommend.
🎬 Video walkthrough
Flashcards
Knowledge Check
Summit Construction's CFO wants to see a comparison of running their servers on-premises vs in Azure over the next 5 years, including electricity, labour, and facility costs. Which tool should they use?
Peak Roasters wants to estimate how much it will cost per month to run 2 VMs, a SQL database, and blob storage in Azure. Which tool should they use?
Next up: Azure Cost Management and Tags — tracking spending, setting budgets, and organising resources.