Azure SQL Database Pricing
Monthly price of every Azure SQL Database configuration — the vCore model, single database, Gen5 hardware, across the General Purpose, Business Critical, and Hyperscale service tiers, on-demand and reserved. Pick your region and service tier, and sort by any column.
| Gen5-2 | 2 | 10 | $222 | $145 | $100 |
| Gen5-4 | 4 | 20 | $444 | $289 | $200 |
| Gen5-8 | 8 | 41 | $889 | $578 | $400 |
| Gen5-16 | 16 | 82 | $1,778 | $1,156 | $800 |
| Gen5-24 | 24 | 122 | $2,667 | $1,734 | $1,200 |
| Gen5-32 | 32 | 163 | $3,556 | $2,312 | $1,600 |
| Gen5-40 | 40 | 204 | $4,445 | $2,890 | $2,000 |
| Gen5-80 | 80 | 408 | $8,889 | $5,780 | $4,000 |
8 instances · US East · prices are for the database instance (compute) only — storage, backups, and networking are billed separately. Reserved = effective monthly of the all-upfront term. Indicative prices as of July 8, 2026; verify with the provider.
How Azure SQL Database pricing works
This table prices the vCore purchasing model — a single database, provisioned compute, on Gen5 (standard-series) hardware, at roughly 5.1 GB of memory per vCore. You pay per vCore-hour, shown here as a monthly figure (hourly rate × 730), and the rate is License-Included — the SQL Server license is bundled in. Reserved capacity commits you to a tier for one or three years for a lower rate; the table lists the effective monthly cost amortized over the term.
Three service tiers set the per-vCore rate. General Purpose is the balanced default; Business Critical costs about double for local-SSD performance and built-in HA replicas; and Hyperscale targets very large databases with independent compute/storage scaling. Switch the service tier above to reprice the whole table.
The price covers compute only. Data and backup storage, long-term retention, and networking are billed separately and vary by region. This is the vCore model — the legacy DTU tiers, serverless, elastic pools, and Managed Instance are priced separately. For Azure’s open-source engines see the Azure Database for PostgreSQL & MySQL table.
Azure SQL Database pricing FAQ
- How much does Azure SQL Database cost?
- On-demand Azure SQL Database starts around $222/month for a 2-vCore General Purpose database and scales to tens of thousands per month for the largest 80-vCore Business Critical configuration (East US). The vCore price is License-Included — the SQL Server license is bundled in — and covers compute only; storage, backups, and networking are billed separately. Reserved capacity lowers the effective rate for a 1- or 3-year commitment.
- What's the difference between General Purpose, Business Critical, and Hyperscale?
- General Purpose is the balanced, most economical tier for most workloads. Business Critical costs roughly double per vCore for high performance and high availability — local SSD storage and built-in read replicas. Hyperscale is built for very large databases (up to 100 TB) with fast, independent scaling of compute and storage. Switch service tier above to reprice the table.
- Does the price include the SQL Server license?
- Yes. Azure SQL Database vCore prices are License-Included — the SQL Server license is bundled into the compute rate shown here. If you already own SQL Server licenses with Software Assurance, Azure Hybrid Benefit can reduce the compute cost below these rates.
- What's the difference between on-demand and reserved pricing?
- On-demand has no commitment and is billed per hour. Reserved capacity commits you to a compute tier for 1 or 3 years and cuts the effective monthly cost by roughly 35% and 55%. The table shows the effective monthly cost of the reservation amortized over the term.
- Does the price include storage?
- No. The table prices the database compute (vCores) only. Data storage, backup storage, long-term retention, and networking are billed separately by Azure and vary by region and service tier.
- Does this cover the DTU model or serverless?
- No. This table covers the vCore purchasing model with provisioned compute on Gen5 (standard-series) hardware — the modern default. The legacy DTU tiers (Basic, Standard, Premium), the serverless compute tier, elastic pools, and SQL Managed Instance are priced separately.
- Is Azure SQL Database pricing the same in every region?
- No. Rates vary by Azure region; East US is usually among the cheapest. Switch regions with the selector above to see local pricing.