Microsoft Azure is the cloud computing platform of Microsoft Corporation, headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Launched in 2010, Azure has grown to hold approximately 22% of the global cloud infrastructure market as of 2026, making it the second-largest cloud provider globally. Azure is the default choice for organizations deeply embedded in the Microsoft ecosystem — including Windows Server, SQL Server, Active Directory, Microsoft 365, and Dynamics 365 — and is particularly strong in hybrid cloud scenarios where on-premise infrastructure is connected to cloud services.
Azure’s pricing model is pay-as-you-go with several discount mechanisms. New accounts receive $200 in credits valid for the first 30 days (not 90 days like GCP), plus 12 months of free-tier service access at limited usage levels — including 750 hours/month of B1s VMs, 5GB Blob Storage, and 250GB SQL Database. Always-free services include Azure Functions (1 million requests/month) and Azure DevOps (5 users). A Pay-As-You-Go (B1s) VM costs approximately $7.59/month. A D2s v3 production VM (2 vCPU, 8GB RAM) costs approximately $70.08/month on-demand. Azure Savings Plans offer up to 65% savings on 1-3 year compute commitments, while Reserved Instances lock to specific instance types for similar savings with capacity guarantees.
Azure’s strongest competitive advantages are its integration with Microsoft’s existing software portfolio and its Azure Hybrid Benefit program. Organizations with existing Windows Server and SQL Server licenses under Software Assurance can apply those licenses to Azure, dramatically reducing VM costs — sometimes by 40–60%. For Microsoft-centric enterprises, this can represent millions in annual savings.
Azure is frequently cited for pricing complexity. A consistent finding across user reviews is unexpected billing — from orphaned resources, from Azure Marketplace charges appearing on separate invoices, and from premium support tiers that cost $100–$300/month. Azure does not provide hard spending limits that automatically stop usage — only billing alerts — which means large unexpected bills can accumulate before detection. CSP (Cloud Solution Provider) subscriptions add an additional layer of complexity as they lack native Cost Management visibility.