Free estimate
How much are you overpaying for your databases in Azure?
Answer a few questions about your servers and see an estimate of the annual cost at Microsoft list price, the reductions worth checking, and what each one depends on.
This is for SQL Server running on Windows virtual machines in Azure. It does not cover Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, SQL Server on Linux VMs or on-premises SQL Server, which have different pricing models. If your estate includes any of these, talk to a data specialist about the right way to assess its costs.
Based on Microsoft list prices for West Europe as of August 2026. Your invoice depends on your agreement with Microsoft, so this is a directional estimate, not a reconstruction of your invoice.
Your estimate
Enter your SQL Server environment details to calculate an estimate
As soon as you enter the number of servers, this panel shows the estimated Azure compute and licence cost and the reductions worth checking.
Estimated current Azure compute and licence cost, per year
€0
€0 a month
Machines, Windows Server and SQL Server licences for SQL Server on Windows VMs, with what you already do taken off. West Europe list prices as of August 2026. Storage, backup, networking, monitoring, support and your Microsoft discount are not included. A directional estimate, not a reconstruction of your invoice.
Additional potential annual saving
€0
€0 a month
On these answers, the usual reductions are already in place. A review would look at query and index efficiency, storage tiering and data lifecycle instead.
up to 0% of the current estimate. Items marked check depend on a licence, eligibility or workload condition we cannot see from here.
Where it comes from
Check this against your invoice
This estimate comes from your answers and public prices. We can compare it with your Azure invoice and usage, confirm the items marked check, and set out what each change would take.
How this is calculated
- Prices. Microsoft list prices (prices.azure.com) for West Europe, pay as you go, as of August 2026.
- Included and not included. SQL Server on Windows virtual machines: the machines, the Windows Server licences and the SQL Server licences. Storage, backup, networking, monitoring, support and any discount in your Microsoft agreement are not included. Linux VMs, Azure SQL Database and Managed Instance are not covered.
- Assumed unless you set it. One test server for every two live ones, test servers one size below the live ones, half of the live servers on Enterprise, and new commitments as reservations.
- Low and high. The low figure counts only what your answers make definite, with a one-year commitment. The high figure adds the items marked check and a three-year commitment.
- To check. Constrained sizes depend on actual CPU use, Developer Edition on the servers being non-production, each Hybrid Benefit on the licences you own covering every server, and any Not sure answer on what is already in place.
The detail
- Rates. SQL Server Enterprise bills €0.3295 per vCPU hour and Standard €0.0879, per vCPU with a minimum of four per machine. Enterprise servers are counted against the live servers first.
- Three parts. Each server is split into the machine itself, the Windows Server licence and the SQL Server licence, and each change applies only to the part it affects. Commitments discount the machine: a reservation 41% for one year and 62% for three, an Azure compute savings plan 31.5% and 52.4%. These are estimated discounts for the selected VM sizes, West Europe pricing and the August 2026 pricing snapshot, not universal Azure discounts. The Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server and Developer Edition remove the SQL licence, the Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server removes the Windows licence, and constrained sizes reduce the SQL licence while the machine and Windows prices stay the same.
- Sequence. Changes are applied one after another, each to what the previous one leaves, so the same euro is never counted twice. Each row shows its contribution after the rows above it, and opens to show what the change would be worth on its own. Changes you have already made are taken off first and never counted as a reduction.
- Not sure. Counted as not in place. The low figure never includes it, the high figure does and marks it check, and the estimate shows how much lower it would be if the change is already in place.
- Shutdown. Test servers are assumed to run 12 hours on weekdays and to be off at night and at weekends, which removes 64% of their running hours. A pay-as-you-go VM that is stopped and deallocated in Azure stops billing compute and licences while its disks keep billing; shutting down Windows inside the VM does not stop the billing. Shutdown is not applied to reserved capacity.
- Editions. Edition requirements depend on the SQL Server version and features in use. SQL Server 2022 Standard and earlier can use up to 24 cores and a 128 GB buffer pool per instance; SQL Server 2025 Standard increases this to 32 cores and 256 GB. Standard supports Transparent Data Encryption and Basic Availability Groups, while full Always On Availability Groups and several advanced availability features require Enterprise.
- Commitments. A one-year commitment is offered the move to three years at renewal.
- Sources. Azure Retail Prices API, SQL Server on Azure VMs pricing guidance, SQL Server VM licensing models, Constrained vCPU sizes, Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server, Azure reservations, Azure compute savings plan.