Unexpected Costs

Question

I have a VM in the NC64asT4 v3 family located in the EU West region. Based on my understanding, the hourly rate should be approximately 4.12 USD. However, I am seeing charges for a quantity of 7 and a total amount of 38.08 USD on our end.

Could you please clarify the reason for this discrepancy or confirm if these charges are accurate?

If the charges are correct, I would appreciate a detailed explanation to help us better understand them.

Answer 1

Hello @Ege Özalp

Thanks for laying out the numbers so clearly — that gives us a precise starting point. Rather than guess, let me explain how this meter works and show you exactly how to confirm the charge against your own usage data, so we're certain of the cause.

First, what "quantity 7" means The quantity of 7 is 7 compute-hours the VM actually ran during that period — not 7 VMs or 7 instances. Azure meters compute per second and rolls it up into hours, so $38.08 ÷ 7 ≈ $5.44 per hour is your effective hourly rate for that line.

Why your $5.44/hr might differ from the $4.12 you expected A few things can account for the gap — and the usage file will tell us which one applies:

1. Operating system. Published rates differ for Linux vs Windows. If $4.12 was the Linux PAYG rate and this VM runs Windows Server, the Windows licensing is included in the compute price and raises the effective hourly rate. (Note: for standard Windows Server, this is built into the single "Compute Hours" meter for that size+OS+region — it isn't a separate line.)
2. Region. "EU West" can be read as West Europe or confused with North Europe; rates differ by region, so it's worth confirming the meter region is West Europe.
3. The reference price. The $4.12 figure may be a spot, older, or differently-scoped rate than the current PAYG price for this exact size/OS/region.

How to confirm it precisely (this is the definitive check)

1. Go to Cost Management → Cost analysis, filter Service name = Virtual machines, group by Resource, set granularity to Daily.
2. Download the usage & charges CSV and look at the line for this VM:
   • Meter Sub-Category — shows the size + OS + region (this confirms Windows vs Linux and the region in one place).
     • Meter Region — confirm it reads West Europe.
       • Unit = Hours, Consumed quantity, and the effective price — these reconcile to the $5.44/hr.
       1. Also check whether there are additional lines for the same VM (managed disks, public IP, bandwidth), which add to the total beyond raw compute.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/vm-usage

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/cost-optimization-plan-to-manage-costs

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/understand/review-individual-bill

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started/azure-hybrid-benefit?tabs=azure

Thanks,
Manish.

Answer 2

Hi,

I checked VM pricing page, and it shows rate of $5.44/hour for NC64as T4 v3 VM in West Europe running Ubuntu. Please see screenshot below:

If the VM was running a total of 7 hours then the amount you are seeing matches the published rate ($5.44 x 7 = $38.08).

Does the above explain what you are seeing, or do you still have questions?

Thanks.

-TP