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How to get complete Azure Blob Storage pricing (storage, read/write, retrieval) for Hot, Cool, Cold, and Archive tiers when Retail Prices API returns limited data?

SHIJO BLESSWIN 20 Reputation points
2026-01-06T14:26:24.1166667+00:00

I am working on an Azure Blob Storage cost optimization recommendation system. For this, I need accurate pricing details for all Blob Storage tiers:

Hot

Cool

Cold

Archive

For each tier, I need the following cost components:

Storage cost (per GB)

Operation costs (read, write, list, etc.)

Retrieval / data access costs

Across different redundancy options (LRS, ZRS, GRS, RA-GRS)

Across multiple regions

I tried using the Azure Retail Prices API: https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices

However, the API returns only limited pricing data:

Some tiers (especially Cold and Archive) are missing

Operation-level pricing (read/write/retrieval) is incomplete

Not all redundancy types and regions are consistently available

Because of this limitation, I am currently hardcoding pricing data in JSON as a workaround, but this is not ideal or scalable.

My questions:

Is there any official or recommended way to get complete Blob Storage pricing (storage + operations + retrieval) programmatically?

  1. Are there alternative APIs, datasets, or documentation sources for detailed Blob pricing? Any guidance or best practices would be very helpful.
Azure Blob Storage
Azure Blob Storage

An Azure service that stores unstructured data in the cloud as blobs.

Answer accepted by question author
  1. Vallepu Venkateswarlu 7,935 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-01-06T14:59:12.2566667+00:00

    Hi @ SHIJO BLESSWIN,

    Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Platform.

    It looks like you're diving deep into Azure Blob Storage pricing details for your cost optimization system. Here’s a breakdown of what you can do and some key resources:

    Azure Pricing Calculator: While you're looking for an API solution, the Azure Pricing Calculator can give you a good estimate across different tiers and can also be tailored to specific regions and redundancy options. However, this is more of a manual solution, not programmatic.

    Azure REST APIs: Unfortunately, there isn't a comprehensive REST API that reliably provides all the pricing details, but you can utilize various resources and tables from Microsoft documentation for programmatic access to specific pricing components, such as:

    • Calculate costs related to different tiers: Hot, Cool, Cold, Archive.
      • Operation costs for read, write, list, and retrieval, which you can find in the relevant documentation.
    1. Documentation for Pricing Components: To help you with the specifics, you can directly refer to the following links for detailed pricing:

    You can use the new 2023-01-01-preview API version at https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?api-version=2023-01-01-preview. The preview version is backward compatible with previous API versions. The URL returns the full set of meters, including primary meters and nonprimary meters.

    Using either https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices or https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?api-version=2023-01-01-preview returns the full set of meters.

    Rates for savings plans are only available with the https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?api-version=2023-01-01-preview version.

    Please210246-screenshot-2021-12-10-121802.pngand “up-vote” wherever the information provided helps you, this can be beneficial to other community members.

    1 person found this answer helpful.

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  1. Q&A Assist
    2026-01-06T14:26:40.3966667+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    To obtain complete Azure Blob Storage pricing details, including storage costs, operation costs, and retrieval costs for the Hot, Cool, Cold, and Archive tiers, you can refer to the official Azure documentation which provides sample prices and cost components for each tier. Here are the key components you can find:

    1. Storage Costs (per GB):
      • Hot: $0.0458 (first 50 TB)
      • Cool: $0.0230 (first 50 TB)
      • Cold: $0.0081 (first 50 TB)
      • Archive: $0.0030 (first 50 TB)
    2. Operation Costs (per 10,000 operations):
      • Write Operations: Hot - $0.1100, Cool - $0.20, Cold - $0.36, Archive - $0.21
      • Read Operations: Hot - $0.0044, Cool - $0.01, Cold - $0.10, Archive - $5.50
      • List and Container Operations: All tiers - $0.1100
      • All Other Operations: Hot - $0.0044, Cool - $0.0044, Cold - $0.0052, Archive - $0.0044
    3. Retrieval / Data Access Costs:
      • Data Retrieval: Hot - Free, Cool - $0.01 per GB, Cold - $0.03 per GB, Archive - $0.022 per GB

    For redundancy options (LRS, ZRS, GRS, RA-GRS) and across multiple regions, you may need to check the specific pricing page for Azure Blob Storage as prices can vary based on these factors. The Azure Retail Prices API may not always provide comprehensive data, so referring to the official pricing documentation is recommended.

    Additionally, you can explore the Azure pricing calculator for a more interactive way to estimate costs based on your specific configurations.

    References:

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