I created a serverless Azure SignalR service with Azure Functions. I'm invoking a "sendToGroup" method from a client application with noone subscribed to said group for testing purposes, so I'm sending a message with no recipient for it. From what I understand, messages sent from a client to the service aren't counted for billing, since only outbound messages are counted. But when I go to the overview page on my Azure SignalR service, I can see that the message count is going up. <a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-signalr/signalr-concept-messages-and-connections#:%7E:text=Messages%20sent%20into%20the%20service%20are%20inbound%20messages%20and%20messages%20sent%20out%20of%20the%20service%20are%20outbound%20messages.%20Only%20outbound%20messages%20from%20Azure%20SignalR%20Service%20are%20counted%20for%20billing.%20Ping%20messages%20between%20clients%20and%20servers%20are%20ignored." rel="ugc nofollow">Source Does that overview page Message Count graph show both inbound and outbound messages? And if so, is there any way I can see only outbound messages to estimate costs?

Azure SignalR message count shows inbound messages

Ivan Ferro 20

I created a serverless Azure SignalR service with Azure Functions.

I'm invoking a "sendToGroup" method from a client application with noone subscribed to said group for testing purposes, so I'm sending a message with no recipient for it.

From what I understand, messages sent from a client to the service aren't counted for billing, since only outbound messages are counted. But when I go to the overview page on my Azure SignalR service, I can see that the message count is going up. Source

Does that overview page Message Count graph show both inbound and outbound messages? And if so, is there any way I can see only outbound messages to estimate costs?

SnehaAgrawal-MSFT 18,871 Reputation points

2023-10-01T04:56:55.8966667+00:00

@Ivan Ferro Thanks for reaching here! So, to elaborate-

Message Count is the Sum of total number of messages.

You can see Inbound and Outbound traffic sum under monitoring in metrics tab- See the attached screenshot for reference-

Inbound Traffic is the Sum of the volume of inbound traffic to the service.

Outbound Traffic is the Sum of the volume of outbound traffic from the service.

Reference- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-signalr/concept-metrics
Ivan Ferro 20 Reputation points

2023-10-02T06:22:57.7+00:00

@SnehaAgrawal-MSFT

Thanks for your response,

I was aware of the Inbound/Outbound traffic metrics. Unfortunately those aren't very helpful when it comes to calculating the cost of the service, since it is charged per million (outbound in Serverless mode) messages.
Also Outbound traffic and Inbound traffic metrics show me exactly the same values.
I was wondering if there is a way to calculate exactly how many messages are being counted for billing.
SnehaAgrawal-MSFT 18,871 Reputation points

2023-10-05T06:03:56.6433333+00:00

@Ivan Ferro Thanks for reply! I have reached to concerned team for your ask on output messages billing, will update you soon.
SnehaAgrawal-MSFT 18,871 Reputation points

2023-10-09T04:36:10.28+00:00

@Ivan Ferro After consulting our billing experts, it turns out, that the message counts only constitute for outbound messages.

So you should be able to use this metric to estimate your cost.

Please let me know if there are any other issues or concerns.
Ivan Ferro 20 Reputation points

2023-10-09T07:13:34.3066667+00:00

@SnehaAgrawal-MSFT Yes, as I said in my question originally I am aware that only outbound messages count for billing. What I was asking is that, if I invoke a "sendToGroup" function, from what I understand that invoke is an inbound message from my application to the server, and the people who joined that group and therefore receive the message are the ones that count as outbound messages. So if I'm invoking "sendToGroup" to a group that has no members in it, why is that still counting as an outbound message?
SnehaAgrawal-MSFT 18,871 Reputation points

2023-10-12T15:06:30.15+00:00

@Ivan Ferro If your resource is in default mode, let's say that the message workflow looks as such client -> signalr -> server.

So even if there are no members in a group, the "sendToGroup" message from signalr to server will still count as an outbound message.
Ivan Ferro 20 Reputation points

2023-10-16T07:45:57.74+00:00

@SnehaAgrawal-MSFT Does that workflow (client -> signalr -> server) still count as outbound in serverless mode, which is what I'm using?

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Azure SignalR message count shows inbound messages