Clarification on Azure Virtual Machine Pricing and Windows Licensing

Question

Hello Community,

I'm trying to understand how Azure virtual machine pricing works, particularly regarding Windows licensing. I noticed that when I select different VM sizes in the Azure pricing calculator, the cost for the Windows license seems to vary. Can someone please clarify how the pricing for Windows licenses is determined for Azure virtual machines?

Specifically, I'd like to know:

1. How is the cost of the Windows license calculated for Azure virtual machines?
2. Does the cost of the Windows license vary based on the size or specifications of the VM?
3. Are there any factors other than VM size that affect the cost of the Windows license on Azure?
   

Any insights or resources to help me better understand this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Answer 1

Hello Niket Kumar Singh,

Welcome to microsoft Q&A, Thankyou for posting your query here.

The cost of the Windows license for Azure virtual machines is calculated based on the size of the VM and the number of cores that are used.

The cost of the license is included in the hourly price of the VM.

Therefore, the cost of the Windows license does vary based on the size and specifications of the VM.

Apart from the VM size, there are no other factors that affect the cost of the Windows license on Azure.

If you use Azure Hybrid Benefit i.e. you have your own windows license brought externally and using to create VM in azure then the windows licensing cost does not vary depending on the size of the VM

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