Unexpected costs in Azure Database

Question

Unexpected costs in Azure Database

Madihah Anaum (MBA PT Dubai) 0

Hi Azure community,

I recently set up a free tier student account using which I have created a SQLDB in the UAE region. While the cost per month according to documentation says 6 USD, I am being charged around 83 USD. There are no other resources currently in use. It would be very helpful if you could assist with the issue.

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Erland Sommarskog 121.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2025-06-21T10:06:27.4166667+00:00

What service tier did you select for the database?
Andreas Baumgarten 123.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2025-06-21T10:10:06.1366667+00:00

Hi @Madihah Anaum (MBA PT Dubai) ,

could you please provide some more details about the configuration of your Azure SQLDB.

It would be helpful to get the referred documentation for the 6 USD pricing/costs per month as well.

6 USD per month seems pretty low in my opinion.

(If the reply was helpful please don't forget to upvote and/or accept as answer, thank you)

Regards

Andreas Baumgarten
Madihah Anaum (MBA PT Dubai) 0 Reputation points

2025-06-21T10:12:54.5133333+00:00

@Erland Sommarskog Its - General Purpose - Serverless: Gen5, 1 vCore

I've attached pictures for your reference, thanks!
Mahesh Kurva 5,025 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-23T01:50:55.1266667+00:00

Hi Madihah Anaum (MBA PT Dubai),

Just checking in to see if the below answer provided by Erland Sommarskog helped.

If this answers your query, do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful. And, if you have any further query do let us know.

1 answer

Your answer

Erland Sommarskog 121.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2025-06-21T10:06:27.4166667+00:00

What service tier did you select for the database?
Andreas Baumgarten 123.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2025-06-21T10:10:06.1366667+00:00

Hi @Madihah Anaum (MBA PT Dubai) ,

could you please provide some more details about the configuration of your Azure SQLDB.

It would be helpful to get the referred documentation for the 6 USD pricing/costs per month as well.

6 USD per month seems pretty low in my opinion.

(If the reply was helpful please don't forget to upvote and/or accept as answer, thank you)

Regards

Andreas Baumgarten
Madihah Anaum (MBA PT Dubai) 0 Reputation points

2025-06-21T10:12:54.5133333+00:00

@Erland Sommarskog Its - General Purpose - Serverless: Gen5, 1 vCore

I've attached pictures for your reference, thanks!
Mahesh Kurva 5,025 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-23T01:50:55.1266667+00:00

Hi Madihah Anaum (MBA PT Dubai),

Just checking in to see if the below answer provided by Erland Sommarskog helped.

If this answers your query, do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful. And, if you have any further query do let us know.

Answer 1

Erland Sommarskog 121.4K MVP Volunteer Moderator

For a serverless, the cost is very much "it depends". Serverless is great if you only use the database occasionally and you can accept that the few times you access it, it takes some time to start it. As long as the database is rolled out, you only pay for storage. You only pay for compute when it is loaded. This also mean that the actual cost depends very much on your usage pattern.

Having a serverless database which is active all the time is a lousy idea of the simple reason that it is more expensive than a provisioned database.

Madihah Anaum (MBA PT Dubai) 0 Reputation points

2025-06-21T10:26:34.9466667+00:00

@Erland Sommarskog But I've not utilized much storage from my DB, is it because I'm requesting data from the DB for my website very often? Could it because of the app deployment I did?
Erland Sommarskog 121.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2025-06-21T11:31:20.2633333+00:00

How much storage you use does not matter. What matters is if the database is loaded on to a server, or rolled out to cold storage.

Judging from the graph above, the database has been loaded constantly. How come, I don't know, but the database will remain loaded as long as there is activity. And in context a single query every five minutes is more than enough to keep it loaded.

You change the service tier to provisioned General Purpose. Or perhaps even better an S0 or S1. They are less powerful, but they can very be adequate for something you are developing as a student.
Mahesh Kurva 5,025 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-24T08:04:03.0033333+00:00

Hi Madihah Anaum (MBA PT Dubai),

Just checking in to see if the above answer provided by Erland Sommarskog helped.

If this answers your query, do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful. And, if you have any further query do let us know.

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Unexpected costs in Azure Database

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