Compare hosting options for Claude models in Microsoft Foundry

Microsoft Foundry offers Claude models in two hosting configurations: Hosted on Azure and Hosted on Anthropic infrastructure. This article outlines how the various aspects are impacted by the hosting option you choose.

For model availability and capabilities, see Claude models in Microsoft Foundry. For detailed data handling information, see Data, privacy, and security for Claude models.

At a glance

The following table summarizes the key differences between Azure-hosted and Anthropic-hosted Claude models in Microsoft Foundry.

Topic	Hosted on Azure	Hosted on Anthropic
Seller of record	Anthropic	Anthropic
Data processor	Anthropic	Anthropic
SLA	Anthropic is the operator and provides any SLA.	Anthropic is the operator and provides any SLA.
Data retention	Governed by Anthropic's Data Processing Addendum and Anthropic's Commercial Terms of Service	Governed by Anthropic's Data Processing Addendum and Anthropic's Commercial Terms of Service
Data residency	Data at rest is stored in the selected Azure geography and processing is scoped to applicable "global" or "DataZone" deployment options on Microsoft Foundry.	Data might be processed outside Azure, including outside the selected Azure region.
Data zone availability	Global Standard and Data Zone Standard (US)	Global Standard only
Quota increase form	Foundry quota request	Foundry quota request
Compliance	Refer to Anthropic Trust Center	Refer to Anthropic Trust Center
Support path	Microsoft Support	Microsoft Support
Purchasing flow	Azure Marketplace → CCU meter; MACC-eligible	Azure Marketplace → CCU meter; MACC-eligible

Note

For both hosting options, Anthropic is the seller and operator of Claude models in Microsoft Foundry. Claude models are Non-Microsoft Products under the Product Terms. Your use of Claude models is subject to the terms of use Anthropic provides for Claude models and APIs.

Model and API differences

The following table summarizes operational differences that affect how you build and run applications on each hosting option.

Dimension	Hosted on Azure	Hosted on Anthropic
Model availability	Opus 4.8, Sonnet 5, and Haiku 4.5	Opus 4.8, Sonnet 5, Haiku 4.5, preview models (Fable), and older versions of Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku
Deployment types	Global Standard and Data Zone Standard (US)	Global Standard only
Supported APIs	Messages, Token counting	Messages, Token counting, plus /files and /skills
Additional capabilities	Core capability set	Core set plus additional capabilities
Content safety	Anthropic safety systems active	Anthropic safety systems active

Data processing and residency

Microsoft Foundry offers two hosting options for deploying your Claude models:

Hosted on Azure
Hosted on Anthropic infrastructure

For both hosting options, Anthropic is the seller and operator of Claude models in Microsoft Foundry and acts as an independent data processor for prompts and outputs associated with Claude models. Your use of the Claude models is subject to the terms of use Anthropic provides for Claude models and APIs.

Hosted on Azure

If you choose the Hosted on Azure deployment option, your prompts and outputs are processed on Azure infrastructure, including request ingress, API services, and GPU inference. Data at rest is stored in the selected Azure geography and processing is scoped to applicable “Global” or “DataZone” deployment options available on Microsoft Foundry.

Automatic safeguards flag content that might be sent to Anthropic Trust & Safety for review. Anthropic personnel review customer content on an exceptions-only basis to investigate potential safety violations, subject to applicable Anthropic terms.

Hosted on Anthropic Infrastructure

If you choose the Hosted on Anthropic Infrastructure deployment option, your prompts and outputs are processed on Anthropic hosted infrastructure. Data might be processed outside of Azure including outside of your selected Azure region. To learn more about the terms that govern data processing in Anthropic-hosted infrastructure, see Anthropic's Data processing Addendum and Anthropic's Commercial Terms of Service.

Microsoft continues to provide Microsoft Foundry experience, Azure infrastructure, and billing services for this deployment option. Microsoft also collects billing, usage, customer contact, and transaction information for Marketplace operations. Microsoft might share such customer contact information, transaction details, and usage information with Anthropic so that Anthropic can operate, support, and communicate with customers about the model. Microsoft processes data for these services under the Microsoft Products and Services Data Protection Addendum and applicable Marketplace terms.

Support path

For both hosting options, contact Microsoft Support for all support questions, including:

Deployment issues in the Microsoft Foundry portal
Billing questions and disputes
Azure Marketplace subscription issues
API connectivity issues

Purchasing, billing, and quotas

Purchasing flow

Both hosting options use the same Azure Marketplace purchasing flow:

Subscribe to the Claude Platform on Foundry offer through Azure Marketplace or the Microsoft Foundry portal model catalog.
Accept the offer on your Azure billing account.
Deploy a Claude model from the Foundry catalog. If the model is available in both versions, you land on the Azure-hosted version by default.
Usage is metered and billed in Claude Consumption Units (CCU).

For step-by-step instructions, see Deploy and use Claude models in Microsoft Foundry.

Billing

Both hosting options use Claude Consumption Units (CCU) for billing, with the following characteristics:

Microsoft bills you on your Azure invoice
MACC-eligible — CCU spend decrements your Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment
Hourly metering, invoiced monthly in arrears
Pay-as-you-go — no prepaid CCU credits

For a full explanation of CCU billing, see Claude Consumption Units (CCU) billing in Microsoft Foundry.

Subscription type restrictions

The following subscription types aren't supported for Claude models:

Free trial subscriptions
Student subscriptions
Credit-based subscriptions
Enterprise accounts in South Korea
Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) subscriptions

Quota increase

To request a quota increase beyond your default rate limits, submit the quota increase request form.

For current default rate limits by subscription type, see Claude models in Microsoft Foundry — Quotas and rate limits.

Choose the right option for your workload

Choose Hosted on Azure if:

You need data residency within a specific Azure geography
You need Data Zone Standard (US) deployment

Choose Hosted on Anthropic if:

You need access to API features that aren't yet available in the hosted on Azure version