What are cloud subscriptions?

A cloud subscription (also called an Azure subscription) is a way to manage the products and services that you buy from Microsoft. A cloud subscription is automatically created when you acquire Azure resources like Virtual Machines, or Enterprise Support and when you get some non-Azure services like Microsoft 365, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and the Microsoft Power Platform. You can view your cloud subscriptions through either the Azure portal or the Microsoft 365 admin center, but you can only manage the subscriptions in the Azure portal.

Cloud subscriptions are different from standard subscriptions in the following ways:

• No cost for cloud subscriptions: A cloud subscription doesn’t cost any money. They're used to help you organize and manage the things that you buy. While individual products like calling features and perpetual software managed within a cloud subscription might incur charges, the subscription itself doesn't.
• Multiple subscriptions: You can create multiple cloud subscriptions to delegate management to different users in your organization or to apply policies for security, budgeting, and compliance.
• Familiar management tools in the Azure portal: If you use other Azure subscriptions, you can manage cloud subscriptions similarly, with more manageability for a broader set of products and services.

Before you begin

• You must be a Global or Billing Administrator to view your cloud subscriptions in the Microsoft 365 admin center. For more information, see About admin roles in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
• To manage your cloud subscriptions, you must have the Global Administrator role in the Azure portal.

Caution

Global Administrators have almost unlimited access to your organization's settings and most of its data. To help keep your organization secure, we recommend that you limit the number of Global Administrators as much as possible.

Find your cloud subscription

1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to the Billing > Your products page and select the Cloud Subscriptions tab.
2. Select a subscription name to view the details for that cloud subscription. The details page contains information about costs, billing settings, roles and access, and products included in the cloud subscription.
3. To manage the subscription, at the top of the page, select Manage this usage-based subscription and its resources in the Azure portal.

Manage your cloud subscriptions

You can use cloud subscriptions to manage the products and services that you buy from us. You can view your list of cloud subscriptions and other details in the Microsoft 365 admin center. From there, you can link to the Azure portal where you can manage the cloud subscriptions for your organization. For information about common cloud subscription tasks, see the following articles:

Create and manage cloud subscriptions

• Create a new cloud subscription
• Manage your cloud subscription policies
• Transfer your cloud subscription
• Filter and view your cloud subscription
• Organize your product and resources effectively
• Cancel and delete your cloud subscription

Manage costs and billing

• Allocate Azure costs
• Create and manage budget
• View and download your Microsoft Azure invoice (Azure portal)

Manage roles and security

• Understand Azure role assignments and permissions
• Manage policies and controls for security and compliance

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What is a cloud subscription? (Azure) (article)