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Pricing is quote-based.
Azure OpenAI Service has no product-specific free tier in the pricing details reviewed. The general Azure Free Account offer lists 30 days and $200 in credit, not a permanent allowance. After that, Standard (On-Demand) bills input and output tokens, Provisioned (PTUs) charges per PTU-hour, and Batch API bills per token. Standard and batch rates, as well as PTU prices, are not published in the pricing details reviewed. Budget against current Azure rates and your expected usage before deploying.
01Every plan, line by line
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (On-Demand) | — | Quote | Variable, consumption-based workloads |
| Provisioned (PTUs) | — | Quote | Workloads needing provisioned throughput |
| Batch API | — | Quote | Non-urgent batch workloads |
Add-ons and overages
- Monthly and annual reservations are available for Provisioned throughput; prices are not published.
- Provisioned traffic that spills over is billed at Standard pay-as-you-go rates; overage prices are not published.
02What the plan grid doesn't tell you
Quota throttling
Standard quotas use tokens per minute and requests per minute. Excess requests are throttled, which can affect throughput and application behavior.
PTU spillover
Provisioned traffic above allocated throughput may be throttled or billed at Standard pay-as-you-go rates.
Reservation commitment
Provisioned throughput offers monthly and annual reservations, but prices are not published in the pricing details reviewed.
Batch constraints
Batch API lists a 50% discount on Global Standard pricing, but has separate quota limits and returns completions within 24 hours.
03Which plan should you buy?
| If you are… | Get | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Variable or early-stage workloads | Standard (On-Demand) | It uses pay-as-you-go input and output token billing; monitor token and request quotas because excess requests are throttled. |
| Workloads needing reserved throughput | Provisioned (PTUs) | Throughput depends on allocated PTUs, and monthly and annual reservations are available. Check reservation costs and spillover rates. |
| Non-urgent batch workloads | Batch API | It lists a 50% discount on Global Standard pricing and returns completions within 24 hours; batch quotas apply. |
04Is Azure OpenAI Service worth the money?
Azure OpenAI Service can make sense when you need hosted generative AI in an Azure stack and can forecast token demand or reserve throughput. Standard avoids a published monthly commitment but can throttle excess requests; PTUs trade variable usage for allocated capacity, with reservation prices to confirm. Batch is the clearest listed discount, if a 24-hour completion window fits. The general Azure credit is temporary, so it is not a durable free tier. For small trials, use the credit cautiously; for production, get current rates and quota terms first.
Azure OpenAI Service pricing FAQ
Is Azure OpenAI Service free?
The pricing details reviewed do not list an Azure OpenAI-specific free tier. A general Azure Free Account offer lists 30 days and $200 in credit. That credit is temporary and should not be treated as a continuing allowance.
How much does Azure OpenAI Service cost per token?
The pricing details reviewed do not publish Standard or Batch API token rates. Standard bills input and output tokens, and Batch API bills per token. Check current Azure rates for the model and deployment you plan to use before estimating a bill.
How is Provisioned (PTUs) billed?
Provisioned throughput is billed per PTU-hour, and monthly and annual reservations are available. The pricing details reviewed do not publish PTU prices. Throughput depends on allocated PTU units; excess traffic may be throttled or billed at Standard rates.
Does Azure OpenAI Service Batch API cost less?
Batch API lists a 50% discount on Global Standard pricing and is billed per token. It returns completions within 24 hours and has batch quota limits. Confirm current rates and whether that completion window suits your workload.