Azure Blob Storage Pricing Breakdown: What You Need to Know

Introduction

As organizations increasingly rely on cloud infrastructure, managing storage costs effectively has become a critical priority. Azure Blob Storage, a cornerstone of Microsoft’s cloud offerings, delivers a scalable, secure, and versatile solution for storing unstructured data such as documents, media, and analytics datasets. From hosting multimedia files to archiving critical backups, Azure Blob Storage supports a wide range of use cases.

In this guide, we break down the Azure Blob Storage pricing, providing a clear overview of its cost structure.

What is Azure Blob Storage ?

Azure Blob Storage is Microsoft’s massively scalable, secure, and durable cloud object storage solution, built to handle unstructured data at any scale—from terabytes to petabytes. As a core component of Azure Storage, Blob Storage empowers businesses to store and manage diverse data types, including text, images, videos, logs, backups, and sensor data, while seamlessly integrating with analytics, machine learning, and application services across the Azure ecosystem.

Engineered for high availability and global accessibility, Blob Storage supports mission-critical workloads with tiered storage options (Hot, Cool, and Archive) to optimize costs based on data access frequency. Whether you’re hosting static web content, streaming media, building data lakes for AI-driven insights, or archiving compliance-critical records, Blob Storage offers enterprise-grade security, granular access controls, and compliance certifications to safeguard your data.

Key features of Azure Blob Storage include:

• Scalability: Easily scale your storage needs as your data grows without compromising performance.
• Durability and Redundancy: Options such as Locally Redundant Storage (LRS), Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS), and Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS) ensure your data remains secure and available.
• Access Tiers: Choose from the Hot, Cool, and Archive tiers to balance cost and performance based on how often you access your data.
• Security: Encryption and access management features protect your sensitive data.

What Affects the Costs ?

‍To grasp the cost structure of Blob Storage, it’s helpful to review the detailed breakdown of expenses. When using Blob Storage, you are billed separately for the following components:

• Storage Costs: Charges depend on the amount of data stored and the type of blob used. Azure Blob Storage offers three types of blobs, each suited for specific use cases:
  • Block Blobs: Ideal for storing text and binary data, such as documents and media files. Pricing is based on the amount of data stored, with costs varying by storage tier (Hot, Cool, Archive). Block Blobs are best for frequently accessed or modified data, such as web applications and streaming platforms.
  • Append Blobs: Optimized for append-only operations, such as logging. These incur slightly higher transaction fees due to frequent appends, making them perfect for scenarios where data is continually added.
  • Page Blobs: Designed primarily for virtual machine disks, Page Blobs are billed based on the number of read and write operations. They are suited for high-transaction environments like VM disk storage.
• Data Operations: This includes the operations performed on your data, such as reads, writes, and deletions.
• Data Transfer: Costs incurred for data moving in and out of the service.

More specifically, the overall service cost is influenced by several factors, including:

• Geographic Region and Availability Zone: The location where your data is stored.
• Storage Amount: The total volume of data, with some scenarios benefiting from volume discounts.ё
• Storage Tier: Options like premium, hot, cool, and archive tiers, each with its own pricing.
• Redundancy Options: The chosen level of data redundancy (e.g., LRS, ZRS, etc.).
• Reserved Storage Plans: Options such as pay-per-use, or pre-commitments for one or three years.
• Operations Performed: The number and type of operations executed on the stored data.
• Data Transfer Volumes: The amount of data moving out of Azure Blob Storage.

Understanding Azure Blob Storage Redundancy Options

‍Before we dive in, let’s understand what redundancy means in Azure Blob Storage. Redundancy ensures your data is protected and available, even during hardware failures or outages. Azure offers multiple redundancy options, each balancing cost, durability, and availability to fit different needs. Let’s explore the main redundancy options available in Azure.

‍1. Locally Redundant Storage (LRS)

LRS is the most cost-effective redundancy option, designed for scenarios where cost is a priority and local durability suffices.

• How It Works: LRS replicates your data three times within a single data center in the primary region.
• Durability: Provides 99.999999999% (11 nines) durability over a year.
• Use Case: Ideal for non-critical data or applications with tolerance for local data center failures.
• Limitations: LRS does not protect against data loss caused by disasters like fire or flooding in the data center. For higher durability, consider ZRS, GRS, or GZRS.

2. Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS)

ZRS offers greater durability and availability by replicating data across multiple availability zones.

• How It Works: Data is replicated synchronously across three Azure availability zones within the primary region. Each zone is a separate physical location with independent power, cooling, and networking.
• Durability: Provides 99.9999999999% (12 nines) durability over a year.
• Use Case: Suitable for applications that require continued read and write access even during a zone failure.
• Considerations: Applications using ZRS should implement transient fault handling and retry policies with exponential backoff to mitigate potential delays during zone recovery.

3. Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS)

GRS ensures data availability across regions, providing an added layer of disaster recovery.

• How It Works: Data is first replicated three times within a single data center in the primary region (using LRS) and then asynchronously copied to a secondary region located hundreds of miles away.
• Durability: Provides 99.99999999999999% (16 nines) durability over a year.
• Use Case: Best suited for data requiring disaster recovery capabilities, especially where cross-region redundancy is critical.
• Trade-off: Data consistency may lag slightly in the secondary region due to asynchronous replication.

4. Geo-Zone-Redundant Storage (GZRS)

‍GZRS combines the high availability of ZRS with the regional disaster recovery benefits of GRS.

• How It Works: Data is synchronously replicated across three availability zones in the primary region and then asynchronously copied to a secondary geographic region.
• Durability: Provides exceptional durability and availability, along with resilience to both zone-level and regional outages.
• Use Case: Recommended for mission-critical applications requiring maximum consistency, durability, and disaster recovery resilience.

Data Storage Pricing

All pricing examples are based on Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS) in the East US 2 Region, offering a balance of durability, availability, and cost-effectiveness. To explore pricing for various regions and redundancy options, check out the Azure Blob Storage pricing page.

‍On-Demand Costs

‍Below is the breakdown of pay-as-you-go data storage pricing categorized by storage tier and data volume:

‍1. Premium Tier

• Flat Rate: $0.20 per GB
• Use Case: Designed for workloads requiring low latency and high throughput, such as transactional systems and real-time analytics.

2. Hot Tier

• First 50 TB/month: $0.023 per GB
• Next 450 TB/month: $0.0221 per GB
• Over 500 TB/month: $0.0212 per GB
• Use Case: Ideal for frequently accessed data, such as websites, apps, and streaming platforms.

3. Cool Tier

• Flat Rate: $0.013 per GB
• Use Case: Best suited for infrequently accessed data with longer retention periods, like backups and archival data that do not need instant access.

4. Cold Tier

• Flat Rate: $0.004 per GB
• Use Case: Optimized for rarely accessed data, making it a cost-effective solution for long-term archival with minimal retrieval needs.

The Archive tier is not supported for ZRS redundancy.

Reserved Capacity Costs

‍If your storage needs are predictable, Azure Storage Reserved Capacity is a fantastic way to save on costs. By committing to store a specific amount of data for one or three years, you can enjoy significant discounts compared to pay-as-you-go pricing. Reserved capacity is available in chunks of 100 TB or 1 PB, and it’s perfect for businesses looking to optimize long-term storage expenses.Azure offers reserved capacity pricing for the Hot, Cool, and Archive tiers (Archive pricing is not currently available for reserved capacity). Here’s a quick breakdown:

• 1-Year Reserved Plans:
  • 100 TB/month:
    • Hot Tier: $1,932/month
    • Cool Tier: $1,050/month
  • 1 PB/month:
    • Hot Tier: $18,812/month
    • Cool Tier: $10,224/month
• 3-Year Reserved Plans:
  • 100 TB/month:
    • Hot Tier: $1,555/month
    • Cool Tier: $845/month
  • 1 PB/month:
    • Hot Tier: $14,953/month
    • Cool Tier: $8,127/month

Operations and Data Transfer Costs

‍In addition to storage costs, Azure Blob Storage charges for operations and data transfers based on the tier you select. Here’s a breakdown of these costs:

‍1. Write Operations (per 10,000 requests)

• Premium: $0.0303
• Hot: $0.081
• Cool: $0.13
• Cold: $0.26
• Archive: $0.13

2. Read Operations (per 10,000 requests)

• Premium: $0.0025
• Hot: $0.005
• Cool: $0.013
• Cold: $0.13
• Archive: $6.50

3. Data Retrieval (per GB)

• Premium: Free
• Hot: Free
• Cool: $0.01
• Cold: $0.03
• Archive: $0.02 (High-priority retrieval: $6.50 per 10,000 requests)

4. Iterative Operations (per 10,000 requests)

• Read: $0.0052 for Hot, Cool, Cold, and Archive tiers
• Write: $0.0813 for Hot, Cool, and Cold tiers

5. All Other Operations (per 10,000 requests)

• $0.0025 (Premium)
• $0.005 (Hot, Cool, Cold, and Archive tiers)

Additional Features That Contribute to Costs

‍Azure Blob Storage offers several features and protocols that enhance its functionality and versatility for various use cases. However, it’s important to note that these additional features will contribute to your overall costs.

‍SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP)

‍With support for SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), Azure Blob Storage allows users to securely access, transfer, and manage files through an SFTP endpoint. This capability is particularly valuable for businesses that rely on secure file transfers or need to integrate with legacy systems that depend on SFTP.

• Cost: SFTP-enabled storage accounts are charged at $0.30 per hour.
• Use Case: Ideal for applications requiring secure file transfer or integration with legacy systems that use SFTP for file management.

Blob Index

‍The Blob Index is a powerful data sub-resource that uses user-defined key/value tag attributes for organizing and querying blob data. This feature supports multi-dimensional classification for blob objects, making data discovery faster, simpler, and more cost-effective compared to traditional prefix-based filters.

• Cost: $0.03 per 10,000 tags.
• Use Case: Perfect for applications requiring efficient querying and classification of large datasets.

Data Transfer for Block Blobs

‍Data transfers are charged when writing data to accounts using GRS, RA-GRS, GZRS, or RA-GZRS redundancy. These costs account for bandwidth usage when replicating data across Azure regions or changing replication settings.

• Cost: $0.02 per GB for data transfers to GRS, RA-GRS, GZRS, or RA-GZRS accounts.
• Limitations: GZRS and RA-GZRS are not available for Premium Block Blobs.

Blob Inventory

‍The Blob Inventory feature generates detailed reports on your storage account’s contents, including containers, blobs, blob versions, and snapshots. These reports, available in CSV or Apache Parquet formats, can be generated daily or weekly and are useful for auditing retention, legal holds, or encryption statuses.

• Cost: $0.004 per million objects per report generated.
• Use Case: Ideal for auditing and managing storage accounts at scale, ensuring compliance and data integrity.

Change Feed

‍The Change Feed feature logs all changes made to blob data in an ordered manner. It can be enabled at the storage account level to track and store events related to blob changes, making it a valuable tool for monitoring data activity.

• Cost: $0.01 per 10,000 changes.
• Use Case: Perfect for applications needing detailed logs of blob activity for auditing or version control.

Encryption Scopes

Encryption Scopes allow you to manage encryption settings for blobs or containers using customer-managed keys stored in Azure Key Vault or Microsoft-managed keys. This provides flexibility in managing data security.

• Cost: $1 per month for the Hot and Cool tiers. Not available for the Cold tier.
• Use Case: Useful for organizations with stringent encryption requirements or regulatory compliance needs.

Early Deletion Penalty in Azure Blob Storage

Something you need to know: Azure Blob Storage imposes early deletion penalties if a blob is deleted, overwritten, or moved to another tier before the required retention period is met. Here’s a quick breakdown

• Archive Tier: 180-day minimum retention.
• Cold Tier: 90-day minimum retention.
• Cool Tier: 30-day minimum retention.

If a blob is removed early, you’ll pay for the remaining days as if the blob were still in the original tier, with charges prorated based on the tier’s storage price.

‍Use Calculators to Estimate and Understand Azure Blob Storage Pricing

‍Azure Pricing Calculator: This online tool lets you estimate costs for various Azure services, including Blob Storage (located under the “Storage Accounts” section). By entering details like storage amount, redundancy type, and access frequency, you can see a breakdown of potential expenses.

‍Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Calculator: This tool helps you compare the costs of running your current on-premises infrastructure versus moving to Azure. It considers factors like hardware, software, and operational costs to show potential savings.

Using these calculators can help you plan and budget for your storage needs more effectively.

‍Conclusion

‍By understanding how pricing works, including on-demand costs, reserved capacity options, and operational charges, you can tailor your setup to save money while getting the most out of the service. Whether you’re storing backups, hosting applications, or managing large-scale data analytics, Azure Blob Storage provides the scalability and tools you need to succeed.The key to optimizing your costs is aligning your storage tiers and features with your specific use case. Planning ahead and taking advantage of features like reserved capacity or understanding early deletion penalties can make a big difference in keeping your cloud costs under control.

Armed with these insights, you are better positioned to navigate the complexities of storage pricing and make strategic decisions that align with your technical and financial objectives. Happy optimizing!