Purchase commitment tier pricing
Azure AI offers commitment tier pricing, allowing discounted rates compared to the pay-as-you-go pricing model. With commitment tier pricing, you can commit to using the following Azure AI services features for a fixed fee, enabling you to have a predictable total cost based on the needs of your workload:
- Speech to text (Standard)
- Text to speech (Neural)
- Text Translation (Standard)
- Language Understanding standard (Text Requests)
- Azure AI Language
- Sentiment Analysis
- Key Phrase Extraction
- Language Detection
- Named Entity Recognition (NER)
- Azure AI Vision - OCR
- Document Intelligence – Custom/Invoice
For more information, see Azure AI services pricing.
Create a new resource
Sign in to the Azure portal and select Create a new resource for one of the applicable Azure AI services or Azure AI services listed.
Enter the applicable information to create your resource. Be sure to select the standard pricing tier.
Note
If you intend to purchase a commitment tier for disconnected container usage, you will need to request separate access and select the Commitment tier disconnected containers pricing tier. For more information, see disconnected containers.
Once your resource is created, you can change your pricing from pay-as-you-go, to a commitment plan.
Purchase a commitment plan by updating your Azure resource
Sign in to the Azure portal with your Azure subscription.
In your Azure resource for one of the applicable features listed, select Commitment tier pricing.
Select Change to view the available commitments for hosted API and container usage. Choose a commitment plan for one or more of the following offerings:
- Web: web-based APIs, where you send data to Azure for processing.
- Connected container: Docker containers that enable you to deploy Azure AI services on premises, and maintain an internet connection for billing and metering.
In the window that appears, select both a Tier and Auto-renewal option.
Commitment tier - The commitment tier for the feature. The commitment tier is enabled immediately when you select Purchase and you're charged the commitment amount on a pro-rated basis.
Auto-renewal - Choose how you want to renew, change, or cancel the current commitment plan starting with the next billing cycle. If you decide to autorenew, the Auto-renewal date is the date (in your local timezone) when you'll be charged for the next billing cycle. This date coincides with the start of the calendar month.
Caution
Once you select Purchase you will be charged for the tier you select. Once purchased, the commitment plan is non-refundable.
Commitment plans are charged monthly, except the first month upon purchase which is pro-rated (cost and quota) based on the number of days remaining in that month. For the subsequent months, the charge is incurred on the first day of the month.
Overage pricing
If you use the resource above the quota provided, you're charged for the additional usage as per the overage amount mentioned in the commitment tier.
Purchase a different commitment plan
The commitment plans have a calendar month commitment period. You can purchase a commitment plan at any time from the default pay-as-you-go pricing model. When you purchase a plan, you're charged a pro-rated price for the remaining month. During the commitment period, you can't change the commitment plan for the current month. However, you can choose a different commitment plan for the next calendar month. The billing for the next month would happen on the first day of the next month.
If you need a larger commitment plan than any of the ones offered, contact csgate@microsoft.com.
End a commitment plan
If you decide that you don't want to continue purchasing a commitment plan, you can set your resource's autorenewal to Do not auto-renew. Your commitment plan expires on the displayed commitment end date. After this date, you won't be charged for the commitment plan. You're able to continue using the Azure resource to make API calls, charged at pay-as-you-go pricing. You have until midnight (UTC) on the last day of each month to end a commitment plan, and not be charged for the following month.
Purchase a commitment tier pricing plan for disconnected containers
Commitment plans for disconnected containers have a calendar year commitment period. These are different plans than web and connected container commitment plans. When you purchase a commitment plan, you'll be charged the full price immediately. During the commitment period, you can't change your commitment plan, however you can purchase additional unit(s) at a pro-rated price for the remaining days in the year. You have until midnight (UTC) on the last day of your commitment, to end a commitment plan.
You can choose a different commitment plan in the Commitment Tier pricing settings of your resource.
Overage pricing for disconnected containers
To use a disconnected container beyond the quota initially purchased with your disconnected container commitment plan, you can purchase additional quota by updating your commitment plan at any time.
To purchase additional quota, go to your resource in Azure portal and adjust the "unit count" of your disconnected container commitment plan using the slider. This will add additional monthly quota and you will be charged a pro-rated price based on the remaining days left in the current billing cycle.