Azure AKS Pricing 2026
Complete pricing guide with plans, and cost analysis
Azure AKS costs $2.50/device/month for AKS Edge Essentials. Plans range from $2.50 to $438/device/month.
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All Azure AKS Plans & Pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| AKS Edge Essentials | $2.5 /device/month | — | — |
| What's included at AKS Edge Essentials Feature details not yet documented for this tier. | |||
| Automatic Hosted Component | $116.8 /cluster per month | — | — |
| What's included at Automatic Hosted Component Feature details not yet documented for this tier. | |||
| Standard tier (SLA) | $73 /cluster per month | — | — |
| What's included at Standard tier (SLA) Feature details not yet documented for this tier. | |||
| SLA and LTS (Premium tier) | $438 /cluster per month | — | — |
| What's included at SLA and LTS (Premium tier) Feature details not yet documented for this tier. | |||
| General Purpose vCPU | $7.05 /vCPU per month | — | — |
| What's included at General Purpose vCPU Feature details not yet documented for this tier. | |||
| Compute Optimized vCPU | $10.96 /vCPU per month | — | — |
| What's included at Compute Optimized vCPU Feature details not yet documented for this tier. | |||
| Memory Optimized vCPU | $11.16 /vCPU per month | — | — |
| What's included at Memory Optimized vCPU Feature details not yet documented for this tier. | |||
| Storage Optimized vCPU | $13.01 /vCPU per month | — | — |
| What's included at Storage Optimized vCPU Feature details not yet documented for this tier. | |||
| Confidential Compute vCPU | $10.88 /vCPU per month | — | — |
| What's included at Confidential Compute vCPU Feature details not yet documented for this tier. | |||
| High Performance Compute vCPU | $6.57 /vCPU per month | — | — |
| What's included at High Performance Compute vCPU Feature details not yet documented for this tier. | |||
| GPU accelerated compute vCPU | $32.29 /vCPU per month | — | — |
| What's included at GPU accelerated compute vCPU Feature details not yet documented for this tier. | |||
View all features by plan (compare side-by-side)
AKS Edge Essentials
Automatic Hosted Component
Standard tier (SLA)
SLA and LTS (Premium tier)
General Purpose vCPU
Compute Optimized vCPU
Memory Optimized vCPU
Storage Optimized vCPU
Confidential Compute vCPU
High Performance Compute vCPU
GPU accelerated compute vCPU
What does Azure AKS actually cost you?
Drag the slider. Pick a tier. Watch your projected spend update live.
List price by tier (annualized, per seat)
Per-seat list price across Azure AKS's plans, annualized. Custom-priced tiers show a hatched bar.
Azure AKS costs $2.50 to $438 per device/month as of June 2026, with 11 plans available. Plans: AKS Edge Essentials at $2.5/device/month, Automatic Hosted Component at $116.8/device/month, Standard tier (SLA) at $73/device/month, SLA and LTS (Premium tier) at $438/device/month, General Purpose vCPU at $7.05/device/month, Compute Optimized vCPU at $10.96/device/month, Memory Optimized vCPU at $11.16/device/month, Storage Optimized vCPU at $13.01/device/month, Confidential Compute vCPU at $10.88/device/month, High Performance Compute vCPU at $6.57/device/month, and GPU accelerated compute vCPU at $32.29/device/month. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.
Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.
- Free tier: No free tier available
Azure AKS offers 11 pricing tiers: AKS Edge Essentials, Automatic Hosted Component, Standard tier (SLA), SLA and LTS (Premium tier), General Purpose vCPU, Compute Optimized vCPU, Memory Optimized vCPU, Storage Optimized vCPU, Confidential Compute vCPU, High Performance Compute vCPU, GPU accelerated compute vCPU. Paid plans include AKS Edge Essentials at $2.5/device/month, Automatic Hosted Component at $116.8/cluster per month, Standard tier (SLA) at $73/cluster per month.
Compared to other container platforms & kubernetes software, Azure AKS is positioned at the budget-friendly price point.
How much does Azure AKS cost?
Azure AKS Pricing Overview
Azure AKS has 11 pricing plans ranging from $2.50 to $438/device/month. The AKS Edge Essentials plan costs $2.50/device/month. The Automatic Hosted Component plan costs $116.80/device/month. The Standard tier (SLA) plan costs $73/device/month. The SLA and LTS (Premium tier) plan costs $438/device/month. The General Purpose vCPU plan costs $7.05/device/month. The Compute Optimized vCPU plan costs $10.96/device/month. The Memory Optimized vCPU plan costs $11.16/device/month. The Storage Optimized vCPU plan costs $13.01/device/month. The Confidential Compute vCPU plan costs $10.88/device/month. The High Performance Compute vCPU plan costs $6.57/device/month. The GPU accelerated compute vCPU plan costs $32.29/device/month.
This pricing was last verified in June 14, 2026 from 1 independent source.
Azure AKS offers various pricing tiers for its services. These include options for device management, cluster hosting, and vCPU compute resources.
Pricing is based on monthly charges per device, cluster, or vCPU, depending on the selected tier.
How Azure AKS Pricing Compares
| Software | Starting Price | Top Price |
|---|---|---|
| Azure AKS | $2.5/device/month | $438/device/month |
| Canonical Kubernetes (Charmed) | $25/per machine per year | $9470/per machine per year |
| DigitalOcean Kubernetes | $3.39/month/node | $163/month/node |
| Portainer | $99/mo | $99/mo |
| VMware Tanzu | Custom | Custom |
| D2iQ (formerly Mesosphere) | Custom | Custom |
Azure AKS Pricing FAQ
01 What is the cheapest paid plan?
The AKS Edge Essentials plan is priced at $2.5 per device per month.
02 What are the cluster pricing options?
Cluster pricing includes the Automatic Hosted Component at $116.8 per cluster per month, the Standard tier (SLA) at $73.0 per cluster per month, and the SLA and LTS (Premium tier) at $438.0 per cluster per month.
03 What are the vCPU pricing options?
vCPU pricing varies by type: General Purpose vCPU is $7.05 per vCPU per month, Compute Optimized vCPU is $10.96 per vCPU per month, Memory Optimized vCPU is $11.16 per vCPU per month, Storage Optimized vCPU is $13.01 per vCPU per month, Confidential Compute vCPU is $10.88 per vCPU per month, High Performance Compute vCPU is $6.57 per vCPU per month, and GPU accelerated compute vCPU is $32.29 per vCPU per month.
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