Azure Virtual Desktop pricing

What are the main components of AVD pricing?

AVD's pricing model is based on consumption, meaning you only pay for what you use. This makes it a cost-effective alternative to traditional on-premises VDI solutions, which often require significant upfront investment and ongoing maintenance costs.

Pricing components

Azure Virtual Desktop's pricing encompasses two main parts:

1) User access rights: These entitle your end-users to access the Azure Virtual Desktop service. The specific licensing requirements depend on whether you're providing AVD access for internal or external users.

• Internal users: For internal end-users (employees within your organization), you'll need eligible Microsoft 365 or Windows licenses that include the rights to use virtual desktops. Common examples include Microsoft 365 E3/E5, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, and Windows 10/11 Enterprise E3/E5.
• External users: For external end-users (partners, contractors, etc.), you'll need to enroll in per-user access pricing, which allows you to pay a fixed monthly fee per user for access.

2) Azure infrastructure costs: These costs are associated with running and maintaining your AVD deployment in Microsoft Azure. This includes the consumption-based costs for:

• Compute for session host VMs: This refers to the cost of the virtual machines (VMs) that host your desktops and applications. The compute cost is determined by the size and type of VM you choose, as well as the duration of its usage.
• Storage for OS and user profiles: This covers the cost of storing your data and applications in Azure. The storage cost depends on the amount of storage you use and the type of storage you select (e.g., standard or premium).
• Networking for connectivity: This includes the cost of data transfer within Azure and between Azure and your on-premises network. The networking cost is based on the amount of data transferred.

Users interact with their virtual desktops through the AVD Remote Desktop Client. This tool facilitates the connection to Azure Virtual Desktop sessions, relying on protocols like RDP and contributing to the networking costs outlined in the pricing model. In a typical AVD deployment, the relative proportions of compute, storage, and networking costs are shown below. As you can see below, compute often dominates the costs, especially if you're running demanding workloads or haven't optimized VM sizing and utilization.

How does per-user access pricing work for AVD?

In addition to the consumption-based costs, AVD also offers per-user access pricing for external users. This allows you to pay a fixed monthly fee per user for accessing, regardless of their usage. This can be a cost-effective option for organizations that need to provide access to a large number of external users, such as partners or contractors.

What is the Azure Hybrid Benefit and how can it be used with AVD?

If you have existing Windows Server licenses with Software Assurance, you can leverage the Azure Hybrid Benefit to significantly reduce your compute costs. This benefit allows you to use your existing licenses to run Windows Server VMs in Azure, reducing your overall expenses.

What are Reserved Instances in Azure and how do they apply to AVD?

For predictable workloads, you can further optimize your costs by using Azure Reserved Instances. Reserved Instances allow you to pre-pay for your VM usage for a one-year or three-year term, providing significant discounts compared to pay-as-you-go pricing.