Microsoft just introduced a new way to pay for Azure Reservations that enables customers and partners to lower their upfront payments while enjoying discounts offered by Azure reservation.
Previously, Azure reservations required the whole term payment up front, which reduced the attractiveness for many customers. Now you have the choice between paying for reservations upfront or on a monthly basis. The monthly payment option is available whether buying 1-year or 3-year reserved instance or reserved capacity.
Unlike an up-front purchase where you pay the full term amount, the monthly payment option divides the total cost of the reservation evenly over each month of the term. The total cost of up-front and monthly reservations is the same and you don’t pay extra fees when paying monthly.
Note, if in a non-US dollar market, the monthly payment amount may vary, depending on the current exchange rate of the local currency.
Monthly payments are available for:
- Virtual machines
- SQL Database
- SQL Data Warehouse
- Cosmos DB
- App Service stamp fee
Azure Reservations can be purchased through CSP or EA based Azure subscriptions, or directly from the Azure portal using a Pay-as-You-Go subscription.
When renewing a reservation, the billing frequency can be changed between onetime and monthly payments.
More information on Azure Reservations – https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/reservations/