Direct answer: at the Azure Retail Prices API on 9 November 2026 (eastus, USD, excluding tax/discounts), Azure Container Apps Consumption bills “active vCPU-seconds + GiB-seconds + requests”: active vCPU $0.000024/second (about $0.0864/hour, $62.21/vCPU-month), active memory $0.000003/GiB-second (about $0.0108/GiB-hour, $7.78/GiB-month), requests $0.40/million; each month includes 180,000 vCPU-seconds, 360,000 GiB-seconds and 2 million requests free. Idle replicas bill vCPU at $0.000003/second (about $7.78/vCPU-month); memory idle pricing equals active. Environment management/private endpoints/planned maintenance are $0.10/hour (about $73/month). Dedicated bills vCPU $0.057077/hour ($41.67/vCPU-month) + memory $0.004978/GiB-hour ($3.63/GiB-month) + management $0.10/hour ($73/month). For 1 vCPU/2GiB always on: Consumption about $77.76/month, Dedicated about $121.93/month; at 4 vCPU/8GiB, Dedicated about $268.74 vs Consumption about $311.04, with a rough break-even around 3 vCPU/3GiB.
This guide is for Azure application platform, SRE, container/microservice and FinOps teams. It explains Container Apps Consumption/Dedicated billing, active/idle, requests, environment management and free grants; provides 0.5–4 vCPU TCO, Dedicated break-even, the boundary versus Functions/AKS, hidden costs and a 90-day checklist. Prices come from the Azure Container Apps pricing page and Azure Retail Prices API (eastus, 9 November 2026); billing rules/free grants/idle conditions come from Microsoft Learn's Container Apps billing doc. Official price facts, editorial calculations and exclusions are kept separate. This is not procurement advice.
(1) Consumption bills active vCPU-seconds + GiB-seconds + requests, and scaling to zero removes compute charges; idle replicas save only vCPU—memory idle pricing equals active. (2) Dedicated bills instance vCPU/memory + management; above roughly 3 vCPU/3GiB and always-on it is cheaper; small scale usually favors Consumption. (3) Environment management/private endpoints/planned maintenance at $0.10/hour, requests, egress, logs, registry and GPU all add cost—do not model vCPU alone.
Plans and billing units: Consumption vs Dedicated
Consumption bills per second: active replicas pay vCPU-seconds + GiB-seconds, HTTP requests per million; scaling to zero incurs no compute charge; with a minimum replica count and idle, vCPU bills at the idle rate while memory stays at the active rate. Dedicated bills by workload-profile instance: vCPU/memory per hour + environment management, offering single tenancy/dedicated hardware/more predictable pricing. Both plans can coexist in one environment; private endpoints/planned maintenance are billed per environment-management hour.
| Item | Consumption | Dedicated |
|---|---|---|
| Compute | Active vCPU-seconds + GiB-seconds | Instance vCPU/memory hours |
| Scale to zero | No compute charge | Instances always on, billed by allocation |
| Requests | $0.40/million (first 2M free) | Not per request (per instance) |
| Management | Environment $0.10/hour (specific features) | $0.10/hour |
| Best for | Variable/low average/event-driven | Always-on/single tenant/predictable |
Source: Azure Container Apps pricing page and billing doc (9 November 2026). Editorial summary; billing follows official pages.
Unit prices: active, idle, requests, environment and Dedicated
Eastus list prices: active vCPU $0.000024/second ($0.0864/hour, $62.21/vCPU-month); active memory $0.000003/GiB-second ($0.0108/GiB-hour, $7.78/GiB-month); requests $0.40/million; idle vCPU $0.000003/second ($7.78/vCPU-month); environment management $0.10/hour ($73/month); Dedicated vCPU $0.057077/hour ($41.67/vCPU-month), memory $0.004978/GiB-hour ($3.63/GiB-month), management $0.10/hour ($73/month); Dynamic Sessions $0.03/hour; Serverless GPU billed per second.
| Item | Price (USD) | Monthly/note |
|---|---|---|
| Active vCPU | $0.000024/second | About $62.21/vCPU-month; $0.0864/hour |
| Active memory | $0.000003/GiB-second | About $7.78/GiB-month |
| Requests | $0.40/million | First 2M/month free |
| Idle vCPU | $0.000003/second | About $7.78/vCPU-month; memory same as active |
| Environment management | $0.10/hour | About $73/month; private endpoint/planned maintenance etc. |
| Dedicated vCPU | $0.057077/hour | About $41.67/vCPU-month |
| Dedicated memory | $0.004978/GiB-hour | About $3.63/GiB-month |
Sources: Azure Retail Prices API (eastus, 9 November 2026) and Container Apps pricing page. Monthly prices use 730 hours; tax/discounts excluded.
TCO: 0.5–4 vCPU always-on replicas
At a 1 vCPU:2GiB ratio and 730 hours always on: 0.5 vCPU/1GiB Consumption about $38.88/month; 1/2 about $77.76; 2/4 about $155.52; 4/8 about $311.04. Dedicated adds $73/month management: 0.5/1 about $97.46; 1/2 about $121.93; 2/4 about $170.87; 4/8 about $268.74. Dedicated becomes cheaper above roughly 3 vCPU/3GiB when always on/long term.
| Size (always on) | Consumption | Dedicated |
|---|---|---|
| 0.5 vCPU/1GiB | 38.88 | 97.46 |
| 1 vCPU/2GiB | 77.76 | 121.93 |
| 2 vCPU/4GiB | 155.52 | 170.87 |
| 4 vCPU/8GiB | 311.04 | 268.74 |
Editorial calculation: active rate ×2,592,000 seconds; Dedicated adds $0.10/hour management; requests/environment/egress/logs/tax/discounts excluded; actual vCPU:GiB ratios vary.
Break-even: Dedicated, idle, requests
Dedicated vs Consumption: at 1 vCPU:1GiB, Consumption is about $69.98/vCPU-month, Dedicated about $45.30/vCPU-month + $73 management → a break-even around 3 vCPU/3GiB; at 1:2, Consumption about $77.76/vCPU-month, Dedicated about $48.93/vCPU-month + $73 → about 2.5 vCPU/5GiB. Idle: 1 vCPU idle $7.78/month vs active $62.21; memory does not save. Requests: 2M free; 100M about $39.20; 1B about $399.20.
| Comparison | Calculation | Conclusion |
|---|---|---|
| Dedicated vs Consumption | (41.67+3.63) + 73 vs (62.21+7.78) | Above about 3 vCPU/3GiB Dedicated is cheaper (always on) |
| Idle vs active vCPU | 7.78 vs 62.21/vCPU-month | Idle saves vCPU only; memory same |
| Requests 100M | (100M−2M)×$0.40/M | About $39.20 |
| Requests 1B | (1B−2M)×$0.40/M | About $399.20 |
| Scale to zero | No compute charge | Best for event-driven/variable |
Editorial calculation: 730 hours/month, 1:1 vCPU:GiB; Dedicated management $73/month; environment/egress/logs/tax/discounts excluded; actual ratios/discounts change the threshold.
Hidden costs: seven items beyond vCPU
Common add-ons: environment management/private endpoints/planned maintenance ($0.10/hour, about $73/month), requests ($0.40/million, first 2M free), idle replicas (vCPU $7.78/month; memory not saved), egress (cross-region/public), logs/OpenTelemetry (ingestion/retention; the managed agent itself has no extra compute charge), container registry/storage (ACR, volumes), Serverless GPU (T4/A100 per second) and Jobs/Dynamic Sessions (execution/session hours).
| Cost item | Trigger | Control |
|---|---|---|
| Environment management | Private endpoint/planned maintenance etc. | Enable as needed |
| Requests | >2M/month | Cache/coalesce/static content |
| Idle replicas | Min replicas >0 | Scale to zero/keep on demand |
| Egress | Cross-region/public | Same region, compression |
| Logs/OTel | Ingestion/retention | Sampling/retention |
| ACR/storage | Images/volumes | Cleanup/lifecycle |
| GPU/Jobs | GPU/batch | On demand/time-boxed |
Sources: Container Apps pricing/billing docs (9 November 2026). Editorial summary; billing follows official pages and bills.
How to choose: Container Apps vs Functions vs AKS
Containerized/microservices/long-running HTTP with scale-to-zero or per-request billing → Container Apps Consumption; always-on/single tenant/dedicated hardware/predictable → Dedicated; event-driven small functions/short tasks billed per execution → Azure Functions Flex; full Kubernetes API/ecosystem/custom controllers → AKS (control-plane costs separate). They can combine: Container Apps for APIs/microservices, Functions for events, AKS for complex platforms.
| Scenario | Prefer | Check first |
|---|---|---|
| Containerized API/microservices/variable | Container Apps Consumption | vCPU/GiB, requests, scale to zero |
| Always-on/single tenant/dedicated hardware | Dedicated | Instance size, management fee |
| Events/short tasks/small functions | Azure Functions Flex | Executions/GB-seconds, cold start |
| Full K8s/custom controllers | AKS | Control plane/nodes/operations |
| Batch/scheduled | Container Apps Jobs | Execution duration/retries |
| GPU inference | Serverless GPU | GPU-second price, cold start |
Editorial selection framework, not a vendor recommendation; features/compliance/regional availability follow official docs and business requirements.
90-day checklist
Use the first 90 days to close “replica/request baseline → plan → pilot → benchmark → cutover → review.” Weeks 1-2: pull replica counts, vCPU/GiB, requests, scale-to-zero duration and min replicas; weeks 2-4: calculate Consumption/Dedicated break-even; weeks 4-6: pilot and test cold start/concurrency/scale-down; weeks 6-8: configure environment/private endpoint/logs; weeks 8-10: cut over and monitor; weeks 10-12: cost review, tune min replicas/sizes. Do not keep a large min replica “for a possible peak.”
FAQ
How is Container Apps billed?
Consumption bills active vCPU-seconds ($0.000024) + GiB-seconds ($0.000003) + requests ($0.40/million); free 180k vCPU-s, 360k GiB-s, 2M requests. Dedicated bills vCPU ($0.057077/hour) + memory ($0.004978/GiB-hour) + management $0.10/hour.
How much is 1 vCPU/2GiB always on?
Consumption about $77.76/month; Dedicated about $121.93/month (including $73 management). 4 vCPU/8GiB: Consumption about $311.04, Dedicated about $268.74.
When is Dedicated cheaper?
When always on and above roughly 3 vCPU/3GiB, Dedicated's lower vCPU/memory rates amortize the management fee; small/variable workloads favor Consumption.
Does scale-to-zero still cost?
No compute charge; requests/egress/logs/storage may still apply. With min replicas, idle vCPU is $7.78/vCPU-month and memory stays at the active rate.
How are requests billed?
$0.40/million, first 2M/month free; only external HTTP requests into the environment are billed; health probes are not, and Jobs do not bill requests.
Container Apps or Functions?
Containers/long-running HTTP/microservices → Container Apps; event-driven/short tasks/small functions → Functions Flex. Both are usage-based but use different units (vCPU/GiB-s vs executions/GB-s).
Container Apps or AKS?
Full Kubernetes API/custom controllers/ecosystem → AKS; just run containers/microservices with less cluster management → Container Apps. AKS also has control-plane/node/operations costs.
When is environment management charged?
Private endpoints, planned maintenance and similar features bill $0.10/hour (about $73/month); the default environment may not always charge—check the official billing doc.
Research method and limitations
This article separates “official price facts” from “editorial calculations.” Consumption active/idle vCPU, memory, requests, environment management and Dedicated vCPU/memory/management come from the Azure Container Apps pricing page and Azure Retail Prices API (eastus, 9 November 2026); free grants, active/idle conditions, request/Jobs/environment rules come from Microsoft Learn's Container Apps billing doc. TCO, break-even, hidden costs and the 90-day checklist are editorial.
Eight limitations: (1) only eastus list prices, excluding tax/discounts/enterprise agreements; (2) 730 hours and 1:1 or 1:2 vCPU:GiB assumptions; (3) requests/environment/egress/logs/ACR/storage/GPU combinations are excluded; (4) no real cold-start/concurrency/scale-down benchmark; (5) Dedicated sizes/availability/management fees vary by region/environment; (6) Container Apps Jobs/Dynamic Sessions/Serverless GPU billing is not fully covered; (7) savings plan 1/3-year discounts are not modeled; (8) prices/features change, so recheck official pages and bills before purchase.
Sources and basis
- Microsoft Azure, Container Apps Pricing: azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/container-apps. Consumption/Dedicated, free grants, environment, GPU, requests. Accessed 9 November 2026.
- Azure Retail Prices API (productName contains Container Apps, eastus): prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices. 0.000024/0.000003, 0.40/million, 0.057077/0.004978, 0.10/hour. Accessed 9 November 2026.
- Microsoft Learn, Billing in Azure Container Apps: learn.microsoft.com/azure/container-apps/billing. Free grants, active/idle, requests, Dedicated rules. Accessed 9 November 2026.
Data cut-off 9 November 2026; prices/availability follow the Azure official page and bill; this is not procurement, commercial or legal advice.