Direct answer: at Azure Front Door public pricing on 10 November 2026 (Zone 1/North America, USD, excluding tax and discounts), the Standard base fee is $35/profile-month and Premium $330/profile-month; the first 250 million requests cost $0.009 per 10,000 ($0.90/million) on Standard and $0.015 per 10,000 ($1.50/million) on Premium; egress to clients is $0.083/GB for the first 10 TB, $0.066 for 10–50 TB and $0.057 for 50–150 TB; edge-to-origin is $0.02/GB, and Azure origin-to-edge is free. Premium includes WAF (managed rule sets included) and Private Link in its base fee. With 1 TB = 1,024 GB: 10M requests + 1 TB = $128.99 Standard / $429.99 Premium; 100M + 10 TB = $974.92 / $1,329.92; 250M + 50 TB = $3,813.28 / $4,258.28. Egress is 66%–93% of the Standard bill.
This guide is for architects, SRE, finance and procurement teams choosing a CDN/edge entry point, migrating off Front Door (classic), or budgeting between Standard and Premium. It separates official price facts, editorial calculations and exclusions, and covers base fees, requests, egress, zone differences, Premium's security increment, hidden costs and a 90-day checklist. Prices come from the Azure Front Door pricing page, Azure Retail Prices API and Microsoft Learn (10 November 2026). This is not procurement advice.
(1) The base fee is fixed: $35/month Standard, $330/month Premium, per profile, independent of traffic; a separate prod/staging profile adds another one. (2) Egress is the main line: 1 TB $84.99, 10 TB $849.92, 50 TB $3,553.28, 100 TB $6,471.68; requests stay at $225 on Standard up to 250M. (3) Premium's premium is capability: +$295/month buys managed WAF, bot protection and Private Link; skip it if you don't need them.
Base fee: what $35 and $330 buy
Both Front Door Standard and Premium charge a base fee per profile, billed hourly with partial hours rounded up; a profile can hold multiple endpoints and domains, and endpoints are not billed separately. The base fee includes caching, compression, the rules engine, custom WAF rules and L3-4 DDoS protection; Premium adds managed WAF rule sets, bot protection, Private Link origins and WAF reports. Neither tier charges separately for custom domains—the first 100 free, then $5/domain-month is classic pricing, not Standard/Premium.
| Item | Standard | Premium | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base fee/month | $35 | $330 | Per profile, hourly |
| Requests (first 250M)/10K | $0.009 | $0.015 | Edge zone |
| Egress (first 10 TB)/GB | $0.083 | $0.083 | Same both tiers |
| Edge to origin/GB | $0.02 | $0.02 | Zone 1, request body |
| Caching/compression/rules engine | Included | Included | No extra fee |
| Custom WAF rules | Included | Included | No extra fee |
| Managed WAF rule sets | No | Included | DRS/Bot Manager |
| Private Link origin | No | Included | No extra traffic fee |
| CAPTCHA | — | $0.4/1K sessions | Premium add-on |
| Custom domains | No separate meter | No separate meter | Managed certs free |
Sources: Azure Front Door pricing page, Learn "Azure Front Door billing" and "WAF on Front Door" (10 November 2026). "Included" means the base fee covers the feature with no per-request feature charge; regional availability, quotas and rule-set versions follow the official docs.
Requests: $0.009 vs $0.015, priced by edge zone
Requests are priced by the zone of the edge location that serves the request, not by origin location: Zone 1 North America and Zone 6 Europe are lowest (Standard $0.009, Premium $0.015 per 10K), Zone 2 Asia Pacific including Japan is $0.0108/$0.0168, Zone 8 Korea $0.0181/$0.0241, and Zone 3 South America is highest at $0.0199/$0.0259. The first 250 million requests use published prices; above 250 million the pricing page says Contact Us. The Retail API also lists declining tiers of $0.0081/$0.00729/$0.006561 (Standard) and $0.0141/$0.01329/$0.012561 (Premium), but those are quote tiers—confirm the contract and don't put them in a budget as public list prices.
| Zone | Region | Standard/10K | Premium/10K | Standard/million | Premium/million |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North America | $0.009 | $0.015 | $0.90 | $1.50 |
| 2 | Asia Pacific (incl. Japan) | $0.0108 | $0.0168 | $1.08 | $1.68 |
| 3 | South America | $0.0199 | $0.0259 | $1.99 | $2.59 |
| 4 | Australia | $0.0113 | $0.0173 | $1.13 | $1.73 |
| 5 | India | $0.0108 | $0.0168 | $1.08 | $1.68 |
| 6 | Europe | $0.009 | $0.015 | $0.90 | $1.50 |
| 7 | Middle East and Africa | $0.0108 | $0.0168 | $1.08 | $1.68 |
| 8 | Korea | $0.0181 | $0.0241 | $1.81 | $2.41 |
| 9 | US Gov | $0.0113 | $0.0188 | $1.13 | $1.88 |
Sources: Azure Front Door pricing page and Retail API (Zones 1–9, 10 November 2026). Prices apply to the first 250 million requests; above that, request a quote. Requests are identified by the Host header matching the profile, and the price depends on the edge zone serving the request.
Egress: from $0.083/GB, the main line
Egress bills the bytes sent from the edge to the client, at the same price for Standard and Premium: Zone 1 is $0.083/GB for the first 10 TB, $0.066 for 10–50 TB and $0.057 for 50–150 TB; above 150 TB is Contact Us. Zone 2 Asia Pacific is $0.115 for the first 10 TB and Zone 8 Korea $0.14. Compressed responses bill on compressed bytes; when the origin is in Azure, origin-to-edge transfer is free, while an origin in another cloud or IDC still pays that provider's egress. Request bodies from edge to origin (for example POST) bill at $0.02/GB in Zone 1; origin-to-edge responses are nonbillable.
| Meter | Zone 1 | Zone 2 APAC | Zone 8 Korea | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egress, first 10 TB/GB | $0.083 | $0.115 | $0.14 | Edge to client |
| Egress, 10–50 TB/GB | $0.066 | $0.098 | $0.133 | Same tier |
| Egress, 50–150 TB/GB | $0.057 | $0.089 | $0.093 | Same tier |
| Edge to origin/GB | $0.02 | $0.06 | $0.16 | Request body |
| Azure origin to edge | $0 | $0 | $0 | Listed as free |
| Client to edge | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Classic charges $0.01/GB |
Sources: Azure Front Door pricing page and Learn "Azure Front Door billing" (10 November 2026). 1 TB = 1,024 GB is an editorial conversion; above 150 TB and Zones 3–7/9 are in the official table; compressed responses bill on compressed bytes.
TCO: Standard vs Premium across four traffic profiles
Adding base fee, requests and egress (Zone 1, 1 TB = 1,024 GB): 10M requests + 1 TB = $128.99 / $429.99; 100M + 10 TB = $974.92 / $1,329.92; 250M + 50 TB = $3,813.28 / $4,258.28; 1B + 100 TB = $7,406.68 / $8,301.68. The last row extrapolates the first-250M request price, so it is an upper bound, not a quote. Egress is 65.9%–93.2% of the Standard bill; requests up to 250M cost at most $225 (Standard) or $375 (Premium), far less than the matching egress.
| Scenario/month | Base S/P | Requests S/P | Egress | Standard | Premium | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10M requests + 1 TB | $35 / $330 | $9 / $15 | $84.99 | $128.99 | $429.99 | +$301.00 |
| 100M requests + 10 TB | $35 / $330 | $90 / $150 | $849.92 | $974.92 | $1,329.92 | +$355.00 |
| 250M requests + 50 TB | $35 / $330 | $225 / $375 | $3,553.28 | $3,813.28 | $4,258.28 | +$445.00 |
| 1B requests + 100 TB | $35 / $330 | $900 / $1,500 | $6,471.68 | $7,406.68 | $8,301.68 | +$895.00 |
Editorial calculation: full-month base fee, first-250M public request prices, Zone 1 egress tiers, 1 TB = 1,024 GB; excludes tax, discounts, logs, origin-side charges and add-ons. The 1B request price is an upper-bound extrapolation; a quote is required.
Same traffic, different zone
At 100M requests + 10 TB/month, Zone 1 is $974.92 Standard and $1,329.92 Premium; Zone 2 Asia Pacific is $1,320.60 / $1,675.60 (+35.5% / +26.0% versus Zone 1); Zone 8 Korea is $1,649.60 / $2,004.60 (+69.2% / +50.7%). Both the request rate and the egress rate differ: where users are, and therefore which zone serves them, matters more to the bill than where the origin sits. Budget by the dominant user zone, then use Zone 1 as a floor and Zone 8 as a stress ceiling.
| Zone | Request fee S/P | 10 TB egress | Standard | Premium | vs Zone 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 North America | $90 / $150 | $849.92 | $974.92 | $1,329.92 | Base |
| Zone 2 Asia Pacific | $108 / $168 | $1,177.60 | $1,320.60 | $1,675.60 | +35.5% / +26.0% |
| Zone 8 Korea | $181 / $241 | $1,433.60 | $1,649.60 | $2,004.60 | +69.2% / +50.7% |
Editorial calculation: 100M requests + 10 TB egress, full-month base fee, 1 TB = 1,024 GB; Zone 2/8 request and egress rates from the official table; excludes origin, logs, tax and discounts.
When Premium pays: what $295/month buys
The fixed gap is $295/month in base fee plus $0.006/10K ($0.60/million) in request price: at 100M requests that is +$355/month (about $4,260/year), and at 250M it is +$445/month. In return you get managed WAF rule sets (DRS/Bot Manager), Private Link origins, WAF reports and security analytics; Standard supports only custom WAF rules. The decision is direct: managed rules, bot management or private origins → Premium; only custom rules and baseline DDoS → Standard. CAPTCHA is a Premium add-on at $0.4 per 1,000 sessions, so 1M sessions/month is $400.
| Requirement | Standard | Premium | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Static/dynamic acceleration, caching, compression | Yes | Yes | In base fee |
| Custom WAF rules | Yes | Yes | No extra fee |
| Managed WAF rule sets (DRS/Bot) | — | Yes | Included in Premium |
| Bot management | — | Yes | Included in Premium |
| Private Link origin | — | Yes | Included in Premium |
| CAPTCHA | — | Add-on | $0.4/1K sessions |
| Budget-sensitive, low traffic | Yes | — | From $35/month |
| Private origin required by compliance | — | Yes | From $330/month |
Editorial summary: capability boundaries from Learn "WAF on Front Door" and the pricing page; CAPTCHA pricing from the Premium add-ons table. This is a selection framework, not a vendor recommendation.
Hidden costs and a 90-day checklist
Six costs are easy to miss: extra profile base fees (prod/staging/team profiles each add $35 or $330); zone premiums (Zone 8 costs about 69% more than Zone 1 on Standard); origin-side egress (billed by the origin's provider when it isn't Azure); edge-to-origin request bodies ($0.02/GB in Zone 1); logs/monitoring (Log Analytics is separate); and CAPTCHA/Edge Actions add-ons (CAPTCHA $0.4/1K sessions; Edge Actions $0.1/million invocations plus $0.00005/second of overage execution). 90 days: weeks 1–2 inventory domains, endpoints, profiles and monthly requests/egress; weeks 2–4 price base + requests + egress by zone; weeks 4–6 decide whether managed WAF, bot protection or Private Link is required; weeks 6–8 tune compression, cache hit rate and static asset splitting; weeks 8–10 load-test origin and failover; weeks 10–12 reconcile zone share and consolidate profiles against the bill.
FAQ
How is Azure Front Door billed?
Three parts: a per-profile base fee (Standard $35/month, Premium $330/month, billed hourly), requests ($0.009/$0.015 per 10K for the first 250M), and egress (from $0.083/GB, tiered by edge zone). Azure origin-to-edge is free; edge-to-origin is $0.02/GB in Zone 1.
How much more does Premium cost?
A fixed $295/month more in base fee plus $0.60/million more in requests. At 100M requests + 10 TB, Standard is $974.92 and Premium $1,329.92, a $355/month gap; at 250M + 50 TB the gap is $445/month. Premium includes managed WAF, bot protection and Private Link.
What does 100M requests + 10 TB cost?
Zone 1: Standard $35 + $90 + $849.92 = $974.92/month; Premium $330 + $150 + $849.92 = $1,329.92/month. Zone 2 Asia Pacific is $1,320.60 / $1,675.60; Zone 8 Korea is $1,649.60 / $2,004.60.
Why is egress higher than request fees?
Zone 1 egress is $0.083/GB for the first 10 TB, so 10 TB is about $849.92, while 100M requests cost $90 on Standard. Video, image and download workloads show this most; compression, caching and modern image formats cut billed egress bytes directly.
Does Premium include WAF?
Yes. The Premium base fee includes WAF (custom and managed rule sets), bot protection, Private Link origins and WAF reports, with no separate per-request WAF charge. Standard supports only custom WAF rules; DRS/Bot Manager requires Premium.
Does each profile incur the base fee?
Yes. The base fee is per profile, and multiple endpoints/domains inside one profile are not charged extra. Separate prod, staging or team profiles each pay $35 or $330/month; consolidate into one profile with multiple endpoints where isolation allows.
How are requests above 250 million priced?
The pricing page says Contact Us above 250M. The Retail API lists declining tiers ($0.0081/$0.00729/$0.006561 Standard; $0.0141/$0.01329/$0.012561 Premium per 10K), but they are quote tiers. Confirm the contract and don't put API tiers into a budget as public list prices.
How does it compare with classic or Azure CDN?
Start new work on Standard/Premium: classic no longer onboards new domains/profiles, retires on 31 March 2027, and uses different meters (classic egress from $0.17/GB, routing rules $0.03/hour, first 100 domains free). Azure CDN and Front Door have different capability boundaries; compare CDN separately for purely static, high-volume delivery, and use Front Door Premium when you need WAF, private origins and dynamic acceleration.
Research method and limitations
Official facts (pricing page, Retail API, Learn): $35/$330 base fees, $0.009/$0.015 per 10K for the first 250M, $0.083/$0.066/$0.057 egress, $0.02 edge-to-origin, Premium includes WAF/Private Link, compressed bytes are billed compressed, and classic retires on 31 March 2027. Editorial calculations: 1 TB = 1,024 GB, full-month base, Zone 1 tiers, published request prices; the 1B row is an upper-bound extrapolation.
Seven limitations: (1) only Zone 1 (plus Zone 2/8 comparisons) public list prices, excluding tax, CSP, enterprise discounts and reservations; (2) request/egress volumes are editorial assumptions; (3) the TCO excludes logs/monitoring, origin-side egress, CAPTCHA/Edge Actions and tax; (4) above 250M requests is a quote tier, and the 1B row is not a quote; (5) no cache-hit, compression or failover benchmark; (6) regional availability and quotas are not checked one by one; (7) prices and retirement dates change, so recheck official pages and bills before purchase.
Sources and basis
- Microsoft Azure, Azure Front Door Pricing: azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/frontdoor. Base fees, requests, egress, origin transfer, CAPTCHA, Edge Actions, classic comparison. Accessed 10 November 2026.
- Azure Retail Prices API (productName=Azure Front Door, Zone 1): prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices. $35/$330 base fees, $0.009/$0.015 requests, $0.0825/$0.065002/$0.056001 egress, $0.02 origin transfer, quote tiers. Accessed 10 November 2026.
- Microsoft Learn, Azure Front Door billing: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/frontdoor/billing. Per-profile hourly base fee, request and four traffic directions, compressed-byte billing, Premium includes managed WAF/Private Link. Accessed 10 November 2026.
- Microsoft Learn, WAF on Azure Front Door: web-application-firewall/afds/afds-overview. Premium has full WAF capabilities; Standard supports custom rules only. Accessed 10 November 2026.
- Microsoft Learn, Front Door/CDN comparison: front-door-cdn-comparison. Classic retirement on 31 March 2027, new onboarding cutoff, feature comparison. Accessed 10 November 2026.
Data cut-off 10 November 2026; prices/availability follow Microsoft official pages and bills; this is not procurement, commercial or legal advice.