Microsoft Foundry (Azure AI Foundry)
Build, ground, and manage AI models and agents on Azure; each service is billed separately.
Category: Development & Code · Agent & RAG frameworks
Features
Models, Agent Service, and your data sources in one Azure platform. Microsoft Foundry was previously Azure AI Foundry. There is no single platform price: model, context, deployment, and additional services determine cost. Astra examples are source USD prices, not the cheapest entry. Provisioned Throughput is an alternative capacity booking, not a mandatory surcharge on Standard calls. Search, storage, and networking can cost extra.
Privacy commitments for models sold by Azure do not automatically cover every third-party offer. Global can process requests worldwide; Data Zone confines processing to its zone. No training without permission or instruction does not mean stateful services or abuse monitoring store no data.
- Models, Agent Service, and your data sources in one Azure platform
- Governance, access controls, and evaluation; compliance still depends on configuration
- Standard consumption or separately booked Provisioned Throughput capacity
- Astra example prices distinguish Global and US Data Zone, and short and long context
Prices and plans
| Tier | Price | Period | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure trial credit | free | 30 days | USD 200 Azure trial credit for new customers, valid 30 days Excludes Marketplace offers; not a permanent free Foundry plan |
| GPT-6 Astra Standard Global (Short Context) | 10 / 50 USD | per 1 million input/output tokens | Up to 272,000 input tokens Cache read / cache write: 1 / 12.5 USD Astra example prices distinguish Global and US Data Zone, and short and long context |
| GPT-6 Astra Standard Global (Long Context) | 20 / 75 USD | per 1 million input/output tokens | Over 272,000 input tokens: rate applies to the entire request Cache read / cache write: 2 / 25 USD Astra example prices distinguish Global and US Data Zone, and short and long context |
| GPT-6 Astra Standard Data Zone (US) (Short Context) | 11 / 55 USD | per 1 million input/output tokens | Up to 272,000 input tokens Cache read / cache write: 1.1 / 13.75 USD Astra example prices distinguish Global and US Data Zone, and short and long context |
| GPT-6 Astra Standard Data Zone (US) (Long Context) | 22 / 82.5 USD | per 1 million input/output tokens | Over 272,000 input tokens: rate applies to the entire request Cache read / cache write: 2.2 / 27.5 USD Astra example prices distinguish Global and US Data Zone, and short and long context |
| GPT-6 Astra Provisioned Throughput | contact sales | usage-based | Alternative to Standard; booked capacity is charged even without calls Hourly billing or monthly/annual reservation; Astra PTU amounts are not listed The Astra announcement gives US Data Zone a 10% premium over Global PTU prices; confirm a specific quote |
Limits
For Astra, more than 272,000 input tokens triggers long-context rates for the entire request. Cache reads and writes have separate rates. Quotas and model availability depend on deployment and region. Azure's USD 200 credit for 30 days is for new customers only and excludes Marketplace offers; it is not a permanent free Foundry plan.
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FAQ
Is Microsoft Foundry (Azure AI Foundry) available for free?
Not permanently. What is published is a time-limited free trial.
Where is Microsoft Foundry (Azure AI Foundry)'s vendor based?
Microsoft, based in USA. For data processing and privacy terms the vendor's own contract governs.
Is Microsoft Foundry (Azure AI Foundry) still active?
Active platform named Microsoft Foundry; Azure AI Foundry is its previous name.
How many plans are documented for Microsoft Foundry (Azure AI Foundry)?
The catalog documents 6 plans with price, billing period, and included features.
Which use case is Microsoft Foundry (Azure AI Foundry) categorized for?
Microsoft Foundry (Azure AI Foundry) is listed in the catalog under “Development & Code.”
Where do the details about Microsoft Foundry (Azure AI Foundry) come from?
Prices, limits, and product details are documented against the listed official vendor page.
How we compare
We compare free access, paid entry, plan limits, features and the listed official sources. Unsourced figures stay marked as not published.
Only confirmed entries appear in the catalog. Prices, plans and limits come from listed official vendor pages. Missing figures stay marked as not published. Result lists are alphabetical by default and can be switched to Free access first; neither is a quality ranking. The vendor page always wins.
Edited and checked by the AI Compare team
Sources
- https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/ai-foundry
- https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/gpt-6-astra-frontier-intelligence-for-work-now-generally-available-in-microsoft-foundry/
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/foundry/concepts/manage-costs
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/foundry/foundry-models/concepts/models-sold-directly-by-azure
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/foundry/responsible-ai/openai/data-privacy
- https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/purchase-options/azure-account
- https://devblogs.microsoft.com/foundry/whats-new-in-microsoft-foundry-oct-nov-2025/
- https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/azure-openai/
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