azure-compute/references/retail-prices-api.md

Azure Retail Prices API Guide

The Azure Retail Prices API is unauthenticated — no Azure account or subscription needed.

Endpoint

https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices

Preview version (includes savings plan rates):

https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?api-version=2023-01-01-preview

Querying VM Prices

No Azure CLI command exists for the Retail Prices API. Since the API is unauthenticated, use curl (bash) or Invoke-RestMethod (PowerShell) directly. The az rest command also works but adds no auth benefit.

Basic VM price lookup

GET https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?$filter=serviceName eq 'Virtual Machines' and armRegionName eq 'eastus' and armSkuName eq 'Standard_D4s_v5' and priceType eq 'Consumption'

curl -s "https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?\$filter=serviceName%20eq%20'Virtual%20Machines'%20and%20armRegionName%20eq%20'eastus'%20and%20armSkuName%20eq%20'Standard_D4s_v5'%20and%20priceType%20eq%20'Consumption'"

$filter = "serviceName eq 'Virtual Machines' and armRegionName eq 'eastus' and armSkuName eq 'Standard_D4s_v5' and priceType eq 'Consumption'"
$response = Invoke-RestMethod "https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?`$filter=$filter"
$response.Items | Select-Object armSkuName, retailPrice, unitOfMeasure, meterName

Filter by family (all D-series in a region)

GET https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?$filter=serviceName eq 'Virtual Machines' and armRegionName eq 'eastus' and contains(armSkuName, 'Standard_D') and priceType eq 'Consumption'

curl -s "https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?\$filter=serviceName%20eq%20'Virtual%20Machines'%20and%20armRegionName%20eq%20'eastus'%20and%20contains(armSkuName,%20'Standard_D')%20and%20priceType%20eq%20'Consumption'"

$filter = "serviceName eq 'Virtual Machines' and armRegionName eq 'eastus' and contains(armSkuName, 'Standard_D') and priceType eq 'Consumption'"
$response = Invoke-RestMethod "https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?`$filter=$filter"
$response.Items | Select-Object armSkuName, retailPrice, meterName

Reservation pricing

GET https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?$filter=serviceName eq 'Virtual Machines' and armSkuName eq 'Standard_D4s_v5' and priceType eq 'Reservation'

curl -s "https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?\$filter=serviceName%20eq%20'Virtual%20Machines'%20and%20armSkuName%20eq%20'Standard_D4s_v5'%20and%20priceType%20eq%20'Reservation'"

$filter = "serviceName eq 'Virtual Machines' and armSkuName eq 'Standard_D4s_v5' and priceType eq 'Reservation'"
$response = Invoke-RestMethod "https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?`$filter=$filter"
$response.Items | Select-Object armSkuName, retailPrice, reservationTerm, meterName

Non-USD currency

Append currencyCode parameter:

GET https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?currencyCode='EUR'&$filter=serviceName eq 'Virtual Machines' and armSkuName eq 'Standard_D4s_v5'

curl -s "https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?currencyCode='EUR'&\$filter=serviceName%20eq%20'Virtual%20Machines'%20and%20armSkuName%20eq%20'Standard_D4s_v5'"

$filter = "serviceName eq 'Virtual Machines' and armSkuName eq 'Standard_D4s_v5'"
$response = Invoke-RestMethod "https://prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices?currencyCode='EUR'&`$filter=$filter"
$response.Items | Select-Object armSkuName, retailPrice, currencyCode, meterName

Available Filters

Filter	Example Value	Notes
serviceName	'Virtual Machines'	Case-sensitive in preview API
armRegionName	'eastus', 'westeurope'	ARM region name
armSkuName	'Standard_D4s_v5'	Full ARM SKU name
priceType	'Consumption', 'Reservation'	Pay-as-you-go vs reserved
serviceFamily	'Compute'	Broad category
productName	'Virtual Machines Dv5 Series'	Product line
meterName	'D4s v5', 'D4s v5 Spot'	Includes Spot and Low Priority

Warning: Filter values are case-sensitive in API version 2023-01-01-preview and later.

Response Fields

Field	Description
armSkuName	ARM SKU name (e.g., Standard_D4s_v5)
retailPrice	Microsoft retail price (USD unless overridden)
unitOfMeasure	Usually 1 Hour for VMs
armRegionName	Region code
meterName	Human-readable meter (includes "Spot" / "Low Priority" variants)
productName	Product line with OS (e.g., "Virtual Machines Dv5 Series Windows")
type	Consumption, Reservation, or DevTestConsumption
reservationTerm	1 Year or 3 Years (reservation only)
savingsPlan	Array with term and unitPrice (preview API only)
isPrimaryMeterRegion	Filter to true to avoid duplicate regional meters

Pagination

API returns max 1,000 records per request. Follow NextPageLink in the response to get more:

{ "NextPageLink": "https://prices.azure.com:443/api/retail/prices?$filter=...&$skip=1000" }

Tips for Recommendations

1. Filter Linux vs Windows: productName contains the OS — e.g., 'Virtual Machines Dv5 Series' (Linux) vs 'Virtual Machines Dv5 Series Windows'
2. Use isPrimaryMeterRegion eq true to deduplicate
3. Compare Consumption + Reservation + Savings Plan for full cost picture
4. Monthly estimate: retailPrice × 730 (hours/month)
5. Spot pricing: Filter meterName containing 'Spot' for discounted interruptible VMs