Microsoft Fabric is a new analytics solution that aims to reshape how everyone accesses, manages, and acts on data and insights. It offers a comprehensive suite of services, including data lake, data engineering, data science, and business intelligence, all in one place. With Fabric, you can create a lakehouse that is based on low-cost and directly-accessible cloud storage in open formats. You can also leverage powerful AI models and tools to accelerate your analysis and empower everyone in your organization to act on insights.
But how much does Microsoft Fabric cost? And what are the factors that you need to consider when choosing a Fabric capacity for your needs? In this blog post, we will answer these questions and help you understand the Microsoft Fabric pricing model.
Microsoft Fabric pricing overview
Microsoft Fabric operates on two types of SKUs (Stock Keeping Units): Azure and Microsoft 365. Azure SKUs are the recommended option for Microsoft Fabric, as they offer more flexibility and features than Microsoft 365 SKUs. Microsoft 365 SKUs are Power BI SKUs that also support Fabric when it is enabled on top of your Power BI subscription.
Azure SKUs are billed per second with no commitment. You can use your Azure capacity for as long as you want without any commitment. Pricing is regional and billing is made on a per second basis with a minimum of one minute. You can also scale your capacity up or down, pause and resume your capacity, and monitor your usage and costs using Azure tools.
Microsoft 365 SKUs are billed monthly or yearly, with a monthly commitment. You can use your Microsoft 365 capacity for a fixed period of time with a fixed price. Pricing is global and billing is made on a monthly or yearly basis. You cannot scale your capacity up or down, pause and resume your capacity, or monitor your usage and costs using Microsoft 365 tools.
Both Azure and Microsoft 365 SKUs provide a shared pool of capacity that powers all capabilities in Microsoft Fabric, from data modeling and data warehousing to business intelligence. The capacity is measured by its Capacity Unit (CU) value, which indicates the amount of computing power available. The higher the CU value, the higher the performance and the price.
You can view the detailed list of Microsoft Fabric capacities and their prices on the official website. You can also use the Azure pricing calculator to estimate your costs based on your region and usage.
Factors to consider when choosing a Microsoft Fabric capacity
When choosing a Microsoft Fabric capacity for your needs, there are several factors that you need to consider, such as:
- Your data volume and variety: How much data do you have and what types of data do you have? Do you have structured, semi-structured, or unstructured data? Do you have files, streams, or APIs? Do you have relational databases, NoSQL databases, or other sources? The more data you have and the more diverse your data sources are, the more storage and processing power you will need.
- Your data velocity and frequency: How fast do you ingest and update your data? Do you have real-time or batch data? How often do you refresh your data? The faster and more frequent your data ingestion and refreshment are, the more storage and processing power you will need.
- Your data quality and governance: How clean and consistent is your data? Do you have any data quality issues or anomalies? Do you have any data governance policies or rules? How do you ensure compliance and security of your data? The more quality and governance requirements you have for your data, the more storage and processing power you will need.
- Your analytics complexity and scale: How complex and advanced are your analytics tasks? Do you perform simple queries or complex transformations? Do you use basic statistics or advanced AI models? How many users and workloads do you have? The more complex and scalable your analytics tasks are, the more computing power you will need.
- Your reporting needs and expectations: How do you visualize and share your insights? Do you use simple charts or interactive dashboards? Do you have any custom calculations or filters? How many reports and viewers do you have? The more sophisticated and demanding your reporting needs are, the more computing power you will need.
Based on these factors, you can choose a Microsoft Fabric capacity that suits your needs. You can also compare different capacities using the performance benchmark provided by Microsoft. You can also test different capacities using the free trial offered by Microsoft.
Conclusion
In this blog post, we have unveiled the Microsoft Fabric pricing model and explained what you need to consider when choosing a Microsoft Fabric capacity for your needs. By using Microsoft Fabric, you can enjoy a highly integrated, end-to-end, and easy-to-use product that is designed to simplify your analytics needs. You can also benefit from the features and capabilities of OneLake, Data Engineering, Data Science, and Power BI that work together seamlessly on a single platform.
If you want to learn more about Microsoft Fabric or try it for yourself, you can visit the official website or sign up for a free trial. You can also check out the following resources for more information:
FAQs
- What is the difference between Azure SKUs and Microsoft 365 SKUs for Microsoft Fabric?
- Azure SKUs are the recommended option for Microsoft Fabric, as they offer more flexibility and features than Microsoft 365 SKUs. Azure SKUs are billed per second with no commitment, and you can scale, pause, resume, and monitor your capacity using Azure tools. Microsoft 365 SKUs are Power BI SKUs that also support Fabric when it is enabled on top of your Power BI subscription. Microsoft 365 SKUs are billed monthly or yearly, with a monthly commitment, and you cannot scale, pause, resume, or monitor your capacity using Microsoft 365 tools.
- How do I buy a Microsoft Fabric capacity?
- To buy a Microsoft Fabric capacity, you need to sign up for a Microsoft Fabric trial. Once you have an account, you can access OneLake from the Microsoft Fabric homepage. You can then use the Buy Capacity button to purchase an Azure SKU or a Microsoft 365 SKU for your organization. You can also use the Azure portal to buy an Azure SKU.
- How do I manage my Microsoft Fabric capacity?
- To manage your Microsoft Fabric capacity, you need to be an admin of your capacity. You can use the Capacity Settings tab from the Microsoft Fabric homepage to view and edit your capacity details, such as name, region, size, and administrator. You can also use the Capacity Usage tab to view and analyze your capacity usage and costs. If you have an Azure SKU, you can also use the Azure portal to scale, pause, resume, and monitor your capacity.