Azure to raise VM and storage prices in several regions and legacy VMs by about 25%

Microsoft has started notifying customers of two Azure price increases that take effect February 1, 2027, according to an October 5 analysis by cost management firm nOps. Virtual machine and most storage prices will rise in several regions: 17% in North Europe (Dublin), 11% in France Central and France South, 9% in West Europe (Amsterdam) and Norway, and 8% in Southeast Asia (Singapore). Separately, older v1 and v2 VM series will rise about 25% in all regions. Reservations purchased on or after February 1, 2027 can no longer be exchanged.

Pay-as-you-go, Enterprise Agreement and Microsoft Customer Agreement rates take the full increase on February 1. Businesses still running older VM families, such as Dv2, Dsv2, Av2 or D-series, will pay more for hardware that is already scheduled to retire, with Dv2 and Dsv2 retiring May 1, 2028. Microsoft attributes the regional change to market conditions and investment in newer hardware.

Ask your cloud provider or MSP for a list of your Azure resources by region and VM series, and an estimate of the 2027 impact. Moving legacy VMs to current series before February may avoid the increase and the eventual retirement. If you plan to buy reservations, consider doing so before February while exchanges are still allowed, and confirm with your Microsoft account team how existing reservations and savings plans will be treated, since the notice does not say.

For US-based businesses, the regional increases may not apply directly, but the legacy VM increase does. It is a good time to review cloud commitments alongside any 2027 budget planning.