Yes, Azure Cosmos DB offers a free tier that provides certain resources at no cost. It's not entirely free for unlimited usage, but a significant portion is available without charge.
Understanding the Azure Cosmos DB Free Tier
Azure Cosmos DB is a fully managed NoSQL and relational database for modern app development. While it is a powerful cloud service typically associated with pay-as-you-go pricing, Microsoft provides a generous free tier designed for development, testing, and running small applications.
Based on the reference provided:
- With Azure Cosmos DB free tier, you'll get the first 1000 RU/s and 25 GB of storage for free in an account.
This means that for the first 1000 Request Units per second (RU/s) of throughput and the first 25 GB of stored data within a single Azure account, you will not incur charges.
What the Free Tier Provides
The free tier is designed to help you get started with Cosmos DB easily and affordably.
Here's a breakdown of what the free tier includes:
| Resource | Free Amount | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Throughput | 1000 | Request Units per second (RU/s) |
| Storage | 25 | Gigabytes (GB) |
- Request Units (RU/s): This is a performance currency that abstracts system resources like CPU, memory, IOPS, etc. 1000 RU/s is sufficient for many common database operations (reads, writes, queries) for a small application or development environment.
- Storage: 25 GB is ample space for storing a considerable amount of data for initial projects or smaller datasets.
Who Benefits from the Free Tier?
The free tier is ideal for:
- Developers and Students: Learning about Cosmos DB, experimenting with its features, and building proof-of-concept applications.
- Small Applications: Running production workloads with low traffic and data storage requirements.
- Startups: Developing initial versions of their products without significant database costs.
- Testing Environments: Setting up environments for automated testing or manual quality assurance.
What Happens After Exceeding the Free Tier?
If your application's usage exceeds the limits of the free tier (either consistently using more than 1000 RU/s or storing more than 25 GB of data), you will be billed for the excess usage according to the standard Azure Cosmos DB pricing.
- Example: If your database grows to 30 GB, you will be charged for the additional 5 GB of storage. If your application frequently bursts over 1000 RU/s, you will be charged for the additional throughput provisioned or consumed above the free limit.
You can configure your Azure Cosmos DB account to utilize the free tier during creation. It's important to note that only one free-tier account is allowed per Azure subscription. If you create multiple Cosmos DB accounts within a subscription, only one can have the free tier benefits applied.
Getting Started with the Free Tier
To take advantage of the free tier:
- Create a new Azure Cosmos DB account in your Azure subscription.
- Ensure you select the option to apply the free tier discount during the account creation process.
This setup allows you to explore the capabilities of Azure Cosmos DB without immediate financial commitment, providing a great entry point into using this powerful database service.
