Azure Virtual Desktop Pricing Calculator

Estimate Azure Virtual Desktop costs in USD. Model peak concurrency, VM runtime, profile and OS storage, other infrastructure, and user access rights.

How many people need a virtual desktop

270 users expected to be connected at the busiest time

≈ 217 hours per month

Set by the workload and session type above — replace it with your own East US Azure quote

Starting allowance for each session host OS disk — replace it with your selected disk tier

Add networking, data disks, identity, backup, monitoring, and other deployment-wide charges

Your Azure Virtual Desktop cost estimate

$8.57
Per user / month
$2,570.64
Total per month
$30,847.68
Total per year
5
Session host VMs needed

Where the money goes (per user)

Compute (session hosts)$2.78 · 32%
Storage (FSLogix profiles)$5.70 · 67%
Storage (session host OS disks)$0.09 · 1%
Networking & other infrastructure$0.00 · 0%
Licensing$0.00 · 0%

All amounts are USD. Defaults reflect public Azure pay-as-you-go pricing for East US in 2026 and include a starting OS-disk allowance. Networking and other deployment-specific infrastructure start at $0 until you enter them. Every figure is editable, and all calculations run in your browser — nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.

See What Azure Virtual Desktop Actually Costs

Azure prices compute by the hour, but that number alone will not tell you what a deployment costs. Peak concurrency changes how many pooled virtual machines you need, eligible internal-user licenses remove the AVD access fee, and OS disks, networking, and related infrastructure add charges beyond compute and profiles. This calculator keeps those inputs visible so you can build a more complete USD estimate.

Pooled · Personal · Auto-Scale

Why Use This Calculator?

Built on Real Multi-Session Math

Microsoft's sizing guidance applies to concurrent sessions, not total headcount. Enter your peak concurrency and workload, and the calculator sizes pooled hosts from the users expected online at the busiest time.

Licensing You Might Already Own

Most Microsoft 365 and Windows Enterprise plans already include Azure Virtual Desktop access rights for internal users. Per-user Remote App Streaming pricing is offered separately and only for external users.

Auto-Scaling, Not Just 24/7

The biggest saving over on-premises VDI usually comes from turning machines off outside work hours. Change the weekly runtime and watch the compute cost scale with it.

Private by Design

Budget figures are sensitive. Every number is calculated in your browser, and nothing you type is uploaded, logged, or stored.

How this Azure Virtual Desktop Pricing Calculator works

Azure Virtual Desktop bills several resources separately: session-host compute, profile and operating-system storage, networking, related infrastructure, and user access rights. This calculator keeps those costs visible in one USD estimate instead of hiding them behind a flat per-user rate.

Start with total headcount and choose pooled or personal host pools. Pooled capacity depends on the number of people connected at the same time, so enter peak concurrency separately. The calculator applies Microsoft's workload guidance to that peak: light workloads allow six concurrent users per vCPU, medium workloads four, and heavy workloads two. Personal desktops still assign one VM to every user.

Usage hours change compute cost just as much as VM size. Switching between business hours, extended hours, and always-on updates VM runtime immediately. Profile storage scales with total users, while operating-system disks scale with the VM count. Enter deployment-wide networking, data-disk, identity, backup, monitoring, or other charges in the additional infrastructure field so they are not omitted from the total.

Internal users need eligible Microsoft 365 or Windows access rights, which add no separate AVD service fee. The per-user full-desktop and apps-only presets are exclusively for external users enrolled in Remote App Streaming pricing; they are not a substitute for licensing employees. Defaults use public East US USD rates as starting estimates, every field is editable, and all calculations stay in your browser.

How to use this Azure Virtual Desktop Pricing Calculator

1

Set users, concurrency, and session type

Enter total headcount, estimate peak concurrent sessions for a pooled deployment, and choose pooled or personal desktops.

2

Enter workload and infrastructure costs

Choose the workload and runtime, then review profile storage, OS disk, networking, and other infrastructure charges.

3

Read your estimate

See the per-user, monthly, and yearly cost, plus exactly how many session host VMs you will need.

Example Usage

A 300-user pooled deployment with 270 peak concurrent sessions, medium workload, business hours, and AVD access already covered by Microsoft 365:

Input
300 users · 90% peak concurrency · Pooled · Medium workload · Business hours (50 hrs/week) · Licensed via Microsoft 365
Output
$8.57 per user / month $2,570.64 per month $30,847.68 per year 5 session host VMs

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Azure Virtual Desktop cost per user?
Most organizations land between $10 and $60 per user per month for compute and storage, depending on workload, session type, and how many hours the host pool runs. Light task workers on auto-scaled pooled desktops sit at the low end; power users on dedicated, always-on machines sit at the high end. Licensing is often already covered by plans you own, which is why entering that correctly changes the total so much.
Do I have to pay for Azure Virtual Desktop itself, or just the Azure resources?
There's no separate Azure Virtual Desktop service fee for internal users who have an eligible Microsoft 365 or Windows license. You still pay for Azure infrastructure — session host virtual machines, OS disks, profile storage, networking, and related services. Microsoft's per-user Remote App Streaming price is only for external users; an internal employee without eligible access rights must be assigned a qualifying license instead.
Which Microsoft licenses make Azure Virtual Desktop free to access?
Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Premium, and F3, along with Windows 10/11 Enterprise E3 and E5, all include Azure Virtual Desktop access rights at no additional cost. If your organization already holds one of these plans for its users, turn on the licensing toggle and the calculator removes the per-user license line.
What's the difference between pooled and personal host pools?
Pooled host pools let multiple people share the same session host virtual machine, which is what makes multi-session pricing so much cheaper per user. Personal host pools assign one dedicated virtual machine to each user, similar to a traditional VDI desktop, and cost more because there's no sharing to spread the compute bill across.
How many users can share one session host VM?
It depends on workload and peak concurrency. Microsoft's sizing guidance suggests six concurrent users per vCPU for light workloads, four for medium workloads, and two for heavy workloads, applied to a shared host sized for that workload. Enter the percentage of your total users expected to be connected at the busiest time; the calculator sizes pooled hosts from that peak rather than assuming everyone signs in at once. Personal desktops use one dedicated VM per user.
How much can scheduling or auto-scaling reduce my bill?
A host pool that only runs 50 hours a week during business hours instead of all 168 hours costs roughly 70% less in compute than one running non-stop, since Azure Virtual Desktop bills the underlying VMs by the hour. Scaling plans that start and stop session hosts automatically capture most of this saving without any manual work.
What size should FSLogix profile storage be?
Most user profiles managed through FSLogix stay between 5 GB and 20 GB, though the container can grow to a default maximum of 30 GB. Thirty gigabytes per user on Azure Files Premium is a safe starting point for this calculator; heavy Office and Teams cache usage can push individual profiles higher.
Do I need RDS CALs for Azure Virtual Desktop?
Only if your session hosts run Windows Server instead of Windows 10 or 11 multi-session. Deployments built on Windows 10/11 Enterprise multi-session, which is the standard Azure Virtual Desktop setup, don't need Remote Desktop Services CALs at all.
Can reserved instances or savings plans lower these numbers further?
Yes. Committing to a one- or three-year Azure reservation or savings plan for the VM sizes you use can cut compute costs by as much as 70% compared to pay-as-you-go rates. This calculator uses pay-as-you-go pricing by default, so treat a reservation as an additional discount on top of the compute figure shown here.
What's the difference between the full-desktop and apps-only access fee?
The full-desktop rate covers a complete Windows session — the whole desktop, start menu and all. The apps-only rate covers RemoteApp access, where only specific published applications open in their own window instead of a full desktop. In this calculator, that preset changes the Microsoft access fee only. If your apps-only deployment also uses smaller or fewer session hosts, adjust the VM size or hourly rate separately to reflect that.
Does this calculator store or send my data anywhere?
No. Every calculation runs locally in your browser. The user counts, VM rates, and licensing choices you enter never leave your device.

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