I've been looking into Azure because I had a pretty huge bill with another cloud provider (it got refunded, thank goodness), and now I'm researching platforms with spending limits to avoid crazy charges in the future. I'm a bit confused about Azure's spending limit feature. So from what I understand:
- It's automatically enabled for free or credit accounts,
- It prevents you from going over your included credits,
- You can't adjust it, you can only remove it,
- And it's not available for pay-as-you-go or commitment plans.
So, it seems that if you're not actually paying for services, you have protection, but if you're a paying customer, you're left with no caps on your spending. Am I interpreting this correctly?
5 Answers
That's a good point! Microsoft doesn’t want to be left exposed due to surprise shutdowns of services. It's a delicate balance between spending limits and operational reliability, especially since so many things can cause budget overruns in cloud computing.
Totally get your frustration. Azure's billing system can be confusing. With pay-as-you-go plans, you have to manage your spending manually, but there are tools like alert systems that can help. Just remember that if you choose a dev/test subscription, you can set hard limits.
Yes, you're spot on! The spending limit definitely looks like it's for those trying Azure for free. For paying customers, while you don't have a hard limit, you can set up budget alerts which will notify you if you're close to your budget. It's a bit frustrating for small businesses though, as a single unexpected charge can be tough to handle.
You can also set alerts with forecasted budgets using Azure tools, and even trigger actions if you hit certain thresholds. It won't stop you from spending, but it's helpful to stay informed before it gets out of hand.
Pretty much! Azure has some pretty wild pricing. They've put a lot of focus on ensuring their systems stay up, which sometimes means no spending caps for customers. It’s tough when you’re trying to keep your costs down and manage unexpected charges.
Exactly! Smaller companies can really get hit hard by unexpected bills. It seems like Azure prioritizes larger enterprises who can cover those costs.