I'm looking to set up a few new app services and I've noticed that the Premium V4 tier is now available. However, I can't find the V4 pricing listed in the portal, but when I use the Azure pricing calculator, it shows that V4 is actually cheaper than V3. For instance, in the East US region, the pay-as-you-go price for P1V4 is $174/month, while P1V3 costs $230/month. I expected the newer V4 to be pricier because it's a higher performance version. Am I misunderstanding something about this pricing?
5 Answers
It's worth mentioning that V3 is already cheaper than the original premium options. A lot of people are sticking with V3 right now because you can get Reservations, which makes it a better deal overall compared to V4, at least until they introduce a similar option for V4.
It’s a common misconception that newer tech is always more expensive. In many cases, newer services can be priced lower to encourage adoption, especially if they’re designed to handle more efficient capabilities.
One possible reason for the price difference is that newer hardware can be more cost-effective to operate. Microsoft might be trying to entice users to switch to the Premium V4 tier by offering it at a lower price, and eventually phase out the older V3 tier.
Keep in mind that V4 doesn't offer stable outbound IP addresses right now. Check the official Azure docs for details. Also, we recently set up a V4 app service through the CLI in US East 2, despite the pricing not being noted yet, so it seems like you can still use it even if it's not fully documented in the portal.
Interestingly, I found that in some regions like West Europe, V4 is actually more expensive, while it’s cheaper in North Europe. I think it largely hinges on the demand and server capacity in different locations.
Ha! Just wait until they crank the prices up once everyone is hooked on V4!