Database for MySQL
Azure Database for MySQL — commitment brief
Data sourced: March 2026. Verify current figures at the Azure Pricing Calculator.
Coverage summary
Azure Database for MySQL — Flexible Server supports two commitment instruments: reserved capacity (1-yr and 3-yr) for compute costs, with discounts up to ~67% vs. pay-as-you-go depending on region and performance tier, and the Azure Database Savings Plan (1-yr only) which covers infrastructure and software IP costs across Azure MySQL and other managed database services. Reservations are scoped to a region, performance tier, hardware generation, and vCore count. The legacy Single Server product has been retired — only Flexible Server is eligible. The standard Azure Compute Savings Plan does not cover managed database services.
What is covered: vCore compute costs for Flexible Server instances across Burstable, General Purpose, and Memory-Optimized tiers.
What is not covered: Storage (billed per GB), backup storage, networking/egress, I/O operations, software costs. Compute consumption beyond the reserved vCore count is billed at pay-as-you-go rates. The Azure Compute Savings Plan does not cover MySQL.
Azure Hybrid Benefit
Not applicable. MySQL is open-source with no Microsoft-owned software license component. AHB is not available for this service.
SKU / tier coverage
Flexible Server — General Purpose
✅ Yes
✅ Yes (DB SP)
varies by region
up to ~67%
DB Savings Plan provides flexible 1-yr alternative to reservation
Flexible Server — Memory-Optimized
✅ Yes
✅ Yes (DB SP)
varies by region
up to ~67%
Flexible Server — Burstable
✅ Yes
✅ Yes (DB SP)
varies by region
varies
Reservable but not recommended for production HA workloads; no Read Replica support
Single Server (all tiers)
❌ No
❌ No
—
—
Retired; no new reservations available
Reservation vs. Azure Database Savings Plan
Reservation: Scoped to a specific region, performance tier, hardware generation, and vCore count. Delivers discounts up to ~67% at 3-yr for stable Flexible Server deployments. Reservations do not auto-renew. Reservations purchased on Ddsv4/Edsv4 hardware automatically apply to qualifying v5 instances in the same region and tier.
Azure Database Savings Plan (1-yr only): Hourly spend commitment covering infrastructure and software IP costs across Azure Database for MySQL, Azure SQL Database, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Azure Cosmos DB, and other eligible managed database services. Flexible — automatically applies across regions and eligible database engines. Best for organizations with mixed database estates or workloads that shift regions. Up to ~35% savings vs. pay-as-you-go. The standard Azure Compute Savings Plan does not cover MySQL.
Regional availability
Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server reservations are available in all commercial Azure regions where the service is deployed. Reservations are region-scoped and performance-tier-scoped. Hardware generation availability varies by region — newer generations (Ddsv4, Edsv4, and v5 equivalents) may not be available in all regions; a reservation on an older hardware generation automatically applies to qualifying newer-generation instances in the same region and tier.
Notable exclusions: Azure Government and Azure China regions are not supported for MySQL Flexible Server reservations. Zone-redundant high availability is only available in regions with multiple availability zones, which may affect reservation sizing decisions.
⚠️ Availability varies by SKU and region. Always verify in the Azure portal or via the Azure Retail Pricing API before purchasing.
Archera
Azure Database for MySQL — Flexible Server is within Archera's commitment management scope. Archera can automate reservation purchase, monitor vCore utilization by tier, and wrap commitments in a GRI/GSP — eliminating downside risk on over-committed database compute. The Azure Database Savings Plan is also available as a flexible alternative for organizations with mixed database estates.
Sources
⚠️ Discount percentages vary by region, tier, and vCore count. Azure Database Savings Plan is 1-yr term only as of March 2026. Always verify with the Azure Pricing Calculator.
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