specification: API Commons Plans
specificationVersion: '0.1'
schema: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/interface-research/main/schema/api-commons.yml#/$defs/Plans
provider: Azure Databricks
providerId: azure-databricks
created: '2026-05-04'
# Provenance stamped 2026-08-11: this artifact was written by the API Evangelist
# bulk sweep dated 2026-05-04, not harvested from the provider. See roadmap#35.
method: generated
modified: '2026-05-05'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - Analytics
  - Big Data
  - Data Engineering
  - Lakehouse
  - Machine Learning
  - Spark
description: Azure Databricks is priced as DBUs (Databricks Units) per second of compute consumption,
  separately metered from the underlying Azure VM cost. Two tiers (Standard and Premium) bundle different
  workspace features; workload type (All-Purpose, Jobs, SQL, Model Serving, DLT) determines the per-DBU
  rate. Customers also pay the Azure compute, storage, and network charges associated with their cluster
  VMs. Photon-enabled compute consumes DBUs at higher multipliers. See Azure pricing calculator for
  the exact per-DBU rate by region and workload.
sources:
  - https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/databricks/
  - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/databricks/admin/account-settings/usage
plans:
  - id: azure-databricks-free-edition
    name: Databricks Free Edition
    type: freemium
    description: Limited free environment for learning and evaluation. Restricted compute, storage, and
      API throughput.
    entries:
      - label: Free trial workspace
        name: free_trial
        type: quota
        metric: month
        limit: 1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '0.00'
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Sandbox compute
      - name: Limited Genie API throughput (5 questions/min)
      - name: Tutorial datasets
  - id: azure-databricks-standard
    name: Standard Tier
    type: usage-based
    description: DBU-priced compute across All-Purpose, Jobs, DLT, SQL, and Model Serving workloads.
      Plus Azure VM, storage, and network cost.
    entries:
      - label: All-Purpose Compute DBU
        name: all_purpose_dbu_standard
        type: metered
        metric: DBU
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: see Azure pricing calculator (per-region $/DBU)
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Jobs Compute DBU
        name: jobs_dbu_standard
        type: metered
        metric: DBU
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: see Azure pricing calculator
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: SQL Compute DBU
        name: sql_dbu_standard
        type: metered
        metric: DBU
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: see Azure pricing calculator
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Underlying Azure VM
        name: vm
        type: metered
        metric: instance-hour
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: see Azure VM pricing
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Apache Spark and Photon engine
      - name: Delta Lake / Unity Catalog
      - name: MLflow tracking
      - name: Notebooks, jobs, dashboards
  - id: azure-databricks-premium
    name: Premium Tier
    type: usage-based
    description: All Standard features plus role-based access control, audit logging, customer-managed
      keys, IP access lists, token management, and conditional authentication. Higher per-DBU rate.
    entries:
      - label: All-Purpose Compute DBU (Premium)
        name: all_purpose_dbu_premium
        type: metered
        metric: DBU
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: see Azure pricing calculator (premium uplift)
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Jobs Compute DBU (Premium)
        name: jobs_dbu_premium
        type: metered
        metric: DBU
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: see Azure pricing calculator
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: SQL Compute DBU (Premium)
        name: sql_dbu_premium
        type: metered
        metric: DBU
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: see Azure pricing calculator
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: All Standard features
      - name: Table access control / Unity Catalog row-column security
      - name: Audit logs
      - name: Customer-managed keys
      - name: IP access lists
      - name: Conditional authentication
  - id: azure-databricks-pre-purchase
    name: Databricks Commit Units (DBCU) Pre-Purchase
    type: subscription
    description: 1- or 3-year pre-purchased commitment of DBCUs for discounted DBU consumption.
    entries:
      - label: 1-year DBCU pre-purchase
        name: dbcu_1y
        type: subscription
        metric: contract
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: year
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: discount up to ~37% vs PAYG
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: 3-year DBCU pre-purchase
        name: dbcu_3y
        type: subscription
        metric: contract
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: year
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: discount higher than 1-year tier
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Up-front discount on DBU rate
      - name: Cross-workload coverage
      - name: Applied automatically against DBU consumption
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com
x-canonical:
  generated: '2026-10-08'
  vocabulary: all/0-working/economics/plans-canonical.yml
  models:
  - free
  - metered
  - subscription
  units:
  - compute
  - credit
  - negotiated
  - period
  plans:
  - name: Databricks Free Edition
    access: freemium
    model: free
    model_how: derived
    units:
    - period
    periods:
    - month
  - name: Standard Tier
    access: other
    model: metered
    model_how: stated
    units:
    - compute
    - credit
    periods:
    - per-use
  - name: Premium Tier
    access: other
    model: metered
    model_how: stated
    units:
    - credit
    periods:
    - per-use
  - name: Databricks Commit Units (DBCU) Pre-Purchase
    access: other
    model: subscription
    model_how: stated
    units:
    - negotiated
    periods:
    - year
  - name: Jobs Compute (Premium)
    access: other
    model: metered
    model_how: stated
    units:
    - credit
    periods:
    - hour
  - name: All-Purpose Compute (Premium)
    access: other
    model: metered
    model_how: stated
    units:
    - credit
    periods:
    - hour
  - name: All-Purpose Compute (Standard - retiring)
    access: other
    model: metered
    model_how: stated
    units:
    - credit
    periods:
    - hour
  - name: Databricks SQL Serverless (Premium)
    access: other
    model: metered
    model_how: stated
    units:
    - credit
    periods:
    - hour
  - name: Model Serving
    access: other
    model: metered
    model_how: stated
    units:
    - credit
    periods:
    - hour
  - name: DBCU Pre-Purchase
    access: enterprise
    model: subscription
    model_how: derived
    units:
    - other
    periods:
    - year