The Ultimate Guide to Azure Sentinel’s Pricing Model

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Information security has never been more crucial in the world of data protection as it is today, with organizations all around the world working hard to ensure their critical business data is secure.

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There are a litany of SIEM (security information and event management) tools available at your disposal. Still, many IT pros rely on Azure Sentinel from Microsoft – especially when they already use Microsoft’s proven suite of software for other applications. 

Many organizations want to ensure their important data is together in one place, stored securely in Microsoft’s cloud. Firms can use AI technologies to collect and analyze vast amounts of data across various development platforms. 

There are a lot of potential solutions out there online, though – could Azure Sentinel be the right one for your organization’s data security needs?

When considering possible platforms to manage your data, one of the first things you should consider is cost – is this solution going to be within your budget?

To answer that question, let’s explore the Azure Sentinel pricing model.

Exploring Azure Sentinel Pricing Options

The first thing to understand about Azure Sentinel pricing is that it can be challenging to try to develop an ideal price range on the service for everyone, because every organization has different needs.

The cost can also be significantly influenced by how entrenched you already are in the “Microsoft Garden” of technology. 

You should know that if you are already using Microsoft’s Azure service, the data is already there. The only new cost you would face is the price of Sentinel data analysis.

What if you are not a current user of any Microsoft services? You would need to start a new Microsoft Azure subscription and set up Azure Security Center.

In short, if your organization is not already reliant on Microsoft’s services, the costs can be higher, with more set-up time involved.

If you think your organization needs Azure Sentinel, however, you will be happy to know that there are several ways that you can choose to pay.

The following options explain the Azure Sentinel pricing model: 

• Commitment Tiers:

You will be billed at fixed rates depending on which tier you choose, and there are several to select from. Compared to the Pay-As-You-Go option, you will also receive a discount on your service.

You aren’t stuck in a single tier, either – you can opt-out or switch any time you’d like after 31 days of your first commitment. Select from the lower end (100GB per day at $1.23 per GB) up to the high end (5000GB per day at $0.87 per GB) with a range of flexible pricing options.

The prices mentioned here do not include any data ingestion charges related to Log Analytics.

• Pay-As-You-Go Option:

Would you prefer to pay for your data as you use it? This is a good option for organizations that might not use large amounts of data at a time for analysis. You pay a flat rate of $2.46 per GB.

Be careful if you think your organization might use more data – costs can quickly add up on this plan. Consider checking out some of the commitment tiers if you think you might have higher data needs.

• Free trial: 

If you would like to try out Microsoft’s Azure Sentinel with no commitments, then this is the option for you. Nobody wants to jump right into a new platform without getting a feel for it.

You can try out Azure Sentinel for no cost for 31 days. 

You should have an Azure Monitor Log Analytics workspace to take advantage of the free trial of Azure Sentinel.

If you end up using Azure Sentinel past the 31-day mark, you will begin to be billed, so make sure you opt out if you end up not liking the platform. 

Azure Log Analytics Pricing

It is important to remember that Azure Sentinel is a service built on Microsoft’s cloud data and analytics platform, Azure Log Analytics. It is similar in concept to Splunk, Inc.’s SIEM service, so if you are familiar with that platform, it won’t be too difficult to consider Azure Sentinel’s pricing vs. Splunk or other competitors.

When it comes to Azure Log Analytics, the pricing model works by ingested GB per month. The first 5 GB ingested each month is free, but any data after this point will run you $2.30 per GB each month.  

Azure Sentinel: What Pricing Option To Choose From?

When considering your Azure Sentinel costs, you should always think about how much data you are pushing into the system. Remember, you are paying for GB ingested, so the more you use your various Sentinel-related services, the more you will need to expect to pay.

Something else you should keep in mind is where your Azure Sentinel workspace is located.

You can often expect to pay more if you use the US West Datacenter instead of the US East, and the differences can sometimes be quite noticeable.

For example, Sentinel’s Pay-As-You-Go service costs $2.60 per GB in the West US, while it sits at only $2.00 per GB in the East US – a difference of 30% in price.

The Azure Sentinel pricing model is straightforward to understand when you have an idea of how much potential data you might push through the system, along with factoring in the location.

To help make things a little simpler when deciding if it is suitable for your needs, you can use Microsoft’s Azure pricing calculator to see how much the service might cost you.

Originally published 16 Aug 2021

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