Cost clarification for Azure Load Balancer

Question

Cost clarification for Azure Load Balancer

RajKumar Kannan 160

Hi team,

We reviewed our FOCUS cost report for a Standard Load Balancer that has no backend address pool, no outbound rule, no inbound NAT rule, and no inbound NAT pool attached (only a frontend IP configuration, which is always present by default). For this resource, we found no "Data Processed (GB)" cost line item only the fixed hourly charge.

Could you confirm:

Is it confirmed that a Load Balancer with nothing attached (no backend pool, no outbound rule, no inbound NAT rule, no inbound NAT pool) will not incur any cost beyond the fixed hourly charge specifically, no Data Processed (GB) cost?
Is there any scenario where Data Processed (GB) charges could still appear for such a Load Balancer even with nothing attached for example, health probes, platform-level traffic, or any other background mechanism we may not be aware of?

We want to confirm this so we can reliably use "no rules/pools attached" as a basis for identifying zero-traffic/orphaned Load Balancers in our cost reports.

Sindhuja Dasari 2,115 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-29T13:19:19.3833333+00:00
Thank you for your detailed query.

Based on the current Azure Load Balancer pricing model and behaviour:

1. Cost when no rules or backend pool are configured

Yes, your observation is correct.

A Standard Load Balancer that only has a frontend IP configuration and no backend pool, no load-balancing rules, no inbound NAT rules, and no outbound rules is considered an idle resource. In this state:

Only the fixed hourly/resource charge applies

There will be no “Data Processed (GB)” charges, since the Load Balancer is not handling any traffic

2. Possibility of Data Processed charges without configuration

No, under the described configuration, there are no scenarios where Data Processed (GB) charges would occur.

Data processing charges are incurred only when traffic flows through configured rules (inbound/outbound/load-balancing)

Health probes and datapath activity apply only when a backend pool and rules are configured and in use

Since your Load Balancer has no backend pool or rules, it does not participate in any datapath traffic.

You can reliably treat a Load Balancer with no backend pool and no rules attached as:

Idle (zero traffic)

Incurring only fixed hourly cost

Not generating any Data Processed (GB) charges

This approach can be safely used to identify unused or orphaned Load Balancers in cost analysis.

Refer: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/load-balancer/
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-custom-probe-overview
RajKumar Kannan 160 Reputation points

2026-06-30T03:53:50.7433333+00:00

Hi Sindhuja,
I created a load balancer resource with (frontend IP configuration and no backend pool, no load-balancing rules, no inbound NAT rules, and no outbound rules) this configuration, but in focus cost report i cant find any cost for the load balancer, so when no rules and no data processed it become no cost. Please clarify this

Answer accepted by question author

Sindhuja Dasari 2,115 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello @RajKumar Kannan

For Standard Load Balancer, charges are only incurred when rules are configured or data is processed. Since your Load Balancer has no rules and no traffic, no billing meters are triggered, and therefore the cost is $0, which is why it does not appear in the FOCUS cost report.
Pleaseand “up-vote” wherever the information provided helps you, **this can be beneficial to other community members.

RajKumar Kannan 160 Reputation points

2026-07-01T05:25:18.1833333+00:00

HI Sindhuja ,

Thankyou for you response , as you mentioned Standard Load Balancer , is that only applicable for standard type?
Sindhuja Dasari 2,115 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-01T05:46:19.9033333+00:00
Hello @RajKumar Kannan

Yes, this applies to Standard Load Balancer.

For Standard LB, charges occur only when:

Rules are configured, or

Data is processed

Since your Load Balancer has no rules and no traffic, the cost remains $0, which is expected.

For Basic Load Balancer (retired), it was free of charge, but it is no longer supported
RajKumar Kannan 160 Reputation points

2026-07-01T06:47:37.7766667+00:00

Hi @Sindhuja Dasari
what about the other types in application gateway?
Sindhuja Dasari 2,115 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-01T08:51:07.89+00:00
Hello @RajKumar Kannan

For Application Gateway, the tiers differ mainly in features and cost model:

Basic → Lower-cost option with limited features (no autoscaling)

Standard v2 → Full Layer‑7 load balancing with autoscaling and high availability

WAF v2 → Same as Standard v2 + built‑in Web Application Firewall for security

Cost behaviour

Unlike Load Balancer, Application Gateway always incurs cost once it is provisioned, even if no traffic is flowing, as a minimum capacity is maintained

The cost consists of:

Fixed cost (Gateway-hour) → Charged as long as the gateway is running

Capacity units → Additional cost based on traffic/load processed

Even with zero traffic:

Load Balancer → $0 (if no rules)

Application Gateway → Still incurs base hourly cost

Understanding pricing - Azure Application Gateway | Microsoft Learn

1 additional answer

Your answer

Sindhuja Dasari 2,115 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-29T13:19:19.3833333+00:00

Thank you for your detailed query.

Based on the current Azure Load Balancer pricing model and behaviour:

1. Cost when no rules or backend pool are configured

Yes, your observation is correct.

A Standard Load Balancer that only has a frontend IP configuration and no backend pool, no load-balancing rules, no inbound NAT rules, and no outbound rules is considered an idle resource. In this state:

Only the fixed hourly/resource charge applies

There will be no “Data Processed (GB)” charges, since the Load Balancer is not handling any traffic

2. Possibility of Data Processed charges without configuration

No, under the described configuration, there are no scenarios where Data Processed (GB) charges would occur.

Data processing charges are incurred only when traffic flows through configured rules (inbound/outbound/load-balancing)

Health probes and datapath activity apply only when a backend pool and rules are configured and in use

Since your Load Balancer has no backend pool or rules, it does not participate in any datapath traffic.

You can reliably treat a Load Balancer with no backend pool and no rules attached as:

Idle (zero traffic)

Incurring only fixed hourly cost

Not generating any Data Processed (GB) charges

This approach can be safely used to identify unused or orphaned Load Balancers in cost analysis.

Refer: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/load-balancer/
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-custom-probe-overview
RajKumar Kannan 160 Reputation points

2026-06-30T03:53:50.7433333+00:00

Hi Sindhuja,
I created a load balancer resource with (frontend IP configuration and no backend pool, no load-balancing rules, no inbound NAT rules, and no outbound rules) this configuration, but in focus cost report i cant find any cost for the load balancer, so when no rules and no data processed it become no cost. Please clarify this
RajKumar Kannan 160 Reputation points

2026-07-01T05:25:18.1833333+00:00

HI Sindhuja ,

Thankyou for you response , as you mentioned Standard Load Balancer , is that only applicable for standard type?
Sindhuja Dasari 2,115 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-01T05:46:19.9033333+00:00

Hello @RajKumar Kannan

Yes, this applies to Standard Load Balancer.

For Standard LB, charges occur only when:

Rules are configured, or

Data is processed

Since your Load Balancer has no rules and no traffic, the cost remains $0, which is expected.

For Basic Load Balancer (retired), it was free of charge, but it is no longer supported
RajKumar Kannan 160 Reputation points

2026-07-01T06:47:37.7766667+00:00

Hi @Sindhuja Dasari
what about the other types in application gateway?
Sindhuja Dasari 2,115 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-01T08:51:07.89+00:00

Hello @RajKumar Kannan

For Application Gateway, the tiers differ mainly in features and cost model:

Basic → Lower-cost option with limited features (no autoscaling)

Standard v2 → Full Layer‑7 load balancing with autoscaling and high availability

WAF v2 → Same as Standard v2 + built‑in Web Application Firewall for security

Cost behaviour

Unlike Load Balancer, Application Gateway always incurs cost once it is provisioned, even if no traffic is flowing, as a minimum capacity is maintained

The cost consists of:

Fixed cost (Gateway-hour) → Charged as long as the gateway is running

Capacity units → Additional cost based on traffic/load processed

Even with zero traffic:

Load Balancer → $0 (if no rules)

Application Gateway → Still incurs base hourly cost

Understanding pricing - Azure Application Gateway | Microsoft Learn

Answer 1

A Standard Load Balancer without any backend pools or rules is still billable as a resource, but it does not generate data-processing charges because it is not actively handling traffic.

From the networking FinOps guidance:

Standard SKU load balancers incur costs even when idle, so removing unused instances can reduce unnecessary spending.
"Idle" in this context explicitly refers to load balancers without backend pool targets that are not actively distributing traffic.

Applied to the questions:

Cost when nothing is attached
A Standard Load Balancer with:
- no backend address pool,
- no outbound rule,
- no inbound NAT rule,
- no inbound NAT pool,
is an idle load balancer. For such a resource, only the fixed hourly (resource) charge applies. There is no data processing because there is no traffic being distributed, so no "Data Processed (GB)" line item should appear.
Any scenario where Data Processed (GB) could still appear
Data processing charges are tied to the amount of data the Load Balancer processes and the number of inbound/outbound rules. The FinOps and architecture guidance both emphasize:
- "Factor load balancing expenses into your cost model. Consider primary factors, such as the amount of data that Load Balancer processes and the number of inbound and outbound load balancing rules."
- "Standard SKU load balancers incur costs even when idle" — but this refers to the resource charge, not data processing.
With no backend pool and no rules, the load balancer is not distributing traffic, so there is no customer data flow to meter. Platform-level mechanisms (such as health probes) are associated with rules and backend instances; without those, there is no rule-driven traffic to bill. Therefore, there is no scenario described in the provided guidance where "Data Processed (GB)" charges would appear for a load balancer that truly has no backend pools and no rules.

This aligns with using "no rules/pools attached" as a reliable basis to identify zero-traffic/orphaned Standard Load Balancers in cost reports: such resources will still show the fixed hourly charge but not data-processing charges.

References: