Updated 26 October 2026 · Published by Zoorik
Amortized cost in Azure is a Microsoft Cost Management view that spreads each reservation or savings plan purchase over its term. Actual cost, the default view, shows it on the day you’re charged. Azure Marketplace purchases aren’t spread.
Amortized cost vs actual cost: an example
Microsoft’s example is a $365 one-year reservation bought on January 1.
- Actual cost: one $365 charge on January 1.
- Amortized cost: $1.00 a day until December 31.
- Two virtual machines share it: two $0.50 charges each day.
- Only one uses it: the other $0.50 shows as UnusedReservation.
That’s the amortized cost meaning in Azure: a daily share, charged to the resources that used it. Only this view shows the unused part, as UnusedReservation or UnusedSavingsPlan.
What is amortized cost in AWS?
In AWS Cost Explorer, unblended vs amortized cost looks like this:
- Unblended cost: each cost when you’re charged, so reservation fees show as a spike.
- Amortized cost: unblended cost, with upfront and monthly fees spread as a daily rate.
- Net amortized cost: amortized cost after discounts, such as Reserved Instance volume discounts.
To see a reservation’s unused part, group by purchase option.
Why it matters for your cloud cost
- Neither view changes what you pay, only when and where each cost shows.
- A purchase month usually looks smaller in amortized cost, and later months look bigger.
- With purchase spikes flattened, other changes in cost stand out.
- An unused line is commitment you paid for but didn’t use.
- The free assessment works out what your clusters and disks could save.
Read next: How to reduce cloud costs
Sources: Microsoft Learn, “Customize views in Cost Analysis” (opens in a new tab); Microsoft Learn, “View savings plan cost and usage” (opens in a new tab); AWS, “Choosing advanced options” (opens in a new tab) (AWS Cost Management User Guide); AWS, “Understanding your AWS Cost Datasets: A Cheat Sheet” (opens in a new tab) (AWS Cloud Financial Management blog).