Is Azure Load Balancer Basic really free?

Yes, the Basic SKU has no charge for load balancing rules. However, Basic lacks an SLA guarantee, does not support availability zones, has a 300-instance backend pool limit, and defaults to open network security. Microsoft recommends Standard for all production workloads.

What are the key differences between Basic and Standard?

Standard SKU adds availability zone support, 1,000-instance backend pools, HTTPS health probes, outbound rules, HA ports, a 99.99% SLA, and secure-by-default networking (backend VMs must have an NSG). Basic SKU is being retired for new deployments in many regions.

Can I upgrade from Basic to Standard without downtime?

Microsoft provides a migration tool that automates Basic to Standard Load Balancer upgrades. The process involves creating a new Standard LB, migrating configurations, and updating backend pool associations. Some brief connectivity interruption may occur during the final switchover.

Azure Load Balancer SKU Compare

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Compare Azure Load Balancer SKUs (Basic vs Standard) features and pricing.

Last verified: May 2026

Load Balancer SKU Comparison

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See It in Action

You're inheriting a 5-year-old Azure deployment with 12 Basic Load Balancers fronting production traffic. The platform team gives you a Q3 deadline to migrate before the September 2025 deprecation. You run each LB through the compare tool, generating a migration plan with the per-LB feature gaps (8 need NSGs added before migration, 3 need backend pool re-architecting, 1 can be replaced by Application Gateway entirely). You execute the plan in 6 weeks and avoid the forced migration window.

What This Tool Does

The Azure Load Balancer SKU Compare tool provides a detailed feature and pricing comparison between Azure Load Balancer Basic and Standard SKUs. It covers differences in backend pool size, health probes, availability zones, SLA guarantees, security posture, and cost. The tool helps you make an informed decision about which SKU to deploy for your workload.

Technical Details

The compare tool surfaces 25+ feature comparisons across Basic and Standard SKUs (backend pool size, health probe protocols, AZ support, SLA, security defaults, outbound rules, HA ports, and more) and runs your usage profile (instance count, AZ requirements, workload tier) through a recommendation engine that produces a 'Use Standard' or 'Use Basic' verdict with reasoning. It also includes the September 2025 retirement date for Basic SKU as an automatic disqualifier for new deployments.

Common Use Cases

1Deciding whether to use Basic (free) or Standard (paid) Load Balancer for a new deployment.
2Understanding the security implications of migrating from Basic to Standard SKU.
3Evaluating Standard SKU requirements for availability zone redundancy.
4Planning a migration from Basic to Standard Load Balancer for production workloads.

Common Questions

Is Azure Load Balancer Basic really free?: Yes, the Basic SKU has no charge for load balancing rules. However, Basic lacks an SLA guarantee, does not support availability zones, has a 300-instance backend pool limit, and defaults to open network security. Microsoft recommends Standard for all production workloads.
What are the key differences between Basic and Standard?: Standard SKU adds availability zone support, 1,000-instance backend pools, HTTPS health probes, outbound rules, HA ports, a 99.99% SLA, and secure-by-default networking (backend VMs must have an NSG). Basic SKU is being retired for new deployments in many regions.
Can I upgrade from Basic to Standard without downtime?: Microsoft provides a migration tool that automates Basic to Standard Load Balancer upgrades. The process involves creating a new Standard LB, migrating configurations, and updating backend pool associations. Some brief connectivity interruption may occur during the final switchover.

Expert Tips

TIP

Basic SKU is being retired across all Azure regions on September 30, 2025. New deployments in many regions already block Basic SKU. If you're greenfield in 2026, don't even consider Basic — the migration tooling exists, but it's a forced migration on a deadline you don't control.

TIP

Standard SKU is 'secure by default' which means inbound traffic is denied unless explicitly allowed by an NSG. Teams migrating from Basic frequently get cut off because their backend VMs had no NSG before and didn't need one — Standard SKU breaks this implicit allow.

TIP

Standard SKU uses zone-redundant frontends by default in zonal regions. This is essentially free additional resilience compared to Basic's single-zone deployment. The 99.99% SLA only applies if you actually deploy zone-redundant frontends, not if you pin to a single zone.

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