Microsoft has not abolished all Azure egress charges. Its March 2024 policy lets eligible customers receive credits for qualifying data transferred out of Azure when they genuinely move to another cloud provider or to on-premises infrastructure. Customers generally must notify Azure Support before transferring data, finish within the approved window, cancel the relevant Azure subscriptions and then request an invoice credit.
Routine outbound traffic, specialized network services and ongoing multicloud operations can still incur charges under Azure’s normal pricing.
What Microsoft actually changed
Microsoft announced free data transfer out for customers leaving Azure in March 2024. The announcement described availability for Azure customers globally and from any Azure region. The benefit is an exit-related credit, not a permanent change to Azure’s standard bandwidth prices. See Microsoft’s announcement at Microsoft Azure and its March 2024 announcements material at Microsoft Tech Community.
What can qualify
- Moving Azure data to another cloud provider as part of an Azure exit.
- Repatriating data to an on-premises data center.
- Eligible Azure internet-egress charges directly attributable to that documented move.
What did not change
Azure’s normal bandwidth price list still applies to ordinary workloads. The current page gives the first 100 GB of internet egress per month at no charge, then lists region- and routing-dependent rates. For example, it lists $0.087 per GB for the next 10 TB from North America and Europe through Microsoft’s Premium Global Network. Prices are estimates and can vary by region, routing choice, service and customer agreement. Consult Azure bandwidth pricing for the applicable rate.
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This policy does not make routine application delivery, replication, CDN traffic or every Azure-to-Azure transfer free.
Eligibility and the required process
Microsoft’s documented process requires advance coordination. Treat the following as a checklist rather than assuming that a public announcement alone guarantees a credit.
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- Define the exit scope. List the subscriptions, storage accounts, databases, snapshots, backups and other data that will leave Azure.
- Estimate volume and timing. Separate the data-transfer period from application testing, cutover and shutdown work.
- Contact Azure Support before starting. Provide the subscription or enrollment ID, planned transfer start date and estimated data volume.
- Obtain the applicable instructions. Customers needing more than the standard period should put the full timeline in the initial request and obtain written confirmation; an extension is not automatic.
- Transfer the data within the approved window. The general documented maximum is 60 calendar days from the specified start date.
- Cancel the associated Azure subscriptions. Under the general process, cancellation follows the transfer and is required before the invoice-credit request.
- Request the credit. Reopen the case or submit the follow-up support request for invoice-level credit, then verify the final invoice.
The detailed cancellation and credit requirements are documented at Microsoft’s Azure subscription-cancellation page.
Deadlines, exclusions and edge cases
| Situation | Documented treatment |
|---|---|
| General Azure exit | Up to 60 calendar days from the specified transfer start date. |
| UK billing address and transfer from UK data centers | 180 days under the documented UK-specific process. |
| ExpressRoute, ExpressRoute Direct or VPN | Data-transfer charges from these services are excluded from the exit credit. |
| Azure Front Door or Azure CDN | Excluded from the documented exit credit. |
| Ordinary Azure service charges | Still payable; the program does not credit the complete Azure bill. |
| Azure purchased through a CSP or partner | The partner is responsible for the support request, coordination, cancellation and credit process. |
Starting a migration before contacting Support can jeopardize eligibility. If your transfer exceeds 60 days, obtain Microsoft’s written approval before relying on an extension. Microsoft also reserves the ability to change the policy, so confirm the current terms when opening the case.
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Exit egress versus European multicloud interoperability
Microsoft documents a separate at-cost transfer process for eligible organizations in the European Economic Area, European Free Trade Association and United Kingdom. It is designed for using Azure alongside another data-processing provider, not necessarily for shutting down Azure.
The European process generally requires the traffic to move over the internet between Azure and another provider used by the same organization, with data processing at the destination. CDN-delivery scenarios and transfers between unrelated organizations are outside the stated scope. Applicants provide the subscription ID, the external endpoint’s Autonomous System Number and an estimate of the percentage of traffic transferred. After validation, the refund applies to future billing cycles. Details are at Microsoft’s data-transfer-fees documentation.
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“Free egress when leaving Azure” and “at-cost interoperability transfer in Europe” are therefore different programs with different purposes and conditions.
What changed for UK customers in 2026
On March 31, 2026, Microsoft announced additional UK customer-choice, switching and interoperability measures in the context of the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s cloud-market scrutiny. Microsoft said the changes address data egress and the ability to move, deploy and operate workloads across clouds. The announcement applies specifically to UK customers; it does not establish a worldwide abolition of Azure egress fees. Read the announcement at Microsoft on the Issues.
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Which scenarios benefit most?
Strongest fit
- A genuine, planned Azure exit involving many terabytes or petabytes.
- A move that can finish inside the approved window.
- Data stored in services whose egress is eligible under Microsoft’s process.
- An organization able to cancel its Azure subscriptions after migration.
Limited fit
- Continuous production traffic from Azure to another provider.
- A permanent hybrid or multicloud design that keeps Azure active.
- End-user delivery through Front Door, CDN, ExpressRoute or VPN.
- Managed databases or proprietary services requiring conversion.
- Partner-managed subscriptions, large commitments or reserved capacity that cannot be unwound quickly.
The program can remove a large one-time network line item, but it does not remove bandwidth-capacity constraints, destination storage and ingestion, duplicate environments, database conversion, identity redesign, application refactoring, governance rebuilds, downtime, staffing or contract costs. A migration budget should model all of those items separately.
Azure and AWS: similar objective, different conditions
AWS also publishes a free-data-transfer-out policy for customers moving off AWS. Its policy says eligible customers must contact Support, but they do not have to close their AWS account or end their ongoing relationship. AWS’s published update says eligible customers receive 90 days to complete the move after a September 2025 change. Compare the current terms at AWS.
| Requirement | Azure | AWS |
|---|---|---|
| Support contact | Required before transfer and again for invoice credit. | Required under AWS’s published program. |
| Account or subscription closure | Generally requires cancellation of associated Azure subscriptions. | Published policy says account closure is not required. |
| Published general window | Up to 60 days; UK-specific cases can have 180 days. | 90 days for eligible customers under the September 2025 update. |
| Scope | Eligible exit egress; specialized services are excluded. | Eligibility and exclusions follow AWS’s own policy. |
Neither program makes the destination cloud free. Storage, compute, ingestion, conversion and application changes still require a separate comparison.
Practical checklist before transferring data
- Open the Azure Support request before any large transfer begins.
- Record the case number, approved start date, window and eligible services.
- Separate exit egress from ExpressRoute, VPN, Front Door, CDN and other excluded traffic in cost reports.
- Confirm whether a CSP or partner must submit the request.
- Plan subscription cancellation and preserve required billing records.
- Budget destination-side charges and the cost of running old and new environments in parallel.
- Review the final invoice to ensure the credit covers only eligible exit-egress line items.
The Bottom Line
Microsoft made Azure exits cheaper, not Azure egress universally free. The benefit is conditional: notify Support first, complete the approved transfer window, cancel the applicable subscriptions and request the invoice credit. For ongoing multicloud traffic, ordinary Azure pricing—and in Europe, the separate at-cost interoperability process—still matters.
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