Azure Migrate is the Microsoft-native discovery, assessment, and migration toolchain for Azure-target migrations. The hub portal, server discovery appliance, dependency mapping, right-sizing recommendations, and assessment reports are all free. The components that handle the data movement, however, have downstream cost: Azure Site Recovery for server replication, Azure Database Migration Service for database replication, and the Azure target services from cutover onwards. This page is the 2026 cost reference for the complete Azure Migrate toolchain.
The free components of Azure Migrate cover the entire planning phase of a migration. The Azure Migrate hub portal, the discovery appliance (a virtual appliance deployed in the source environment that inventories servers, databases, web apps), the dependency mapping (which servers communicate with which), the right-sizing recommendations (which Azure VM SKUs match the source workload profile), the assessment reports (cost projections, target architecture options), and the Azure Migrate Server Assessment all cost zero.
For most mid-enterprise migrations, the free assessment phase takes 4 to 12 weeks and produces a complete migration plan with target architecture, cost projection, and dependency-mapped wave structure. The same outputs from a paid consulting engagement typically cost $50K to $200K. Azure Migrate's free assessment is the most significant built-in funding any cloud migration tool offers.
Azure Site Recovery (ASR) is the replication engine that Azure Migrate Server Migration uses for on-premise-to-Azure and AWS-to-Azure server replication. ASR charges per protected instance per month after a 31-day free trial period for each instance. The current rate is $25 per protected instance per month for Azure VM target, with regional variations.
Azure Site Recovery pricing (verified September 2026)
| Scenario | Per-instance cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First 31 days per instance | $0 | Free trial period |
| Replication to Azure (post-31-day) | $25 per month | Standard rate for Azure as target |
| Replication between Azure regions | $25 per month | Azure-to-Azure DR scenarios |
| Replication to a customer-owned secondary site | $16 per month | On-premise-to-on-premise DR that ASR orchestrates |
| Storage during replication | Standard Azure Storage rates | Premium SSD typical for production |
| Compute during failover (test or actual) | Standard Azure VM rates | Only charged when target VM runs |
| Outbound data transfer from Azure | Standard egress rates | If replicating out of Azure |
The structural implication of the 31-day free trial: for migrations completing cutover within 31 days per server, ASR is free. For migrations that exceed 31 days per server (typical mid-enterprise wave-based migrations), the post-31-day rate applies. A 100-server migration with 3-month average replication window lands at approximately $7,500 in ASR cost ($25 x 100 x 3 months minus the free first month). Compared with third-party alternatives like Carbonite Migrate ($400 to $800 per server one-time), ASR is meaningfully cheaper for migrations on sensible timelines.
The ASR free window
The pricing depends on the source engine. As of 15 March 2026, SQL Server migrations (to Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance and SQL Server on Azure VMs) run on the modern DMS reached through the Azure portal, PowerShell or Azure CLI, which is free to use for the migration service; the classic DMS SQL Server scenarios retired on that date. You pay only for the Azure resources the migration consumes and the destination Azure SQL.
For the open-source engines still on the classic resource (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB), the classic two-tier model applies. The Standard tier is free for offline migrations, suitable for migrations that can accept downtime equal to the migration duration. The Premium tier supports online migrations with minimal downtime, provisioned at 4 vCore and billed per provisioned vCore-hour, but the 4 vCore Premium service is free for the first 183 days (6 months) from the date the DMS service is created. Microsoft does not publish a flat per-vCore-hour rate that holds across all regions; confirm the current figure on the Azure pricing calculator. Because a typical migration completes inside the free window, the DMS tool cost is effectively zero either way. The real cost of a database migration is the partner labour and validation work, not the tool.
Azure Migrate orchestrates the migration but does not provide the partner labour or the custom integration work. The components that are paid separately:
A representative Azure Migrate tooling cost build for a 100-server, 10-database mid-market migration over 6 months. Server Migration via ASR for the 100 VMs. Database Migration via premium DMS for the 10 databases. Excludes downstream Azure compute (the destination cost) and partner labour (the largest line item).
Worked Azure Migrate tooling cost build, 100 servers, 10 databases, 6 months
| Cost line | Low estimate | Typical estimate | High estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Migrate hub portal and discovery | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Server Assessment (free) | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| ASR for 100 servers (avg 2-month replication) | $2,500 | $5,000 | $10,000 |
| ASR replication storage (Premium SSD) | $1,500 | $3,500 | $8,000 |
| Test failover (5 per server avg, 4 hours each) | $200 | $600 | $1,500 |
| Azure DMS Premium for 10 databases (avg 2 weeks, within 183-day free window) | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Azure DMS storage (replication state) | $200 | $400 | $1,000 |
| Data Migration Assistant SQL Server assessment (free) | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Web App Migration Assistant (free) | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Azure Migrate operations labour | $8,000 | $20,000 | $45,000 |
| Azure Migrate total tooling cost | $12,400 | $29,500 | $65,500 |
The typical-column number, $29,500, illustrates how small the Azure Migrate tooling cost is relative to the overall migration budget. The total Azure migration for the same scope typically lands at $1.5M to $2.5M; the tooling cost is roughly 1 to 2.5 percent of the total. The cost is dominated not by Azure Migrate itself but by the partner labour, the parallel running cost, and the destination Azure compute. Azure Migrate's value is in operational reliability and the elimination of third-party tooling licensing rather than in any specific tooling cost saving.
Three third-party migration tools commonly compete with Azure Migrate for Azure-target migrations. Each has specific strengths and a different pricing model.
Azure Migrate vs third-party tooling, 100-server migration
| Tool | Pricing model | 100-server cost band | Strongest use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Migrate + ASR + DMS | Per-instance per-month + DMS hours | $5K to $20K | Azure-target migrations with FastTrack support |
| Carbonite Migrate | Per-server perpetual licence | $40K to $80K | Multi-cloud migrations; specific application support |
| Zerto | Per-server perpetual licence | $50K to $100K | Workloads requiring sub-minute RPO |
| Cloud Migration Factory on AWS (now MGN) | Free (90-day window) | $5K to $15K | AWS-target only |
| Quest On Demand Migration | Per-server one-time | $30K to $60K | Enterprise tenant consolidation |
| AvePoint Fly | Per-user-licence-month | $30K to $80K | Microsoft 365 and SharePoint focus |
Azure Migrate is one of the cheapest tooling lines in any Azure migration and one of the most operationally mature. The free assessment and planning phase, the 31-day ASR free trial, the free standard tier of DMS, and the integration with FastTrack and AMMP funding all combine to keep tooling cost small. The cost discipline for Azure Migrate is rarely about Azure Migrate itself; it is about the partner labour, the parallel running window, and the destination Azure consumption that begins the moment workloads land.
A. Azure Migrate is free at the hub portal level: discovery, assessment, dependency mapping, and right-sizing recommendations cost nothing. The components that arrive with the migration are not free. Azure Site Recovery (for Server Migration) charges per protected instance per month after a 31-day free trial period. Azure Database Migration Service has both standard (free for offline migrations) and premium (paid for online migrations) tiers. The downstream Azure compute and storage cost starts as soon as workloads land.
A. Azure Site Recovery (ASR) is the replication engine that Azure Migrate uses for Server Migration. ASR charges $25 per protected instance per month for Azure-to-Azure or on-premise-to-Azure replication after a 31-day free trial. For a 100-server migration with 3 months of replication, the ASR cost lands at approximately $7,500 ($25 x 100 servers x 3 months). The free trial covers the first 31 days per instance, so phased migrations that complete cutover within a month per wave benefit substantially.
A. It depends on the source. As of 15 March 2026, SQL Server migrations run on the modern DMS in the Azure portal, which is free for the migration service; the classic DMS SQL Server scenarios retired on that date. Open-source migrations (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB) still use the classic DMS resource: a free Standard tier for offline migrations and a Premium tier for online migrations, provisioned at 4 vCore and billed per provisioned vCore-hour, but free for the first 183 days from creation. Confirm the current regional per-vCore-hour rate on the Azure pricing calculator. Either way the DMS tool cost is effectively zero for a typical migration that completes inside the free window.
A. Azure Migrate supports VMware (vSphere), Hyper-V, physical servers (with the Azure Migrate agent), AWS EC2 instances, and GCP Compute Engine. It supports SQL Server (via Data Migration Assistant integration), web applications (via Web App Migration Assistant), and Microsoft 365 (via the Microsoft 365 admin centre, separate from Azure Migrate). The supported source list is documented on the Azure Migrate supported sources page.
A. Microsoft began rolling out a new generation of Azure Migrate capabilities in late 2024 and through 2025, branded under the broader Azure Cloud Adoption Framework toolchain. The new capabilities use Azure-native services more directly (Azure Resource Mover, Azure Database Migration Service modern). For 2026 migrations the classic Azure Migrate is still the primary entry point; the modern capabilities are layered on top for specific scenarios.
A. For a typical 100-server, 5-database, mid-market migration, Azure Migrate's combined tooling cost (ASR for servers, plus DMS Premium for databases, which is free within its 183-day window) typically lands at $8,000 to $20,000 over a 6-month programme, driven almost entirely by ASR. This excludes the downstream Azure compute and storage costs (which are the actual destination cost, not the tooling cost). Compared with third-party alternatives, Azure Migrate is competitive on price and meaningfully cheaper than tools requiring per-server perpetual licensing.
Azure migration cost calculator ->
Hybrid Benefit, FastTrack
On-prem to Azure ->
Hybrid Benefit, FastTrack
AWS MGN cost ->
AWS equivalent tool
Azure DMS pricing ->
Standard free, Premium hourly
AWS DMS pricing ->
AWS database migration tool
Exchange to M365 ->
Per-mailbox, cutover vs hybrid
File share to OneDrive ->
Per-TB cost
10 hidden costs ->
Detailed playbook
Updated 2 May 2026