Guide · 7 min read
Microsoft Fabric pricing in Australia, explained
Fabric pricing confuses people because it is not per user. Here is how the bill is actually made up, and the decisions that change it most.
Short answer
How much does Microsoft Fabric cost?
Microsoft Fabric is billed in three parts: compute capacity (an F SKU, billed by the hour or reserved for a year), OneLake storage (billed per gigabyte), and Power BI Pro licences for the people who build and, below F64, view reports.
The smallest capacity is F2. Each size up doubles the compute and roughly doubles the price. Prices are set in US dollars and vary by region and currency, so we confirm a current Australian price for your size and region when we scope the work.
The three parts of the bill
What you actually pay for
Capacity (F SKU)
The compute that runs pipelines, notebooks, warehouse queries, reports and AI. Every Fabric workload draws from the same pool, measured in capacity units (CUs).
OneLake storage
The data you keep in Fabric, billed per gigabyte per month. For most mid-sized businesses, storage is a small part of the bill compared with capacity.
Power BI licences
Anyone who creates or publishes reports needs Power BI Pro. Below F64, everyone who views reports needs Pro as well. From F64 up, viewers can use a free licence.
Capacity sizes
How the sizes compare
Price scales with capacity units, so each size costs roughly twice the one below it.
| SKU | Capacity units | Relative cost | Report viewers need Pro? |
|---|---|---|---|
| F2 | 2 | 1x | Yes |
| F4 | 4 | 2x | Yes |
| F8 | 8 | 4x | Yes |
| F16 | 16 | 8x | Yes |
| F32 | 32 | 16x | Yes |
| F64 | 64 | 32x | No |
Pay-as-you-go or reserved
The decision that changes the bill most
A common pattern is to start on pay-as-you-go, watch actual usage for a month or two in the Fabric Capacity Metrics app, then reserve the size that fits.
Pay-as-you-go
Billed by the hour while the capacity is running. You can pause it when nothing needs to run, scale it up for a heavy load and back down, and stop at any time. Best while you are proving the approach.
Reserved (one year)
A commitment to a capacity size for a year, which Microsoft prices at a significant discount to running pay-as-you-go all month. Best once usage is steady and the capacity runs most of the time.
The F64 question
When F64 makes sense
F64 is the point where report viewers no longer need Pro licences. If you have a large number of people who only view reports, the Pro licences you save can outweigh the extra capacity cost. For most mid-sized businesses with a modest number of report users, a smaller capacity plus Pro licences works out cheaper.
Keeping costs down
Five ways to keep a Fabric bill sensible
- Start small (F2 or F4) and size up from measured usage, not guesses
- Match refresh frequency to how decisions are made, not the maximum possible
- Load only changed data where the source allows it, instead of full reloads
- Pause pay-as-you-go capacity in development when nothing is running
- Reserve capacity only once usage is steady
Questions we get asked
Frequently asked questions.
Is Microsoft Fabric available in Australia?
Yes. Microsoft lists Fabric in both Australia East and Australia Southeast, with all workloads available, so capacity and data can stay in Australia.
What is the cheapest way to start with Microsoft Fabric?
Microsoft offers a free Fabric trial. After that, the cheapest paid option is an F2 capacity on pay-as-you-go, paused when not in use, plus Pro licences for your report users.
Can we pause Microsoft Fabric to save money?
Pay-as-you-go capacity can be paused, and you are not charged for compute while it is paused. Reserved capacity is paid for whether it runs or not.
Does Copilot or a data agent cost extra in Fabric?
Copilot and data agents run on your Fabric capacity, so their usage draws from the same pool as everything else rather than a separate bill. Heavy use can mean you need a larger capacity.
Next steps
Want a Fabric cost estimate for your business?
Tell us your systems, data volumes and number of report users in a 30-minute call, and we'll size the capacity and licences with you.
Related reading
- How to choose a Microsoft Fabric capacity size
- Microsoft Fabric vs Power BI: which do you need?
- Microsoft Fabric consultants
Prefer to talk it through? A 30-minute call is usually enough.
Bring us the process that is slowing you down.
A 30-minute discovery call is enough to work out whether automation is the right answer, and what it would take.