Hi Perry,
Your understanding of the pricing seems correct.
If you login to Defender for Cloud and go down to the Workload Protections, you'll see a list of advanced features that require the Defender Plan:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/defender-for-cloud/workload-protections-dashboard
Answer from David Broggy on learn.microsoft.comMicrosoft Azure
azure.microsoft.com › en-us › pricing › details › defender-for-cloud
Pricing - Microsoft Defender for Cloud | Microsoft Azure
Get Microsoft Defender pricing information. Try popular services free with an Azure free account, and pay as you go with no upfront costs.
Microsoft Learn
learn.microsoft.com › en-us › azure › defender-for-cloud › cost-calculator
Estimate costs with the Defender for Cloud cost calculator - Microsoft Defender for Cloud | Microsoft Learn
September 1, 2025 - Discover how to use the Microsoft Defender for Cloud Cost Calculator to estimate your cloud security expenses.
Videos
Reddit
reddit.com › r/azure › trying to view costs associated with microsoft defender for cloud...help me navigate....
r/AZURE on Reddit: Trying to view costs associated with Microsoft Defender for Cloud...help me navigate....
July 20, 2023 -
How can I see a breakdown of the costs associated with each VM in Microsoft Defender for Cloud?
Top answer 1 of 2
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If you enable Defender for Servers which gives you AV for your OS. You’ll be charged for whatever plan you enable. It is billed only when the resource is running. Say the price is $15 a month per server for plan 2. If you ran that server all month you would be charged $15. If you ran the server for 15/30 days in the month you’d be charged $7.50. I’m pretty sure the meter is charged per second too. There are some other features that are free as well.
2 of 2
2
Defender for Cloud > Workbooks > Cost Estimation or https://azure.microsoft.com/en-ca/pricing/details/defender-for-cloud/ or Cost Analysis (preview) > Services > Advanced Threat Protection
Microsoft Azure
azure.microsoft.com › en-us › products › defender-for-cloud
Microsoft Defender for Cloud - CSPM & CWPP
Sign in to your Azure account or create a new account for free. ... Learn why Microsoft was named a Leader in the IDC Marketscape: Worldwide Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform 2025 Vendor Assessment.2 ... Learn why Frost & Sullivan named Microsoft a leader in the Frost Radar: Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms 2024 report.3 ... Read The Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft Defender for Cloud, a commissioned study by Forrester Consulting, January 2025.1
Azure Docs
docs.azure.cn › en-us › defender-for-cloud › defender-for-cloud-introduction
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Overview - Microsoft Defender for Cloud | Azure Docs
3 weeks ago - Secure your Azure, and hybrid resources with Microsoft Defender for Cloud. This cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) includes two key capabilities, cloud security posture management (CSPM) and cloud workload protection platform (CWPP). It helps protect your environments across ...
Microsoft Learn
learn.microsoft.com › en-us › azure › defender-for-cloud › prepurchase-plan
Optimize Microsoft Defender for Cloud costs with a pre-purchase plan - Microsoft Defender for Cloud | Microsoft Learn
June 23, 2025 - At the end of the commitment period, the actual Defender for Cloud usage cost for the customer would be 82,000 USD for the DCUs (reflecting the price with the 18% discount) plus 18,000 USD for the PAYG consumption (reflecting the 10% ACD discount).
Microsoft Learn
learn.microsoft.com › en-us › azure › defender-for-cloud › defender-for-cloud-introduction
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Overview - Microsoft Defender for Cloud | Microsoft Learn
1 month ago - Microsoft Defender for Cloud is a Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP), which is a unified solution that combines multiple cloud security tools to protect applications across their entire lifecycle. The solution provides a comprehensive view of your security posture across your cloud and on-premises resources.
Cloudywithachanceoflicensing
cloudywithachanceoflicensing.com › 2022 › 04 › 14 › microsoft-defender-for-cloud-pricing
Microsoft Defender for Cloud pricing – Cloudy with a chance of Licensing
April 14, 2022 - It can be connected to Microsoft Sentinel with no additional Sentinel charges – but it will require an IoT Hub which costs between £7.61 – £1903.17 per month. For new IoT devices deployed via Azure IoT Hub, Defender pricing is: Both of ...
Cado Security
cadosecurity.com › wiki › microsoft-defender-for-cloud-pricing-demystifying-costs-and-maximizing-value
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Pricing: Demystifying Costs ...
Learn how multifactor authentication, AI-driven threat detection, and proactive security measures can help defend against advanced threats like session hijacking, token exploitation, and phishing attacks. Explore the comprehensive guide to cloud disaster recovery, including essential elements of disaster recovery planning, the benefits of cloud backup for safeguarding corporate data, and how cloud solutions fit into a larger disaster recovery strategy.
G2
g2.com › products › microsoft-defender-for-cloud › pricing
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Pricing 2025
Real-time security access and ... our pricing link for more information. Microsoft Defender for Cloud has 1 pricing edition that is a free trial....
Microsoft
microsoft.com › en-us › security › business › cloud-security › microsoft-defender-cloud
Microsoft Defender for Cloud | Microsoft Security
Sign in to your Azure account or create a new account for free. ... Learn why Microsoft was named a Leader in the IDC Marketscape: Worldwide Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform 2025 Vendor Assessment.2 ... Learn why Frost & Sullivan named Microsoft a leader in the Frost Radar: Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms 2024 report.3 ... Read The Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft Defender for Cloud, a commissioned study by Forrester Consulting, January 2025.1
Reddit
reddit.com › r/sysadmin › windows defender for server massive price increase
r/sysadmin on Reddit: Windows Defender for Server massive price increase
May 18, 2023 -
Is anyone else outraged about the 3x price increase for windows defender for server? I was expecting the Internet to be on fire about this. Instead there are crickets.
Top answer 1 of 5
149
How are you coming up with that? It’s still $5 a month according to their documentation. Your comments indicate you sourced it from a “license renewal” but this isn’t sold as a product that has a set license start and end date. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/defender-for-cloud/?v=17.23h Edit: Just to clarify, there are 2 Defender for Servers options - P1 with P2. Neither has increased in price according to MS docs. This has been the case since at least June 2022.
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Wut, source? 15€/mo was already a lot, 3x of that would be 45€... 😱
Microsoft Community Hub
techcommunity.microsoft.com › microsoft community hub › communities › products › microsoft security › microsoft defender for cloud › microsoft defender for cloud blog
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Cost Estimation Dashboard | Microsoft Community Hub
August 7, 2023 - The cost estimation workbook provides a consolidated price estimation for Microsoft Defender for Cloud plans based on the resource telemetry in your organization’s environment. The workbook allows you to select which subscriptions you would like to estimate the price for as well as the Defender Plans.
CDW.CA
cdw.ca › product › microsoft-defender-for-cloud-apps-subscription-license-1-month-1-lice › 7836532
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps - subscription license (1 month) - 1 license - CFQ7TTC0LHRR000SP1MM - Application Suites - CDW.ca
Buy a Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps - subscription license (1 month) - 1 license at CDW.CA
Microsoft
microsoft.com › en-us › security › pricing-overview
Pricing for Security Software Solutions | Microsoft Security
Explore Microsoft Security solutions like Microsoft Purview and Microsoft Sentinel. Customize plans and pricing to find the best option for your data needs.
Microsoft Learn
learn.microsoft.com › en-us › azure › defender-for-cloud › plan-defender-for-servers-select-plan
Select a Defender for Servers plan - Microsoft Defender for Cloud | Microsoft Learn
November 2, 2025 - Capabilities provided by premium Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management. A free data ingestion benefit for specific data types. OS configuration assessment against compute security baselines in the Microsoft Cloud Security Benchmark.
TrustRadius
trustradius.com › home › cloud-native application protection platforms › microsoft defender for cloud › pricing
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Pricing 2025
The cost effectives is quite good Positive Impact would be workload protections. Negative … third party tools. Microsoft defender for cloud has greatly helped us to save cost for more than 200-300$ as it perfectly integrated with our resources
Capterra
capterra.co.uk › home › cloud security software › microsoft defender for cloud
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Pricing, Cost & Reviews - Capterra UK 2025
Discover the benefits and disadvantages of Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Learn the software price, see the description, and read the most helpful reviews for UK business users.
AppDirect
marketplace.appdirect.com › en-US › apps › 347697 › microsoft-defender-for-cloud-apps › editions
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps | AppDirect Marketplace
Identify and combat cyberthreats across all your cloud services with Microsoft Cloud App Security (MCAS), a cloud access security broker (CASB) that provides multifunction visibility, control over data travel, and sophisticated analytics.