Cut Service Consumption Costs with Pre-Purchase Plans

• There are now four Pre-Purchase Plans that provide savings over PAYG on consumption-based services, such as agents, Foundry, Fabric, and GitHub.
• The plans apply to different combinations of services and have different discount tiers.
• Selecting the best plan depends on the mix of services being purchased and the quantity and predictability of usage.
• Purchasing too much upfront leads to overspending, but purchasing too little can increase dependence on more expensive PAYG or cause app unavailability.

Consumption-based spending (where per-user licenses don’t cover everything) has expanded across many Microsoft services, especially AI-based offerings such as agents. Several Pre-Purchase Plans (P3s) offer savings for a commitment to purchase consumption units upfront on an annual basis. Choosing among the plans requires an evaluation of their terms, and customers might purchase multiple plans in addition to using pay-as-you-go (PAYG) and other purchase options. Furthermore, new commitment-based purchase options are likely to arrive as more services are charged by consumption. Upfront purchasing can complicate budget planning, but it’s critical for optimizing spend.