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Billing model for Azure AD External Identities

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Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) External Identities pricing is based on monthly active users (MAU), which is the count of unique users with authentication activity within a calendar month. This billing model applies to both Azure AD guest user collaboration (B2B) and Azure AD B2C tenants. MAU billing helps you reduce costs by offering a free tier and flexible, predictable pricing. In this article, learn about MAU billing and linking your Azure AD tenants to a subscription.

Important

This article does not contain pricing details. For the latest information about usage billing and pricing, see Azure Active Directory pricing.

What do I need to do?

To take advantage of MAU billing, your Azure AD tenant must be linked to an Azure subscription.

If your tenant is: You need to:
An Azure AD tenant already linked to a subscription Do nothing. When you use External Identities features to collaborate with guest users, you'll be automatically billed using the MAU model.
An Azure AD tenant not yet linked to a subscription Link your Azure AD tenant to a subscription to activate MAU billing.

About monthly active users (MAU) billing

In your Azure AD tenant, guest user collaboration usage is billed based on the count of unique guest users with authentication activity within a calendar month. This model replaces the 1:5 ratio billing model, which allowed up to five guest users for each Azure AD Premium license in your tenant. When your tenant is linked to a subscription and you use External Identities features to collaborate with guest users, you'll be automatically billed using the MAU-based billing model.

Your first 50,000 MAUs per month are free for both Premium P1 and Premium P2 features. To determine the total number of MAUs, we combine MAUs from all your tenants (both Azure AD and Azure AD B2C) that are linked to the same subscription.

The pricing tier that applies to your guest users is based on the highest pricing tier assigned to your Azure AD tenant. For more information, see Azure Active Directory External Identities Pricing.

An Azure AD tenant must be linked to a resource group within an Azure subscription for proper billing and access to features.

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal with an Azure account that's been assigned at least the Contributor role within the subscription or a resource group within the subscription.

  2. Select the directory you want to link: In the Azure portal toolbar, select the Directories + subscriptions icon in the portal toolbar. Then on the Portal settings | Directories + subscriptions page, find your directory in the Directory name list, and then select Switch.

  3. Under Azure Services, select Azure Active Directory.

  4. In the left menu, select External Identities.

  5. Under Subscriptions, select Linked subscriptions.

  6. In the tenant list, select the checkbox next to the tenant, and then select Link subscription.

    Screenshot of the link a subscription option.

  7. In the Link a subscription pane, select a Subscription and a Resource group. Then select Apply. (If there are no subscriptions listed, see What if I can't find a subscription?.)

    Screenshot of how to link a subscription.

After you complete these steps, your Azure subscription is billed based on your Azure Direct or Enterprise Agreement details, if applicable.

What if I can't find a subscription?

If no subscriptions are available in the Link a subscription pane, here are some possible reasons:

  • You don't have the appropriate permissions. Be sure to sign in with an Azure account that's been assigned at least the Contributor role within the subscription or a resource group within the subscription.

  • A subscription exists, but it hasn't been associated with your directory yet. You can associate an existing subscription to your tenant and then repeat the steps for linking it to your tenant.

  • No subscription exists. In the Link a subscription pane, you can create a subscription by selecting the link if you don't already have a subscription you may create one here. After you create a new subscription, you'll need to create a resource group in the new subscription, and then repeat the steps for linking it to your tenant.

Next steps

For the latest pricing information, see Azure Active Directory pricing.