Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Architecture and deploymentOptimize Microsoft Defender for Cloud costs with a pre-purchase plan
In brief
The article now explains one-year Defender Cloud Units, automatic application to eligible usage during the purchase term, and how to choose and purchase commit units. Links, section headings, and Azure portal navigation were also updated.
What Defender admins need to know
Administrators can use the revised instructions and links when purchasing or managing Defender for Cloud commit units; no action is required.
Summaries are generated from the documentation change itself.
Documentation change
View on Microsoft LearnThe comparison below shows only the changed extract. Use the full-page view for complete context.
Optimize Microsoft Defender for Cloud costs with a pre-purchase plan
Any eligible Microsoft Defender for Cloud usage deducts from the prepurchased DCUs automatically. You don't need to redeploy or assign a pre-purchased plan to your Microsoft Defender for Cloud workspaces for the DCU usage to get the prepurchase discounts.
This article explains how to determine the right amount of commit units to buy, how to purchase a pre-purchase plan, and how discounts are applied to eligible usage.
Determine the right size to buy
A Defender for Cloud prepurchase applies to all Defender for Cloud plans. You can think of the prepurchase as a pool of prepaid Defender for Cloud commit units. Usage is deducted from the pool, regardless of the workload.
- Microsoft Defender for AI
For more information about available DCU tiers and pricing discounts, see the reservation purchase experience in the following section.Purchase Defender for Cloud commit units.
Purchase Defender for Cloud commit units
You can buy Defender for Cloud plans in the Azure portal reservations page. To buy a prepurchase plan, you must have the owner role for at least one enterprise or Microsoft Customer Agreement or an individual subscription with pay-as-you-go rates subscription, or the required role for CSPCloud Solution Provider (CSP) subscriptions.
To buy a reservation, you must have owner role or reservation purchaser role on an Azure subscription.
For Enterprise Agreement (EA) subscriptions, the Reserved Instances policy option must be enabled in the EA enrollment policies page. Or if that setting is disabled, you must be an EA Admin of the subscription.
For CSP subscriptions, follow the steps in Acquire, provision, and manage Azure reserved VM instances (RI) + server subscriptions for customers.
To Purchase:
- Go to the Azure portal Reservations page.
- If needed, navigate to Reservations and then at the top of the page, select + Add.
- On the Purchase reservations page, select Microsoft Defender for Cloud Pre-Purchase Plan.
- On the Select the product you want to purchase page, select a subscription. Use the Subscription list to select the subscription used to pay for the reserved capacity. The payment method of the subscription is charged the upfront costs for the reserved capacity. Charges are deducted from the enrollment's Azure Prepayment (previously called monetary commitment) balance or charged as overage.
For more information, see Reservation utilization.
Change the purchase scope and ownership
You can make the following types of changes to a reservation after purchase:
You can't split or merge the Defender for Cloud pre-purchase plan. For more information about managing reservations, see Manage reservations after purchase.
Cancellations and exchangesCancel or exchange Defender for Cloud commit units
Cancel and exchange isn't supported for Defender for Cloud prepurchase plans. All purchases are final.
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@ --- title: Optimize Microsoft Defender for Cloud costs with a pre-purchase plan-description: Learn how you can optimize Microsoft Defender for Cloud costs with a pre-purchase plan.+description: Save on Microsoft Defender for Cloud by prepurchasing one-year Defender Cloud Units (DCUs). Learn how prepaid units are automatically applied to eligible usage during the purchase term. ms.topic: how-to ms.reviewer: liuyizhu ms.service: defender-for-cloud author: ElazarK ms.author: elkrieger-ms.date: 06/11/2026+ms.date: 07/03/2026 ai-usage: ai-assisted+ms.custom: msecd-doc-authoring-1013 --- # Optimize Microsoft Defender for Cloud costs with a pre-purchase plan@@ -16,6 +17,8 @@ You can save on your Microsoft Defender for Cloud costs when you [prepurchase Mi Any eligible Microsoft Defender for Cloud usage deducts from the prepurchased DCUs automatically. You don't need to redeploy or assign a pre-purchased plan to your Microsoft Defender for Cloud workspaces for the DCU usage to get the prepurchase discounts. +This article explains how to determine the right amount of commit units to buy, how to purchase a pre-purchase plan, and how discounts are applied to eligible usage.+ ## Determine the right size to buy A Defender for Cloud prepurchase applies to all Defender for Cloud plans. You can think of the prepurchase as a pool of prepaid Defender for Cloud commit units. Usage is deducted from the pool, regardless of the workload.@@ -52,21 +55,21 @@ The Microsoft Defender for Cloud prepurchase discount applies to usage from the - Microsoft Defender for AI -For more information about available DCU tiers and pricing discounts, see the reservation purchase experience in the following section.+For more information about available DCU tiers and pricing discounts, see [Purchase Defender for Cloud commit units](#purchase-defender-for-cloud-commit-units). ## Purchase Defender for Cloud commit units -You can buy Defender for Cloud plans in the [Azure portal](https://portal.azure.com/). To buy a prepurchase plan, you must have the owner role for at least one enterprise or Microsoft Customer Agreement or an individual subscription with pay-as-you-go rates subscription, or the required role for CSP subscriptions.+You can buy Defender for Cloud plans in the [Azure portal reservations page](https://portal.azure.com/). To buy a prepurchase plan, you must have the owner role for at least one enterprise or Microsoft Customer Agreement or an individual subscription with pay-as-you-go rates subscription, or the required role for Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) subscriptions. - To buy a reservation, you must have owner role or reservation purchaser role on an Azure subscription. -- For Enterprise Agreement (EA) subscriptions, the **Reserved Instances** policy option must be enabled in the [Azure portal](/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/direct-ea-administration#view-and-manage-enrollment-policies). Or if that setting is disabled, you must be an EA Admin of the subscription.+- For Enterprise Agreement (EA) subscriptions, the **Reserved Instances** policy option must be enabled in the [EA enrollment policies page](/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/direct-ea-administration#view-and-manage-enrollment-policies). Or if that setting is disabled, you must be an EA Admin of the subscription. - For CSP subscriptions, follow the steps in [Acquire, provision, and manage Azure reserved VM instances (RI) + server subscriptions for customers](/partner-center/azure-ri-server-subscriptions). **To Purchase:** -1. Go to the [Azure portal](https://portal.azure.com/).+1. Go to the [Azure portal Reservations page](https://portal.azure.com/). 1. If needed, navigate to **Reservations** and then at the top of the page, select **+ Add**. 1. On the Purchase reservations page, select **Microsoft Defender for Cloud Pre-Purchase Plan**. 1. On the Select the product you want to purchase page, select a subscription. Use the **Subscription** list to select the subscription used to pay for the reserved capacity. The payment method of the subscription is charged the upfront costs for the reserved capacity. Charges are deducted from the enrollment's Azure Prepayment (previously called monetary commitment) balance or charged as overage.@@ -92,7 +95,8 @@ You can also access reservation utilization through APIs, PowerShell, or the CLI For more information, see [Reservation utilization](/azure/cost-management-billing/reservations/reservation-utilization). -## Change scope and ownership+<a name="change-scope-and-ownership"></a>+## Change the purchase scope You can make the following types of changes to a reservation after purchase: @@ -101,7 +105,8 @@ You can make the following types of changes to a reservation after purchase: You can't split or merge the Defender for Cloud pre-purchase plan. For more information about managing reservations, see [Manage reservations after purchase](/azure/cost-management-billing/reservations/manage-reserved-vm-instance). -## Cancellations and exchanges+<a name="cancellations-and-exchanges"></a>+## Cancel or exchange Defender for Cloud commit units Cancel and exchange isn't supported for Defender for Cloud prepurchase plans. All purchases are final.