How do I pause an Azure App Service Plan?

Question

I thought one of the advantages of Azure was that I could turn services on and off depending on when I want them to be available.

However, I can't see how to pause my App Service Plan. Is it possible?

I want to use the S1 tier so that I can play with what it offers. However, I want to be able to pause the cost accumulation when I am not using it.

I see from the app service pricing help that an app will still be billed for even though it is in the stopped state.

Yet the link also clearly states that I only pay for what I use. So how does that work?

Answer 1

You can change the App Service Plan via PowerShell. To do so, run the following command:

Set-AzureRmAppServicePlan -ResourceGroupName $rg -Name $AppServicePlan -Tier Free

You are charged for the virtual machine that has all your web apps and resources which you might observe that still runs even if you are using the resources or not.