Microsoft Azure · AI application and agent development platform
Microsoft Foundry
Microsoft Foundry is an Azure platform for selecting models, building agents and managing AI applications with developer and enterprise controls.
WHERE IT CAN HELP
Useful strengths.
- Brings models, agents and tools into a managed Azure development surface.
- Supports both declarative agent setup and code-based hosted agents.
- Provides options for identity, access control, network policy, tracing and evaluation.
WHAT TO WEIGH UP
The trade-offs.
- It is a platform for builders, so model selection, app code and Azure resource setup are part of the work.
- Costs depend on model, region, tokens, tools and any provisioned or managed compute.
- Preview capabilities and model availability can change; confirm service status before designing around them.
AN IDEA TO TRY
Prototype a grounded support assistant for a small set of product documents.
Original, illustrative example—not a claim that this output has been generated.
A prompt or brief to start with
In a new Foundry project, compare available models for a document-grounded support assistant. Build a small prototype that answers from the supplied product documents, cites the retrieved passages, and returns a clear fallback when no passage supports an answer. Report the model and resource costs to estimate before production.
What you could create
A prototype plan with model and retrieval choices, an evaluation checklist and a list of Azure resources and metered costs to verify.
BEFORE YOU SPEND
What does it cost to get started?
Model and platform usage
Varies by model, region and resources
Azure usage-based pricing
Model inference, tools, deployments and compute can have separate meters; use the Azure calculator for an estimate.
There is no single consumer subscription price. Foundry and the models or infrastructure you use are billed through Azure; review the selected service's current meter and region. This is separate from consumer ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini subscriptions.
Availability: Available through Azure, subject to region, model and service availability and an Azure account or organisation configuration.
Prices are a dated reference, not a quote. Check the linked vendor page before paying. Trials, introductory discounts, tax and eligibility can change. GBP and USD are shown as published, not converted.