Exploring Azure App Service

Margaret_Farmer

Microsoft

Apr 18, 2025

App Service – Managed Platform

Building applications takes a lot of planning and consideration before you are unveiling your website. Continuous integration, dependencies, security measures, are vital to secure and scale applications. If you want to just focus on the code and not the infrastructure you may be looking at solutions that can help you do what you do best. Azure App Service is a fully managed platform offered by Microsoft Azure that allows developers to build, deploy, and scale web apps, mobile apps, and API apps effortlessly. As part of the Azure cloud platform, it provides a range of features and services designed to support the creation of a wide variety of applications, from simple websites to complex, multi-tiered solutions.

Features & Capabilities

Scalability: Automatically scale your applications up or down to handle varying loads efficiently.	High Availability: Ensure your applications are always up and running with built-in high availability features and SLA guarantees.
Continuous Integration & Deployment: Integrate with popular CI/CD tools such as GitHub, Azure DevOps, and Bitbucket to automate build and deployment processes.	Global Reach: Deploy your applications in data centers all over the world to provide low-latency experiences for users everywhere.
Security: Protect your applications with built-in security measures, including custom domains, SSL certificates, and authentication options.	Hybrid Connections: Connect your Azure App Service applications to on-premises resources, enabling seamless hybrid cloud scenarios.
Development Language Support: Develop applications using a variety of languages, including .NET, Java, Node.js, Python, PHP, and Ruby.	Integrated Monitoring & Diagnostics: Gain insights into your application’s performance and health with integrated monitoring, logging, and diagnostics tools.
Serverless Code: Run serverless functions with Azure Functions, integrated directly into Azure App Service for rapid and efficient code execution.	Dev/Test Environments: Create isolated environments for development and testing to ensure your applications are production ready.
Customizable PaaS: Leverage fully managed PaaS that allows customization to meet specific application requirements.

Woman sitting crossed legged in her corner office holding laptop working. Photo by Anna Nekrashevich

Azure App Service Plans Explained

Azure App Service Plans offer a range of pricing tiers designed to fit various app hosting needs. These plans allow you to scale your applications seamlessly, from small workloads to large enterprise-level applications. There are multiple plans to choose from based on your needs:

Shared
- Free: The Free plan is ideal for experimenting with Azure App Service or for small, personal projects. It offers limited features and resources, making it suitable for basic web applications that do not require high performance or scalability.
- Shared: The Shared plan provides more resources and capabilities than the Free plan, but still shares resources with other applications. This plan is suitable for small to medium-sized applications that need more power but do not require dedicated resources.
Dedicated
- Basic: The Basic plan offers dedicated resources for your applications, providing better performance and scalability. It is suitable for small to medium-sized applications that require dedicated resources without the need for advanced features.
- Standard: The Standard plan builds on the Basic plan by offering additional features such as auto scaling and integrated backup. This plan is ideal for medium-to-large-sized applications that need consistent performance and advanced features.
- Premium: The Premium plan provides even more resources and features, including advanced auto-scaling and higher performance. It is designed for large-scale applications that require high availability and advanced capabilities.
- PremiumV2: The PremiumV2 plan enhances the Premium plan with improved performance and additional features, making it suitable for mission-critical applications that demand the highest levels of performance and reliability.
- PremiumV3: The PremiumV3 plan is the latest and most advanced offering, providing the highest levels of performance, scalability, and features. It is designed for enterprise-level applications that require the utmost in reliability and capability.
Isolated
- IsolatedV2: The IsolatedV2 plan offers dedicated resources in a completely isolated environment, ensuring maximum security and performance. It is ideal for applications that require stringent security measures and the highest levels of isolation from other resources

Picture of glasses in front of computer screens with code by Photoby Kevin Ku

Development Testing

The Free tier of Azure App Service provides an excellent starting point for developers to plan and test their applications. Ideal for small, personal projects, this plan offers limited resources and features, making it perfect for experimenting with basic web applications. Developers can utilize this tier to explore the capabilities of Azure App Service, identifying potential improvements and refining their applications before transitioning to higher-tier plans that offer enhanced performance and scalability.

The Free tier allows developers to deploy up to 10 apps with 1 GB of storage each, offering sufficient space to test various configurations and functionalities. By leveraging the Free tier, developers can gain valuable insights into the platform's integration with other Azure services, such as Azure SQL Database, Application Insights, and Azure DevOps, enabling them to streamline their development workflows and optimize their applications end-to-end.

Conclusion

In summary, Azure App Service offers a range of plans to cater to various application needs, from the free tier for development and testing to the robust PremiumV3 and IsolatedV2 plans for mission-critical and highly secure applications. Each plan provides unique features and performance levels, enabling developers and organizations to choose the most suitable plan for their specific requirements. By understanding the capabilities and benefits of each plan, users can effectively leverage Azure App Service to build, deploy, and scale their applications with confidence.