Azure Load Balancer review
A high-scale Azure balancer for TCP and UDP traffic, without Layer 7 routing.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Azure Load Balancer is a managed cloud networking service for distributing Layer 4 TCP and UDP traffic across Azure Virtual Machines and Virtual Machine Scale Sets. It supports public and internal load balancing, health probes, inbound NAT, outbound rules, high-availability ports, IPv6, availability-zone distribution, and cross-region global load balancing. It is aimed at teams running scalable, highly available workloads on Microsoft Azure through web and API environments.
Pricing is usage-based across three plans. Standard Load Balancer — Regional Tier bills the first five rules hourly, additional rules per rule per hour, and data processed per gigabyte; inbound NAT rules are free. Standard Load Balancer — Global Tier uses hourly billing for the first five rules and additional rules, with no additional charge for data processed, while inbound NAT rules remain free. Gateway Load Balancer bills gateway hours, chain hours, and data processed per gigabyte. There is no free plan, and a 30-day free trial is available.
Its strongest fit is Azure infrastructure that needs managed Layer 4 distribution at scale: the published specification lists a 5,000-backend limit and integrations with Azure Monitor, Virtual Machines, Virtual Machine Scale Sets, and Azure Gateway Load Balancer. Gateway Load Balancer also supports service chaining with network virtual appliances. Teams that need application-layer routing, TLS termination, or rules based on HTTP or HTTPS characteristics should choose a service with Layer 7 capabilities instead. Azure Load Balancer is therefore a focused choice for network-level availability and traffic distribution within the Azure ecosystem, rather than a complete application delivery controller.
Azure Load Balancer pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Supports public, internal, and cross-region global load balancing
- Verified support for up to 5,000 backends
- Includes health probes, IPv6, NAT, and service chaining
- Where it doesn't
- No Layer 7 routing for application-aware traffic rules
- Does not provide TLS termination
- No free plan; usage-based billing applies
Azure Load Balancer fact sheet, pricing and score →
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