Azure AI Search

What is Azure AI Search?

Azure AI Search is a managed search service on Microsoft Azure that gives AI applications and agents a way to retrieve your own content. You build indexes from documents, query them with full-text, vector and hybrid search, and add features such as a semantic ranker for relevance, agentic retrieval that runs multi-turn, self-reflective RAG query pipelines, document cracking with image extraction and a custom entity lookup skill. The pricing page now presents it as Foundry IQ (Azure AI Search), where knowledge bases need a subscription and a standard agentic retrieval plan. Dedicated tiers range from a Free tier with 50 MB of storage and 3 indexes up through Basic, Standard S1 to S3 and Storage Optimized L1 and L2, scaled by search units, partitions and replicas. A Serverless option in preview bills by compute unit-hour and indexed storage, and scales to zero when idle. Exact prices appear only in the Azure calculator and vary by region and agreement.

Use cases

• Retrieve context for a RAG application
• Run hybrid keyword and vector search
• Search company documents
• Give AI agents access to enterprise knowledge
• Extract text and images from documents for indexing
• Add search to an Azure-based app

Who it's for

• Azure developers
• Enterprise engineering teams
• AI application builders

Why use Azure AI Search

• Skip running your own search cluster, since Azure operates the service and bills it to your subscription.
• Combine keyword, vector and hybrid queries in one index, which suits retrieval for assistants and agents.
• Start on the Free tier, then scale with partitions and replicas or move to larger tiers as data grows.
• Pay for bursty workloads with Serverless, which scales to zero when idle and needs no capacity planning.
• Add relevance and reasoning features such as semantic ranker and agentic retrieval without building them yourself.

Azure AI Search features

• Full-text, vector and hybrid search over your own indexes
• Agentic retrieval for multi-turn RAG query pipelines
• Semantic ranker to improve relevance for keyword and single-turn retrieval
• Custom entity lookup skill that labels documents containing defined words
• Document cracking with image extraction
• Dedicated tiers from Free to Storage Optimized L2, scaled by partitions and replicas
• Serverless tier (preview) billed by compute unit-hour and indexed storage
• Remote knowledge sources for Microsoft SharePoint and the web
• Enterprise security and Azure Government purchasing options

Azure AI Search integrations

• Azure OpenAI
• Microsoft Foundry
• Microsoft SharePoint
• Azure Cosmos DB
• Azure Databricks

How to get started with Azure AI Search

1. Create an Azure AI Search service in your Azure subscription and choose a Free, Basic, Standard or Storage Optimized tier, or Serverless in preview.
2. Index your content, using document cracking and skills to extract text and images where needed.
3. Query the index with full-text, vector or hybrid search, optionally adding the semantic ranker.
4. Connect the service to a RAG application or agent, or use agentic retrieval for multi-turn queries.
5. Add partitions and replicas, or move to a larger tier, as storage and traffic grow.

Azure AI Search limitations

• The Free tier has 50 MB of storage and up to 3 indexes, and has no semantic ranker
• Prices are estimates that vary by region, agreement and currency, so use the Azure calculator
• Serverless is in preview, with billing expected to start in late 2026
• Confidential compute resources cost extra and lack semantic ranker, agentic retrieval, skillset execution and vectorization

Azure AI Search pricing

Yes, Azure AI Search has a free plan.

Azure AI Search plans

• Free

  Free

  Dedicated tier

  • 50 MB storage
  • 3 indexes per service
  • No semantic ranker

• Basic

  Price on vendor site

  per search unit

  • 15 GB storage (max 45 GB per service)
  • 15 indexes per service
  • Up to 9 units per service

• Standard S1

  Price on vendor site

  per search unit

  • 160 GB storage (max 1.9 TB per service)
  • 50 indexes per service
  • Up to 36 units per service

• Standard S2

  Price on vendor site

  per search unit

  • 512 GB storage (max 6 TB per service)
  • 200 indexes per service
  • Up to 36 units per service

• Standard S3

  Price on vendor site

  per search unit

  • 1 TB storage (max 12 TB per service)
  • High density mode option
  • Up to 36 units per service

• Storage Optimized L1

  Price on vendor site

  per search unit

  • 2 TB storage (max 24 TB per service)
  • 10 indexes per service

• Storage Optimized L2

  Price on vendor site

  per search unit

  • 4 TB storage (max 48 TB per service)
  • 10 indexes per service

• Serverless Developer (preview)

  Price on vendor site

  per compute unit-hour plus storage

  • Scales to zero when idle
  • 30 indexes per service
  • 5 services per subscription per region

Plans as listed on the official pricing page on 24 Oct 2026. Prices can change and may vary by country or exclude tax. Check the official pricing page.

Azure AI Search alternatives

The main Azure AI Search alternatives listed on Debuly are Pinecone, Weaviate, Singlebase, Chroma, LanceDB and Lovelace. The table compares pricing and platforms; order is A–Z.

1. 

   Chroma

   Open-source search database for AI apps, with vector, full-text, regex and metadata search and a serverless cloud option.

   Developer platformsResearch and searchAutomation and agents
   Open sourceVisit Chroma (official site)
2. 

   LanceDB

   Open-source vector database and multimodal lakehouse for AI search, retrieval, feature engineering and training data.

   Developer platformsResearch and search
   Open sourceVisit LanceDB (official site)
3. 

   Lovelace

   Lovelace builds Elemental, a context engine that turns enterprise data into knowledge graphs for AI agents.

   Developer platformsAutomation and agentsResearch and search
   Contact salesVisit Lovelace (official site)
4. 

   Pinecone

   Managed vector database for AI search and RAG, with dense, sparse and full-text indexes, inference and an Assistant API.

   Developer platformsResearch and search
   FreemiumVisit Pinecone (official site)
5. 

   Singlebase

   Backend platform for apps and AI agents with a JSON document database, vector search, identity, storage and scoped agent keys.

   Developer platformsAutomation and agentsResearch and search
   PaidVisit Singlebase (official site)
6. 

   Weaviate

   Open-source vector database with hybrid search and a managed Weaviate Cloud for semantic search, RAG and recommendations.

   Developer platformsResearch and search
   FreemiumVisit Weaviate (official site)

Azure AI Search FAQ

Sources & verification

Facts on this page come from the official sources below, each with the date we read it. Written by Debuly; the vendor did not review this page.

Image credits

• Logo: from azure.microsoft.com · fetched 23 Oct 2026 · Vendor trademark, used only to identify the product; removed on request
• Cover: none collected yet, so a generated tile is shown.

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