A newer hosting plan for Azure Functions that scales with events and allows longer executions.
Read more: Microsoft Learn
In the Ultra Transcenders books
Each book explains Flex Consumption in context, with comparison tables and the common traps.
Terms in this definition
- Authorisation levels
Key requirements for HTTP triggers in Azure Functions: Anonymous needs no key, Function accepts a function or host key, and Admin requires the master key.
Related terms
- Always ready instances
To avoid cold starts, a baseline of instances can be kept running and billed, either for chosen functions or function groups on Flex Consumption or for the whole app on Premium. Flex Consumption doesn't count them toward its maximum instance limit.
- Azure Functions Consumption plan
Older serverless hosting plan for Functions that caps each run at 10 minutes and lacks both VNet integration and inbound private endpoints, all of which Flex Consumption, Premium and Dedicated plans provide.
- Blob Storage trigger
Starts an Azure Function when a blob is created or changed. On Flex Consumption it works only with an Event Grid-based source; polling containers isn't possible there.
- Consumption plan
Older serverless hosting option for Azure Functions where you pay each time code runs. Microsoft points new apps to Flex Consumption instead, and Linux apps can run under this plan only until 30 September 2028.
- Per-function scaling
On Flex Consumption, most functions are scaled independently on dedicated instances; the exceptions are HTTP, Blob (Event Grid) and Durable triggers, where each kind is scaled as one group.
- Scale to zero
Some serverless platforms, including the Functions Flex Consumption plan and Azure Container Apps, can drop to no running instances during idle periods, so compute costs nothing until an event or request turns up.