Azure Automation
The facts below are what Microsoft publishes about Azure Automation, checked and dated. Our editors have not written about it yet.
Plans and prices
From Azure Automation's own pricing page, checked 22 Sep 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Process automation — job run time | Priced on request | 500 minutes per month included |
| Process automation — watchers | Free | 744 hours per month included · 744 hours included per month |
| Configuration management — Azure node | Priced on request | Configuration pull service · Change tracking |
| Configuration management — non-Azure node | Priced on request | 5 nodes per month included |
| Update management | Free | Any node · visibility and update deployment · Free service; Log Analytics storage billed separately |
| Configuration management non-Azure node | — | 5 free non-Azure nodes/month · Azure nodes free · $-/node after 5 free non-Azure nodes |
| Process automation job runtime | — | 500 free job-run minutes per subscription/month · runbook jobs and watchers · $-/minute after 500 free minutes |
The facts
Each one read from Azure Automation's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- API extensibility
- Automation can connect to any online service exposing an API and can be extended with imported PowerShell modules or custom C# and Windows PowerShell code.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Authentication
- Microsoft Entra managed identities are the recommended default authentication method for runbooks and avoid provisioning or rotating secrets.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Concurrency limit
- An Automation account permits up to 50 concurrent jobs for enterprise or CSP subscriptions, with lower defaults for other subscription types.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Configuration management
- Users can author PowerShell configurations, import scripts and generate node configurations for physical or virtual machines.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Documentation depth
- Microsoft Learn provides overview, runbook authoring, runtime, authentication, hybrid-worker, limits, networking and REST API documentation.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Graphical runbook limitation
- Graphical runbooks can only be created or edited in the Azure portal and cannot run on Linux Hybrid Runbook Workers.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Hybrid execution
- Extension-based Hybrid Runbook Workers execute jobs on Windows or Linux Azure, on-premises or Arc-enabled machines.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Hybrid worker scale limit
- An Automation account supports up to 4,000 system Hybrid Runbook Workers and 4,000 user Hybrid Runbook Workers by default.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: connectivity and support
- Trustpilot reviewers of Azure report connectivity problems, expensive service and poor customer support; the reviews cover Azure broadly rather than Automation alone.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: deployment and integrations
- PeerSpot reviewers report that deployment can be challenging, third-party integrations may lack a suitable API and the interface could be improved.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: documentation and imports
- A G2 reviewer reported trouble importing files and difficulty finding documentation for resolving the problem.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Notable retirement
- Microsoft retired agent-based User Hybrid Runbook Workers on 31 August 2024 and stopped their jobs from 1 April 2025, directing customers to extension-based workers.checked 15 Oct 2026
- PowerShell SDK
- Azure PowerShell exposes Start-AzAutomationRunbook and related cmdlets for starting jobs and retrieving job output.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Praise: scheduling
- TrustRadius reviewers praise scheduled Microsoft 365 and Azure tasks, scheduled PowerShell scripting and periodic maintenance.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Praise: security and integration
- Gartner reviewers highlight enterprise security, operational reliability, Azure-native integration and managed identities.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Private Link limitation
- Cloud jobs cannot directly access Azure resources protected by private endpoints; Microsoft recommends using a Hybrid Runbook Worker for that case.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Private networking
- Automation accounts can deny public network access and allow connections only through private endpoints.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Process automation
- The service executes serverless runbooks and watchers to orchestrate repeatable operational work.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Rating on G2
- 4.4 out of 5 from 66 reviewschecked 15 Oct 2026
The company
- Company founding
- Microsoft's 2025 annual report says the company was founded in 1975.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Company headquarters and size
- LinkedIn lists Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington, a public-company status and more than 10,001 employees; it states approximately 228,000 employees worldwide.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Company legal name
- Crunchbase lists the legal name as Microsoft Corporation.checked 15 Oct 2026
Money
- Limit: cost clarity and complexity
- TrustRadius reviewers request clearer cost estimates and describe the many settings and menu levels as daunting for newcomers.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Praise: ease and cost
- G2 reviewers repeatedly describe Azure Automation as easy to use, cost-efficient and well integrated with Microsoft tools.checked 15 Oct 2026
