CostLensUnassociated Public IP (Azure)

Unassociated Public IP (Azure)

CostLens finds Azure Standard public IPs not associated with any resource — billed hourly even when idle.

Updated July 20261 min read

CostLens finds unassociated Azure public IP addresses — Standard-tier IPs not attached to any NIC, load balancer, or NAT gateway. A reserved-but-unused Standard public IP is billed by the hour for no benefit.

Release is irreversible

Releasing a public IP returns it to the pool — you will not get the same address back. CostLens shows this as an irreversible fix. Keep it if the address is allowlisted downstream.

How it works

Public IPs are enumerated

CostLens lists public IP addresses via the Azure Resource Manager API and inspects each one's ipConfiguration association.

Idle IPs are flagged

Standard IPs with no association are surfaced, priced at the Standard hourly rate.

What to do

  1. Confirm the IP isn't reserved for an allowlist, DNS record, or planned attachment.
  2. Delete (release) it to stop the charge — via CostLens Apply Fix (irreversible) once write access is granted, or in the Azure portal.

Severity levels

SeverityEstimated monthly savings
critical>$500
high$100–$500
medium$20–$100
low<$20

Required permissions

  • Detect: Reader — see Azure Accounts.
  • Apply Fix (delete): a write role with Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses/delete.

Limitations

  • Basic-tier public IPs are free when idle and are not flagged; only billable Standard IPs are surfaced.
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