azure-rvtools 1.1.0

Turn VMware RVTools exports into an Azure IaaS monthly cost estimate

This utility ingests one or more RVTools vInfo sheets, pulls the latest Azure Retail Prices, and generates an Excel workbook with per-VM cost estimates — priced individually against the closest matching Azure SKU.

Unlike aggregate-style estimators, azure-rvtools maps each VM to a specific Azure VM SKU (Dsv5 or Esv5 series), prices it individually, and rolls everything up into a workbook that mirrors the format of the official Azure Calculator export.

🚀 Features

• Browser-based web app – no install required. Drop in your RVTools export on this website, pick a region and currency, and download the estimate instantly. Runs 100% browser-local via WebAssembly — nothing is uploaded, nothing leaves your device.
• Per-VM SKU matching – maps each VM to the closest Azure Dsv5 or Esv5 SKU based on vCPU and RAM, with notes when an exact match isn't found.
• Realistic pricing mode – the default --pricing realistic reserves the top N SKUs by VM count (configurable via --realistic-top) and prices the remainder at PAYG — a practical reflection of how customers actually buy reservations.
• 1-year and 3-year reservations – choose your commitment term with --reserved-term (default: 3-year).
• Azure Hybrid Benefit – enabled by default, applying Linux compute rates to Windows VMs. Disable with --os-license-included to use Windows-included pricing.
• Multi-currency support – USD, EUR, GBP, DKK, SEK, NOK via --currency.
• Disk capacity source – price managed disks based on provisioned capacity (default) or actual in-use capacity via --disk-source.
• Support plan pricing – add an Azure support plan cost to the estimate with --support (basic, developer, standard, professional-direct).
• Datacenter and Cluster filtering – list all Datacenters and Clusters in the input, then scope the estimate to a specific subset.
• Powered-off VM handling – counted and reported separately; excluded from costs unless --include-powered-off is set.
• Live pricing lookup – fetches list prices from the Azure Retail Prices API at runtime, with a local cache to speed up repeat runs.
• Polished Excel output – writes an .xlsx workbook with four sheets (Estimate, VM Detail, Reservations, Summary) designed to mirror the official Azure Calculator export format.
• CSV export – optionally write a machine-readable CSV alongside the Excel workbook.
• Direct RVTools ingestion – reads raw RVTools .xlsx exports and automatically ignores housekeeping VMs (vCLS-*).

⚡ Quick start

Online (no install)

Visit kimtholstorf.github.io/azure-rvtools-cost-estimator — drop in your RVTools .xlsx, choose your region, currency, and options, and download the estimate. Everything runs in your browser via WebAssembly.

CLI

# Install from PyPI
pip install azure-rvtools

# Run the estimator
azure-rvtools \
  --rvtools ./customer/RVTools_export_all.xlsx \
  --region westeurope

The tool contacts the Azure Retail Prices API at runtime. Ensure the machine has outbound internet access.

🏗️ Installation options

PyPI, pipx or uv

# pip — installs into your active environment
pip install azure-rvtools

# pipx — isolated install, command available system-wide
pipx install azure-rvtools

# uv tool — one-off run without a permanent install
uvx azure-rvtools --rvtools ./customer/RVTools_export_all.xlsx --region westeurope

# uv run — from within the repo
uv run azure-rvtools --rvtools ./customer/RVTools_export_all.xlsx --region westeurope

From source

git clone https://github.com/KimTholstorf/azure-rvtools-cost-estimator.git
cd azure-rvtools-cost-estimator
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install .

azure-rvtools --rvtools ./customer/RVTools_export_all.xlsx --region westeurope

📥 Input expectations

• RVTools workbook(s) in .xlsx format containing the vInfo sheet (default RVTools_export_all.xlsx).
• The vDisk sheet is used for per-disk storage pricing if present; otherwise falls back to the provisioned disk total from vInfo.
• Powered-off VMs are counted and reported but excluded from cost calculations by default.

📤 Output workbook

The generated Excel workbook (default: azure_estimate.xlsx) contains four sheets:

1. Estimate – Azure Calculator-style summary with per-SKU rows, disk, support, and a total. Reflects the chosen --pricing mode.
2. VM Detail – Per-VM breakdown with SKU match, PAYG and reserved monthly costs, disk tiers, OS type, and any match notes.
3. Reservations – SKU-level reservation recommendations showing PAYG vs. reserved compute cost and monthly savings. Always populated regardless of pricing mode.
4. Summary – Aggregate statistics: VM counts, vCPU/RAM totals, effective monthly cost, and savings vs. PAYG.

🛠️ CLI reference

When both --datacenter and --cluster are specified, a VM must match both (AND logic). Multiple values within each flag are matched with OR logic.

📈 Examples

# Baseline run — realistic pricing, 3-year reserved top 3 SKUs, Hybrid Benefit on
azure-rvtools \
  --rvtools ./customer/RVTools_export_all.xlsx \
  --region westeurope

# List Datacenters and Clusters in the input file
azure-rvtools \
  --rvtools ./customer/RVTools_export_all.xlsx \
  --list

# Filter to a specific datacenter and cluster
azure-rvtools \
  --rvtools ./customer/RVTools_export_all.xlsx \
  --region westeurope \
  --datacenter "DC-West" --cluster "Prod-Cluster-01"

# All-PAYG pricing (no reservations)
azure-rvtools \
  --rvtools ./customer/RVTools_export_all.xlsx \
  --region westeurope \
  --pricing all-payg

# All-reserved pricing, 1-year term
azure-rvtools \
  --rvtools ./customer/RVTools_export_all.xlsx \
  --region westeurope \
  --pricing all-reserved \
  --reserved-term 1-year

# Realistic mode reserving top 5 SKUs
azure-rvtools \
  --rvtools ./customer/RVTools_export_all.xlsx \
  --region westeurope \
  --realistic-top 5

# Estimate in Euros using in-use disk capacity
azure-rvtools \
  --rvtools ./customer/RVTools_export_all.xlsx \
  --region westeurope \
  --currency EUR \
  --disk-source in-use

# Windows VMs with OS license included (no Hybrid Benefit) and Standard support
azure-rvtools \
  --rvtools ./customer/RVTools_export_all.xlsx \
  --region westeurope \
  --os-license-included \
  --support standard

# Include powered-off VMs and write a CSV alongside the Excel
azure-rvtools \
  --rvtools ./customer/RVTools_export_all.xlsx \
  --region westeurope \
  --include-powered-off \
  --csv ./customer/azure_estimate.csv \
  --output ./customer/azure_estimate.xlsx

# Force fresh pricing (bypass cache)
azure-rvtools \
  --rvtools ./customer/RVTools_export_all.xlsx \
  --region westeurope \
  --no-cache

💡 Pricing modes explained

The Reservations sheet is always populated regardless of mode, so you can see the full savings opportunity even in all-payg mode.

🖥️ VM series selection

The tool maps VMs to Dsv5 (general purpose) or Esv5 (memory optimised) series — both v5 generation, Intel-based, and available across ~58 Azure regions, making them the safest default for estimates targeting any region. The web app uses the same mapping.

The D/E split uses a RAM/vCPU ratio threshold of 8 GB/vCPU — matching the architectural difference between the two families:

• Dsv5 — ratio ≤ 8 GB/vCPU (e.g. Standard_D4s_v5 = 4 vCPUs / 16 GB)
• Esv5 — ratio > 8 GB/vCPU (e.g. Standard_E4s_v5 = 4 vCPUs / 32 GB)

The newer v6 series (Dsv6/Esv6, GA February 2025) is 15–30% faster per dollar but only available in ~13 regions today. v5 remains the recommended default for broad regional coverage and is still listed by Microsoft as a current migration target alongside v6.

🔄 Web pricing data

The web app cannot call the Azure Retail Prices API directly (blocked by browser CORS policy), so pricing data is pre-fetched and stored as static JSON files in docs/prices/ — one file per region, with all supported currencies embedded.

These files are refreshed automatically every Monday by a GitHub Actions workflow. To refresh them manually:

# Requires the [tools] optional dependency
pip install azure-rvtools[tools]

python scripts/fetch_web_prices.py

The script fetches all 42 regions × 6 currencies in parallel (~3 minutes) and displays a live progress board in the terminal.

⚠️ Notes

• The CLI relies on real-time pricing from the Azure Retail Prices API. Pricing data is cached locally (in ~/.cache/azure-rvtools/) to speed up repeat runs for the same region and currency. Use --no-cache to force a refresh.
• The web app uses pre-fetched pricing data updated weekly — no live API calls from the browser.
• Azure Hybrid Benefit is enabled by default. If your Windows VMs are covered by existing on-premises licenses migrating to Azure, this reflects your actual compute cost. Use --os-license-included if licences are not being brought across.
• Windows reserved pricing is derived as linux_reserved + (windows_payg − linux_payg) since the Azure Retail Prices API only publishes Linux reservation products.
• Generated Excel workbooks contain formulas and formatting. Excel recalculates automatically when opened.

Happy estimating! Contributions and pull requests are welcome.

MIT License — © 2026 Kim Tholstorf