user-guides

Azure Front Door Standard vs Premium — Detailed Comparison

1. Core Platform (Both SKUs)

Feature Standard Premium
Global Anycast edge network ✅ ✅
Layer 7 load balancing ✅ ✅
HTTP/HTTPS endpoints ✅ ✅
Custom domains + TLS ✅ ✅
Path-based routing ✅ ✅
Rules Engine (rewrite, redirect, headers, etc.) ✅ ✅
Caching ✅ ✅
Compression ✅ ✅
Health probes ✅ ✅
Multi-origin / failover ✅ ✅

2. Rules Engine (Traffic Behavior)

Feature Standard Premium
Create rule sets ✅ ✅
Redirect / Rewrite ✅ ✅
Add/Remove headers ✅ ✅
Conditional routing ✅ ✅
Cache control rules ✅ ✅

3. WAF (Web Application Firewall) — BIG DIFFERENCE

3.1 Managed Protection

Feature Standard Premium
Microsoft DefaultRuleSet ❌ ✅
OWASP rule sets ❌ ✅
Bot protection ❌ ✅
Microsoft threat intelligence ❌ ✅
Auto-updated signatures ❌ ✅

3.2 Custom WAF Rules

Feature Standard Premium
IP allow/deny ✅ ✅
Geo filtering ✅ ✅
Header / cookie / path match ✅ ✅
Rate limiting ✅ ✅
Custom block/allow rules ✅ ✅

4. Private Link to Origins (Critical for ZTNA / Private Apps)

Feature Standard Premium
Public internet origins ✅ ✅
Private Link origins (private backend access) ❌ ✅

5. Zero Trust / Enterprise Security

Feature Standard Premium
mTLS to origin ❌ ✅
Advanced security integration ❌ ✅
Locked-down private origins ❌ ✅

6. Logging, Metrics, Diagnostics

Feature Standard Premium
Access logs ✅ ✅
WAF logs ✅ ✅
Azure Monitor integration ✅ ✅

7. Pricing Model

Item Standard Premium
Base monthly fee ✅ ~ $35/month ✅ ~ $330/month
Pay per request ✅ ✅
Pay per GB transfer ✅ ✅
WAF processing Usage-based Usage-based

8. When You MUST Use Premium

Requirement Use
DefaultRuleSet / OWASP Premium
Bot protection Premium
Enterprise WAF Premium
Private Link origins Premium
ZTNA-style architecture Premium
Private PaaS / private APIs behind Front Door Premium

Official document