topic Azure Databricks Meters vs Databricks SKUs from system.billing table in Administration & Architecture

Azure Databricks Meters vs Databricks SKUs from system.billing table

Escarigasco — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 12:25:21 GMT

When it comes to DBU, I am being charged by Azure for the following meters:

- Premium Jobs Compute DBU <-- DBUs that my job computes are spending
- Premium Serverless SQL DBU <-- DBUs that the SQL Warehouse compute is spending
- Premium All-Purpose Photon DBU <-- Photon DBUs that Personal Computes are spending
- Premium All-purpose Compute DBU <-- DBUs that Personal Computes are spending
- Premium Automated Serverless Compute DBU <-- ???
- Premium Interactive Serverless Compute DBU <-- ???
- Premium Jobs Compute Photon DBU <-- Photon DBUs that jobs computes are spending

Can someone advise if my understanding is correct and clear the remaining meters which I cannot explain?

Also how those these maps to Databricks SKUs coming from system.billing table:

- PREMIUM_JOBS_SERVERLESS_COMPUTE_US_EAST_2
- PREMIUM_JOBS_COMPUTE_(PHOTON)
- PREMIUM_ALL_PURPOSE_SERVERLESS_COMPUTE_US_EAST_2
- PREMIUM_ALL_PURPOSE_COMPUTE_(PHOTON)
- PREMIUM_SERVERLESS_SQL_COMPUTE_US_EAST_2
- PREMIUM_ALL_PURPOSE_COMPUTE
- PREMIUM_JOBS_COMPUTE

Many thanks!
Federico

Re: Azure Databricks Meters vs Databricks SKUs from system.billing table

bianca_unifeye — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 12:57:35 GMT

Hi Federico,

Great question, Azure billing meters vs. Databricks SKUs can be confusing because:

Azure exposes meters (what you get invoiced for),
Databricks exposes SKUs (logical product categories),
And system.billing surfaces SKU usage, not Azure meter names.

Premium Jobs Compute DBU

Billed for classic jobs clusters running non-Photon workloads.

Premium Jobs Compute Photon DBU

Same as above but when the job cluster uses Photon.

Premium Serverless SQL DBU

DBUs consumed by Serverless SQL Warehouses.

Premium All-Purpose Compute DBU

DBUs consumed by interactive / all-purpose clusters (not using Photon).

Premium All-Purpose Photon DBU

Same as above but when the cluster uses Photon.

🔸 Premium Automated Serverless Compute DBU

This is for Serverless Jobs Compute — the serverless replacement for classic jobs clusters.

Used when:

You run a Job with Jobs Compute = Serverless
No cluster provisioning — Databricks runs the compute in its serverless pool

Equivalent Databricks SKU:
➡ PREMIUM_JOBS_SERVERLESS_COMPUTE_<region>

Premium Interactive Serverless Compute DBU

This is for Serverless All-Purpose Compute (in Public Preview in some regions).

Used when:

You create a Serverless All-Purpose Workspace cluster
Interactive notebook sessions run in serverless mode
Photon is on by default

Equivalent Databricks SKU:
➡ PREMIUM_ALL_PURPOSE_SERVERLESS_COMPUTE_<region>

Below is the clean 1:1 mapping:

Azure Meter (what Azure bills you for) Corresponding Databricks SKU (system.billing)

Premium Jobs Compute DBU	PREMIUM_JOBS_COMPUTE
Premium Jobs Compute Photon DBU	PREMIUM_JOBS_COMPUTE_(PHOTON)
Premium Serverless SQL DBU	PREMIUM_SERVERLESS_SQL_COMPUTE_<region>
Premium All-Purpose Compute DBU	PREMIUM_ALL_PURPOSE_COMPUTE
Premium All-Purpose Photon DBU	PREMIUM_ALL_PURPOSE_COMPUTE_(PHOTON)
Premium Automated Serverless Compute DBU	PREMIUM_JOBS_SERVERLESS_COMPUTE_<region>
Premium Interactive Serverless Compute DBU	PREMIUM_ALL_PURPOSE_SERVERLESS_COMPUTE_<region>

Re: Azure Databricks Meters vs Databricks SKUs from system.billing table

Escarigasco — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 13:06:15 GMT

Thank you Bianca, great answer!