azure-instance-selector

Filter Azure VM sizes by vCPU, memory, GPU, architecture, and price, with on-demand and spot prices in one command, no Azure account required.

Features

• Filter by vCPU count, memory, GPU count, CPU architecture (x64/arm64), family regex, name regex
• On-demand and spot prices per region, with spot savings percentage
• Filter and sort by spot or on-demand price
• No credentials needed: capabilities from Vantage public catalog, prices from Azure Retail Prices API
• Optional authenticated ARM source for subscription-scoped availability and restrictions
• Output modes: table, wide table, one-line (scripting), JSON
• Local cache with 7-day TTL, works offline after first fetch

Install

go install github.com/nnyj/azure-instance-selector/cmd@latest

Or download a binary from releases, or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/nnyj/azure-instance-selector
cd azure-instance-selector
go build -o azure-instance-selector ./cmd

Usage

azure-instance-selector --vcpus-min 4 --vcpus-max 8 --usage-class spot
azure-instance-selector -a arm64 --memory-min 16gb --price-per-hour-max 0.10
azure-instance-selector --gpus-min 1 --spot-capable -o table-wide
azure-instance-selector --vcpus 4 --memory 16gb -o one-line

Filter flags --vcpus, --memory, --gpus, --price-per-hour each accept -min/-max variants. Memory accepts suffixed sizes (16gb, 512mb). Exact flag sets min = max.

Flag	Default	Description
-a, --cpu-architecture		x64, arm64 (aliases x86_64, amd64)
--usage-class	on-demand	spot sorts and price-filters by spot price
--os	linux	linux or windows pricing
--spot-capable		only SKUs with the spot capability flag
--accelerated-networking		require accelerated networking
--premium-io		require premium storage support
--family		family regex, e.g. ^dsv5$
--allow-list / --deny-list		keep/exclude by name regex
-r, --region	eastus	Azure region (armRegionName)
-o, --output	table	table, table-wide, one-line, json
--max-results	20	result cap, 0 = all
--sku-source	vantage	vantage (anonymous) or arm (authed)
--subscription-id		for arm source, also reads AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID or az login
--cache-dir	~/.azure-instance-selector	cache location
--cache-ttl	168h	cache freshness window
--refresh		force re-fetch of both catalogs

How it works

Two anonymous data sources are joined by ARM SKU name. Capabilities (vCPU, memory, GPU, arch, region availability) come from Vantage's public catalog, rebuilt daily from the ARM Resource SKUs API. Prices come from the Azure Retail Prices API, a public unauthenticated endpoint that includes spot meters. Both are cached locally, so repeated queries hit no network.

--sku-source arm queries the ARM Resource SKUs API directly with your subscription, adding subscription-specific truth: quota restrictions, zone availability, and sizes hidden from your subscription type. Auth resolves via the standard Azure credential chain (az login, env vars, managed identity).

Note

Vantage arch data is missing for ~180 legacy sizes (assumed x64). Spot prices are shown for any SKU with a spot meter, including some (B-series) whose real spot eligibility is doubtful. Use --spot-capable to filter to deployable spot.

Credits

• amazon-ec2-instance-selector: original project this tool was ported from

License

MIT