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Outsmarting Microsoft's $500/Month Tax
A pragmatic workaround that prevented autoscaling from killing long-running Durable Functions — without paying the "official" add-on.
The problem
Einbliq's data pipeline uses Azure Durable Functions — long-running tasks that can take 30+ minutes.
KEDA autoscaling only sees the entry point, not the actual work happening inside. It thinks nothing is running and kills the pipeline mid-execution.
The official recommended solution was a $500/month integration — for a pipeline that costs about $10/month to run.
What I built / changed
- Built a workaround: a "Keep Alive" endpoint pinged by each task via HTTP every few minutes.
- Ensured KEDA saw constant traffic and recognized ongoing work.
- Stabilized execution without added platform cost.
Result
Same result, zero extra platform cost: long-running tasks no longer get killed mid-execution.
Stack / concepts
Azure Durable FunctionsKEDACost optimization
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