Databricks Apps

Lakemeter UI name: Databricks Apps

Databricks Apps lets you deploy and run custom web applications (dashboards, data apps, internal tools) directly on Databricks infrastructure. Apps are fully serverless — you choose a size (Medium or Large) and Databricks handles provisioning. Costs are based on a fixed DBU/hour rate and app uptime.

When to use Databricks Apps

Use Databricks Apps when you need to host a custom web application on Databricks — things like Streamlit dashboards, Gradio ML demos, FastAPI backends, or React frontends. If you need to run batch data processing, see Jobs Compute. If you need interactive notebook exploration, see All-Purpose Compute.

Real-world example

Scenario: You are deploying an internal cost estimation dashboard on AWS us-east-1 (Premium tier). The app runs during business hours — about 10 hours a day, 22 days a month. You need a Large app size to handle concurrent users.

Configuration

Field	Value
Workload Type	Databricks Apps
App Size	Large
Hours Per Month	220 (= 10 hrs × 22 days)

Step-by-step calculation

1. DBU rate per hour

Each app size has a fixed DBU/hour rate:

DBU/Hour = 1.0 (Large size)

2. Monthly DBUs and cost

Monthly DBUs = DBU/Hour × Hours/Month = 1.0 × 220 = 220 DBUs
DBU Cost     = 220 × $0.07/DBU = $15.40
Total Cost   = $15.40 (no VM costs — always serverless)

note

These are example rates for illustration. Actual $/DBU depends on your cloud, region, and pricing tier. The $0.07 rate is the fallback for the ALL_PURPOSE_SERVERLESS_COMPUTE SKU on AWS/us-east-1/Premium.

What about a Medium app?

For lighter workloads with fewer concurrent users:

DBU/Hour     = 0.5 (Medium size)
Monthly DBUs = 0.5 × 220 = 110 DBUs
Total Cost   = 110 × $0.07 = $7.70/month

Always-on app (24/7)

If your app needs to be available around the clock:

DBU/Hour     = 1.0 (Large)
Monthly DBUs = 1.0 × 730 = 730 DBUs
Total Cost   = 730 × $0.07 = $51.10/month

App sizes

Size	DBU/Hour	Best for
Medium	0.5	Low-traffic dashboards, internal tools, dev/test apps
Large	1.0	Production apps, concurrent users, ML demos, heavier workloads

Both sizes use the ALL_PURPOSE_SERVERLESS_COMPUTE SKU.

Configuration reference

Field	Description	Default
App Size	Medium (0.5 DBU/hr) or Large (1.0 DBU/hr). Determines DBU consumption rate.	Medium
Hours Per Month	App uptime. Use 730 for 24/7 apps.	730

Estimating hours for intermittent usage

If your app only serves traffic during specific hours:

Hours/Month = Hours Per Day × Days Per Month

Example: Dashboard used 8 hours/day, 22 weekdays = 176 hours/month.

How costs are calculated

DBU/Hour     = App Size Rate (0.5 for Medium, 1.0 for Large)
Monthly DBUs = DBU/Hour × Hours/Month
DBU Cost     = Monthly DBUs × $/DBU
Total Cost   = DBU Cost (no VM costs — always serverless)

Databricks Apps are always serverless. There are no VM infrastructure costs to estimate.

SKU mapping

Workload	SKU	Fallback $/DBU
Databricks Apps (all sizes)	ALL_PURPOSE_SERVERLESS_COMPUTE	$0.07

Tips

• Start with Medium: Most internal dashboards and tools run fine on Medium. Only upgrade to Large if you see performance issues with concurrent users.
• Right-size your hours: If the app is only used during business hours, enter 176 (8 × 22) instead of 730. This cuts costs by ~76%.
• Cross-cloud comparison: Like all serverless workloads, the $/DBU rate varies by cloud and region. Create estimates for each cloud to compare.

Common mistakes

• Using 730 hours for business-only apps: An internal dashboard used 9-to-5 doesn't need 24/7 uptime. Calculate your actual usage hours.
• Choosing Large "just in case": Large costs exactly 2× Medium. Start with Medium and upgrade if needed.
• Expecting VM costs: Databricks Apps are always serverless. $0 in the VM Cost column is correct.

Excel export

Each Databricks Apps workload appears as one row in the exported spreadsheet:

Column	What it shows
Configuration	App size (Medium or Large)
Mode	Serverless (always)
SKU	ALL_PURPOSE_SERVERLESS_COMPUTE
DBU/Hour	0.5 (Medium) or 1.0 (Large)
Hours/Month	Direct hours value
Monthly DBUs	DBU/Hour × Hours/Month
DBU Cost (List)	At list price
DBU Cost (Discounted)	At negotiated rate
VM Cost	$0 (always serverless)
Total Cost	DBU Cost