Wait activity

[Yuziu8o]

Curiosity question for which I assume I know the answer but seeking clarity If I have a wait activity for 1 hour, assuming nothing else is happening during that 1 hour, is there any cost during that 1 hour (not counting the initiation of the wait)?

[Shubham_rai955 · Accepted solution]

Regarding Capacity Unit (CU) consumption, the Wait activity itself is billed as per the Activity Count and does not consume data movement units (DIUs) or significant compute resources while waiting. The pipeline simply monitors a countdown timer during the wait time. 

[Zanqueta · Accepted solution]

Hi @Yuziu8o 

In Microsoft Fabric (and similarly in Azure Data Factory or Synapse pipelines), a Wait activity is essentially a control activity. It does not consume compute resources like a data movement or transformation activity. Once the wait is initiated, the pipeline is in a paused state, and the service is not actively processing data during that time.

Best Practice

If you need long waits (e.g., hours), consider whether the pipeline should be split or triggered later to avoid unnecessary orchestration charges. For short waits (minutes), the impact is minimal.

If this response was helpful in any way, I’d gladly accept a 👍much like the joy of seeing a DAX measure work first time without needing another FILTER.

Please mark it as the correct solution. It helps other community members find their way faster (and saves them from another endless loop 🌀.

[Shubham_rai955 · Accepted solution]

Regarding Capacity Unit (CU) consumption, the Wait activity itself is billed as per the Activity Count and does not consume data movement units (DIUs) or significant compute resources while waiting. The pipeline simply monitors a countdown timer during the wait time.