Durable Functions now supports a new stateful entities pattern, enabling you to build stateful Azure Functions that map to an actor. This way, functions can preserve state and data, while keeping the consumption-based billing model with charges only when these actor functions are running and not for idle time.
For stateful functions that map to an entity, like an IoT device or a gaming session, you can use the new stateful entity trigger for actor-like capabilities in Azure Functions. This usually requires dedicated resources, but by using Azure Functions you can use these patterns without having to manage infrastructure. In addition, you can benefit from automated scaling based on demand, and reduce costs by using the pay-per-request billing model.
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