Amazon Web Services (AWS) vs Microsoft Azure

Name: Microsoft Azure
Brand: Microsoft Azure
Availability: OnlineOnly
Rating: 1.1 (18 reviews)

Cloud Infrastructure pricing comparison · 2026

Amazon Web Services (AWS) pricing ranges from $0–$50000/month, while Microsoft Azure ranges from $0–$70.08/month. These products use different pricing models ( vs Per-seat subscription), so a direct price comparison isn't meaningful — costs depend on usage volume and mix.

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See pricing on each vendor's site

Above-the-fold path — each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.

Visit Amazon pricing

Free plan limits → Discount programs →

Visit Microsoft pricing

Free plan limits → Discount programs →

Compare

2 products · Cloud Infrastructure

Side-by-side · live

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers pay-as-you-go cloud infrastructure with no upfront commit

verified 5d ago

$329 $398

View pricing →

Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure is the second-largest cloud infrastructure provider with approximately 25%

verified 7w ago

$329 $398

View pricing →

Verdict · Vendr median · year 1

Microsoft saves $69 vs Amazon · 25 seats

Cheapest $329

Spread 17%

Estimated license cost

at 25 seats

List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.

On-Demand — t3.medium

$9.1K/yr

year 1 license · $30/seat

Pay-As-You-Go (D2s v3)

$21K/yr

year 1 license · $70/seat

What buyers actually pay

median, annual

Vendr deal-flow data. The real benchmark, not list price.

Median annual

$398/yr

Vendr · n=164

↓ Lowest median

Median annual

$329/yr

Vendr · n=138

REF · 01

Sources & confidence

Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.

Where this data comes from

Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs

Sources 4 sourced facts

2 contract · Vendr median · 1 review platform

Last verified 5d ago

Confidence Medium confidence

Sources 18 sourced facts

13 hidden-cost · 2 contract · Vendr median · 2 review platforms

Last verified 1mo ago

Confidence Medium confidence

REF · 02

Plans at a glance

Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.

Tier ladder

Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.

REF · 03

Hidden costs

Each cost is severity-ranked, with the dollar range quoted from its source (Vendr, Reddit, TrustRadius, BBB, official docs) — never our estimate.

Beyond the sticker

Severity-ranked, sourced

No hidden costs documented

5 documented

Unpredictable Billing & Surprise Charges

5-100% of license costs

3 sources
CSP Subscription Lacks Cost Management Visibility

5-50% of license costs

1 source
Premium Support Costs

$100-$300/month

2 sources
Feature Gating Behind Higher Service Tiers

$70/month

1 source
Marketplace Charges Billed Separately

5-15% of license costs

1 source

REF · 04

Contract terms

The fine print, surfaced. Green = buyer-friendly. Each clause backed by a quoted source.

Amazon

Microsoft

Auto-renewal

✓ No

—

Cancellation

On-Demand instances can be stopped or terminated at any time with no notice; Reserved Instances commit to 1 or 3-year terms

—

Commitment

None for On-Demand; 1 or 3 years for Reserved Instances and Savings Plans

None for Pay-As-You-Go; 1 year for Azure Savings Plan; 1 or 3 years for Reserved Instances

Price escalation

No published price escalation schedule; AWS has historically reduced prices over time, though GPU, ML, and managed service pricing remains high

No published schedule found in sources; CSP agreement pricing may vary by partner

Can downgrade

✓ Yes

REF · 05

What users say

Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.

User reviews

TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2

TrustRadius

7.6/5 (735)

Best for

Developers learning AWS, small experiments, and proof-of-concept projects

Watch out

Customer support described as 'terrible' with 24-hour outages and no resolution

TrustRadius

8.4/5 (1,080)

Trustpilot

1.1/5 (18)

Best for

Developers and startups exploring Azure or building initial prototypes

Watch out

Unpredictable and surprise billing charges

Decide

Get a quote from each vendor

Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.

Visit Amazon pricing

Free plan limits → Discount programs →

Visit Microsoft pricing

Free plan limits → Discount programs →

License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats). Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges. Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.

Cloud Infrastructure