Amazon Web Services (AWS) vs Microsoft Azure Pricing (2026)
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Amazon Web Services (AWS) vs Microsoft Azure

Cloud Infrastructure pricing comparison · 2026

Amazon Web Services (AWS) pricing ranges from $0–$15000/month, while Microsoft Azure ranges from $0–$70.08/month. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is typically 22% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.

Cloud Infrastructure

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

$0–$15000
/month
5 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
Cloud Infrastructure

Microsoft Azure

$0–$70.08
/month
5 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure both operate in the cloud infrastructure category. This page compares their list pricing.

Plan-by-Plan Pricing

Plan Amazon Web Services (AWS) Microsoft Azure
Free Tier Free /month Free /month
On-Demand (t3.micro) $7.59 /month $7.59 /month
On-Demand (t3.medium) $30.37 /month $70.08 /month
Savings Plans (1-Year Compute) Custom Custom
Enterprise Support $15K /month Custom

Cost at Scale

Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

8 scenarios
$15
Developer Sandbox
25/month
$150
Small Web Application
250/month
$1,500
Production SaaS Platform
3,000/month
See all 8 scenarios →

Microsoft Azure

7 scenarios
$12
Developer Workstation
20/month
$150
Small Business Application
300/month
$1,200
Production Web Platform
2,500/month
See all 7 scenarios →

Market Intelligence

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Median annual cost
$398
Based on
164 deals

Microsoft Azure

Median annual cost
$329
Based on
138 deals

Hidden Costs

Beyond the sticker price — what catches buyers off guard.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) 7 hidden costs

high
Data Egress and Bandwidth Costs 10-30% of license costs
medium
Lambda Hidden Service Dependencies 5-15% of license costs
high
GPU and ML Instance Cost Shock $2,160-$14,400
high
Managed Service Premium (Fargate, Aurora, Redshift) $21-$100
medium
VPC Endpoint Charges per Service 5-15% of license costs
See all Amazon Web Services (AWS) hidden costs →

Microsoft Azure 8 hidden costs

critical
Unpredictable Billing & Surprise Charges 5-100% of license costs
high
CSP Subscription Lacks Cost Management Visibility 5-50% of license costs
high
Premium Support Costs $100-$300/month
medium
Feature Gating Behind Higher Service Tiers $70/month
medium
Marketplace Charges Billed Separately 5-15% of license costs
See all Microsoft Azure hidden costs →

Contract Terms

Term Amazon Web Services (AWS) Microsoft Azure
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 —
Minimum 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 Yes
Try Amazon Web Services (AWS) Free
Try Microsoft Azure Free

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