Aleph Cloud vs Azure
Up to 69% cheaper than Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines, with storage included and decentralization built in.
Start at $0.0143/hTL;DR
Azure is the second largest cloud and the default choice for Microsoft-aligned organizations, but its VM pricing is the most expensive among the major hyperscalers. Aleph Cloud delivers identical specs at up to 69% lower cost, with no Microsoft account, no Active Directory dependency, and decentralized infrastructure that no single corporation controls.
Aleph Cloud vs Azure: pricing across 3 tiers
All prices are list, on-demand, with storage normalized. Tiers marked with * indicate the competitor doesn't offer an exact match — you pay for the next tier up.
| Tier | Aleph Cloud | Azure | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 40 GB | 🛡 Aleph Cloud VPS 2-core $20.81/mo $20.81 compute · included storage | Azure B2s $36.50/mo $30.37 compute · $6.13 (P4 SSD) storage | −43% |
| 4 vCPU / 8 GB / 80 GB | 🛡 Aleph Cloud VPS 4-core $41.61/mo $41.61 compute · included storage | Azure B4ms (4c/16GB)* $133.74/mo $121.47 compute · $12.27 storage | −69% |
| 8 vCPU / 16 GB / 160 GB | 🛡 Aleph Cloud VPS 8-core $83.22/mo $83.22 compute · included storage | Azure B8ms (8c/32GB)* $267.48/mo $242.94 compute · $24.54 storage | −69% |
Why pick Aleph Cloud over Azure
Four reasons Azure customers switch to Aleph Cloud:
Up to 69% cheaper
Same vCPU, RAM, and SSD as Azure B-series at a fraction of the price.
Storage included
Azure bills Premium SSD separately. Aleph includes block storage in every plan.
No Microsoft account
No identity lock-in, no enterprise agreement, no surprise license fees.
Crypto-native
Pay in $ALEPH (+20% bonus), USDC, or fiat. Wallet authentication, no KYC.
When Azure might be the right choice
We're not going to pretend Azure is always wrong. Here are the cases where staying with Azure makes sense:
- Your organization is already on Microsoft 365, Active Directory, and needs tight identity integration
- You need Azure-specific managed services like Cosmos DB, Synapse, or Azure OpenAI
- You require Microsoft Enterprise Agreement pricing and procurement compliance for a regulated industry
For everything else — standard Linux workloads, web apps, APIs, Docker, databases, AI inference — Aleph Cloud is the cheaper, more sovereign, and more flexible choice.
Migrating from Azure to Aleph Cloud
Most workloads migrate from Azure to Aleph Cloud in under an hour:
- Snapshot and export. Export your application code, environment variables, and database from your current Azure instance.
- Provision an Aleph Cloud VPS with comparable specs from app.aleph.cloud. Pick the same Linux distribution.
- Restore and verify. SSH in, install your dependencies, restore your data, point DNS, and you're live.
For complex workloads with managed services or custom networking, the Aleph Cloud documentation covers VPN setups, persistent volumes, and migration patterns.
Aleph Cloud vs Azure — FAQ
Is Aleph Cloud a drop-in replacement for Azure VMs?
For Linux VM workloads — yes. Aleph Cloud VPS instances run standard Linux distributions and accept SSH key authentication. Web apps, APIs, databases, Docker, and Kubernetes workloads migrate cleanly. Azure-specific managed services (Cosmos DB, Service Bus, Functions) need self-hosted equivalents.
Can I run Windows workloads on Aleph Cloud?
Aleph Cloud VPS currently runs Linux distributions. If your workload requires Windows-specific features (SQL Server, IIS, .NET Framework), Azure remains the better fit. .NET 6+ and ASP.NET Core run natively on Linux and migrate cleanly.
How do I migrate from Azure to Aleph Cloud?
1) Export your application and database from Azure. 2) Provision an Aleph Cloud VPS with comparable specs. 3) Restore using the same Linux distro and config. Most stateless workloads migrate in under an hour.
Does Aleph Cloud meet GDPR and EU data residency requirements?
Yes. Aleph's CRN network includes nodes under European jurisdictions. Because the network is decentralized, no single legal entity controls the data — a stronger sovereignty guarantee than any single Azure region.
Save up to 69% on cloud infrastructure
Spin up a decentralized VPS in under a minute. No credit card required to start. Pay with ALEPH (+20% bonus), USDC, or credit card.