Akamai Cloud
vs
Azure
Both sell VPS with managed Kubernetes, databases and object storage. Akamai Cloud charges less for egress and medium VMs, while Microsoft Azure adds hundreds of services and AMD and Nvidia datacenter GPUs.
What's good about each
- Wide range of VPS configurations including including GPU instances
- Managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, Kubernetes, and Object Storage
- Competitive pricing with generous per-instance egress allowances
- 30+ data center locations across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and South America
- Integrates with Entra ID, Microsoft 365, GitHub and Visual Studio
- Azure Arc and Azure Stack for hybrid and multicloud
- OpenAI models served through Azure AI Foundry
- 100+ compliance offerings, regional and industry-specific
- 60+ regions worldwide
Price comparison
Closest matching configuration on each side, monthly list price in USD.
| Service | Akamai Cloud | Azure | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small VM | $5.00 /mo 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM (Shared) | $6.77 /mo 2 vCPU, 1 GB RAM (B2ats v2) | 26% cheaper on Akamai Cloud |
| Medium VM | $48.00 /mo 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM (Shared) | $95.76 /mo 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM (B4als v2) | 50% cheaper on Akamai Cloud |
| Large VM | $144.00 /mo 8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM (Dedicated 16GB) | $231.84 /mo 8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM (D8als v6) | 38% cheaper on Akamai Cloud |
| Block storage | $10.00 /mo 100 GB | $7.92 /mo 100 GB (Premium SSD v2) | 21% cheaper on Azure |
| Object storage | $20.00 /mo 1 TB | $35.25 /mo 1 TB | 43% cheaper on Akamai Cloud |
| PostgreSQL | $63.00 /mo 2 CPU, 4 GB RAM, 58 GB storage (Shared, 1 node) | $54.71 /mo 2 vCPU, 4 GiB RAM, 50 GB storage (Flexible Server B2s) | 13% cheaper on Azure |
| Redis | -- Not listed | $23.04 /mo 1 GB RAM (Managed Redis Balanced B1) | |
| Load balancer | $10.00 /mo | $23.00 /mo Standard | 57% cheaper on Akamai Cloud |
| Serverless | -- Not listed | $35.00 /mo 25M invocations, 512 MB RAM, 150 ms duration | |
| Egress allowance | 1-20 TB / mo per instance | 100 GB / mo | |
| Egress | $5.00 /TB $0.005 / GB | $87.00 /TB $0.087 / GB (Premium network North America) | 94% cheaper on Akamai Cloud |
Heads up: Figures take each provider's closest plan to a common setup, and vary by region and usage. Hover a service for the reference configuration. Verify before provisioning. More on how we price.
GPUs
Akamai Cloud offers 3 GPU models, while Azure offers 10. Cheapest listed price per GPU per hour; GPUs both providers sell come first.
| GPU | Akamai Cloud | Azure | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
RTX PRO 6000
4 configs · 40 configs
|
$3.00 /GPU/hr On-demand | $5.50 /GPU/hr On-demand | 45% cheaper on Akamai Cloud |
|
RTX 4000 Ada
9 configs
|
$0.52 /GPU/hr On-demand | -- | Akamai Cloud only |
|
Quadro RTX 6000
4 configs
|
$1.50 /GPU/hr On-demand | -- | Akamai Cloud only |
|
H100
20 configs
|
-- | $1.29 /GPU/hr Spot | Azure only |
|
H200
4 configs
|
-- | $6.86 /GPU/hr Reserved (36 mo) | Azure only |
|
A100
20 configs
|
-- | $0.68 /GPU/hr Spot | Azure only |
|
GB200
4 configs
|
-- | $11.90 /GPU/hr Reserved (36 mo) | Azure only |
MI300X
4 configs
|
-- | $1.60 /GPU/hr Spot | Azure only |
|
V100
6 configs
|
-- | $0.28 /GPU/hr Spot | Azure only |
|
T4
16 configs
|
-- | $0.15 /GPU/hr Spot | Azure only |
Akamai Cloud bills on-demand; Azure bills on-demand, spot and reserved (12 or 36 months). The line under each price names the billing type shown.
Services
Managed services each provider offers.
Compliance
Frameworks each provider states on its own site, each linked to its source.
| Framework | Akamai Cloud | Azure |
|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 | Yes | Type II |
| ISO 27001 | Yes | Yes |
| HIPAA | Yes | Yes |
| GDPR | Yes | Yes |
| PCI DSS | Yes | Level 1 |
| FedRAMP | Yes | High |
Heads up: Each entry links to the provider's own statement. An attestation can cover one tier, one region or the platform alone rather than every service. Verify the scope before you rely on it. A dash means we found nothing to link to, not that the provider lacks it.
Company details
| Fact | Akamai Cloud | Azure |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2003 | 2008 |
| Headquarters | USA | USA |
| Locations | 31 | 66 |
| Example customers | Panasonic, Best Buy, Wayfair and Giphy | General Motors, NHS, Fujitsu, NBA |
| Website | www.akamai.com | azure.microsoft.com |
Alternatives to consider
Compare Akamai Cloud and Azure against other cloud providers.
Our data for Akamai Cloud was last updated on Oct. 1, 2026, and for Azure on Oct. 1, 2026.