Alibaba Cloud
vs
Impossible Cloud
What's good about each
- 30+ regions, most in mainland China and Asia-Pacific
- 3,200+ CDN nodes in 70+ countries
- Qwen models served through Model Studio
- PolarDB, its own MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible database
- Flat per-TB storage pricing with no egress fees
- European jurisdiction and data sovereignty, GDPR compliant
- ISO 27001, SOC 2, and PCI DSS certified data centers
- Bare metal NVIDIA DGX GPU servers
Price comparison
Closest matching configuration on each side, monthly list price in USD.
| Service | Alibaba Cloud | Impossible Cloud | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small VM | $5.62 /mo 2 vCPU, 1 GiB RAM (ecs.e-c2m1.large) | -- Not listed | |
| Medium VM | $60.34 /mo 4 vCPU, 8 GiB RAM (ecs.e-c1m2.xlarge) | -- Not listed | |
| Large VM | $188.64 /mo 8 vCPU, 16 GiB RAM (ecs.c8a.2xlarge) | -- Not listed | |
| Block storage | $7.60 /mo 100 GB (ESSD PL0) | -- Not listed | |
| Object storage | $27.70 /mo 1 TB | $7.99 /mo 1 TB stored | 71% cheaper on Impossible Cloud |
| Load balancer | $19.40 /mo Network Load Balancer | -- Not listed | |
| Serverless | $20.63 /mo 25M invocations, 512 MB RAM, 150 ms duration (0.15 vCPU) | -- Not listed | |
| Egress allowance | 200 GB / mo | No egress fees | |
| Egress | $74.00 /TB $0.074 / GB | Free No egress or API request charges | Free on Impossible 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
Alibaba Cloud offers 4 GPU models, while Impossible Cloud offers 6. Cheapest listed price per GPU per hour; GPUs both providers sell come first.
| GPU | Alibaba Cloud | Impossible Cloud | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
V100
14 configs
|
$1.51 /GPU/hr Reserved (12 mo) | -- | Alibaba Cloud only |
|
T4
12 configs
|
$0.62 /GPU/hr Reserved (12 mo) | -- | Alibaba Cloud only |
|
A10
26 configs
|
$0.71 /GPU/hr Reserved (12 mo) | -- | Alibaba Cloud only |
|
P100
12 configs
|
$0.87 /GPU/hr Reserved (12 mo) | -- | Alibaba Cloud only |
|
H100
1 config
|
-- | $2.95 /GPU/hr Reserved (12 mo) | Impossible Cloud only |
|
B300
10 configs
|
-- | $5.36 /GPU/hr Reserved (60 mo) | Impossible Cloud only |
|
B200
1 config
|
-- | $8.42 /GPU/hr Reserved (7 mo) | Impossible Cloud only |
|
RTX PRO 6000
3 configs
|
-- | $2.04 /GPU/hr Reserved (12 mo) | Impossible Cloud only |
|
H200
5 configs
|
-- | $3.11 /GPU/hr Reserved (12 mo) | Impossible Cloud only |
|
L40S
3 configs
|
-- | $1.13 /GPU/hr Reserved (12 mo) | Impossible Cloud only |
Alibaba Cloud bills on-demand and reserved (12 months); Impossible Cloud bills reserved (1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 12, 24, 36, 48 or 60 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 | Alibaba Cloud | Impossible Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 | Type II | Data centers only |
| ISO 27001 | Yes | Yes |
| HIPAA | Yes | -- |
| GDPR | Yes | Yes |
| PCI DSS | Level 1 | Data centers only |
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 | Alibaba Cloud | Impossible Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2009 | 2021 |
| Headquarters | China | Germany |
| Locations | 31 | 3 |
| Example customers | Taobao, Henkel, Hang Seng Bank, Tiger Brokers | -- |
| Website | www.alibabacloud.com | www.impossiblecloud.com |
Alternatives to consider
Compare Alibaba Cloud and Impossible Cloud against other cloud providers.
Our data for Alibaba Cloud was last updated on Oct. 1, 2026, and for Impossible Cloud on Oct. 1, 2026.