Google Cloud
vs
Azure
Both are hyperscalers with the same service catalog and VM prices. Google Cloud adds BigQuery, TPUs and Vertex AI, while Microsoft Azure charges less for egress and Postgres and ties into Microsoft 365.
What's good about each
- 40+ regions across 26 countries
- BigQuery, GKE and Gemini models on Vertex AI
- TPUs, plus Nvidia T4 up to 8x B200 nodes
- Automatic sustained use discounts on N1 and N2 VMs
- 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 | Google Cloud | Azure | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small VM | $6.79 /mo 2 vCPU (shared-core), 1 GB RAM (e2-micro) | $6.77 /mo 2 vCPU, 1 GB RAM (B2ats v2) | Within 5% |
| Medium VM | $94.20 /mo 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM (E2 custom) | $95.76 /mo 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM (B4als v2) | Within 5% |
| Large VM | $220.44 /mo 8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM (n4-highcpu-8) | $231.84 /mo 8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM (D8als v6) | 5% cheaper on Google Cloud |
| Block storage | $7.89 /mo 100 GB (Hyperdisk Balanced) | $7.92 /mo 100 GB (Premium SSD v2) | Within 5% |
| Object storage | $42.13 /mo 1 TB | $35.25 /mo 1 TB | 16% cheaper on Azure |
| PostgreSQL | $94.22 /mo 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 50 GB SSD (Cloud SQL Enterprise) | $54.71 /mo 2 vCPU, 4 GiB RAM, 50 GB storage (Flexible Server B2s) | 42% cheaper on Azure |
| Redis | $22.90 /mo 1.4 GB (Memorystore for Valkey, shared-core-nano) | $23.04 /mo 1 GB RAM (Managed Redis Balanced B1) | Within 5% |
| Load balancer | $29.16 /mo Passthrough Network Load Balancer | $23.00 /mo Standard | 21% cheaper on Azure |
| Serverless | $44.66 /mo 25M invocations, 512 MB RAM, 150 ms duration (Cloud Run functions, 0.333 vCPU) | $35.00 /mo 25M invocations, 512 MB RAM, 150 ms duration | 22% cheaper on Azure |
| Egress allowance | 1 GB / mo (Compute Engine), 100 GB / mo (Cloud Storage) | 100 GB / mo | |
| Egress | $120.00 /TB $0.12 / GB (Premium network) | $87.00 /TB $0.087 / GB (Premium network North America) | 28% cheaper on Azure |
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
Google Cloud and Azure each offer 10 GPU models. Cheapest listed price per GPU per hour; GPUs both providers sell come first.
| GPU | Google Cloud | Azure | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
H100
15 configs · 20 configs
|
$11.07 /GPU/hr On-demand | $6.98 /GPU/hr On-demand | 37% cheaper on Azure |
|
H200
3 configs · 4 configs
|
$6.35 /GPU/hr Spot | $13.78 /GPU/hr Spot | 54% cheaper on Google Cloud |
|
RTX PRO 6000
16 configs · 40 configs
|
$4.50 /GPU/hr On-demand | $5.50 /GPU/hr On-demand | 18% cheaper on Google Cloud |
|
A100
36 configs · 20 configs
|
$3.72 /GPU/hr On-demand | $3.40 /GPU/hr On-demand | 9% cheaper on Azure |
|
V100
36 configs · 6 configs
|
$2.53 /GPU/hr On-demand | $1.53 /GPU/hr On-demand | 39% cheaper on Azure |
|
T4
48 configs · 16 configs
|
$0.42 /GPU/hr On-demand | $0.53 /GPU/hr On-demand | 19% cheaper on Google Cloud |
|
B200
3 configs
|
$4.18 /GPU/hr Spot | -- | Google Cloud only |
|
L4
32 configs
|
$0.32 /GPU/hr Reserved (36 mo) | -- | Google Cloud only |
|
GB200
4 configs
|
-- | $11.90 /GPU/hr Reserved (36 mo) | Azure only |
MI300X
4 configs
|
-- | $1.76 /GPU/hr Spot | Azure only |
Google Cloud bills on-demand, spot and reserved (12 or 36 months); 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 | Google Cloud | Azure |
|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 | Type II | Type II |
| ISO 27001 | Yes | Yes |
| HIPAA | Yes | Yes |
| GDPR | Yes | Yes |
| PCI DSS | Yes | Level 1 |
| FedRAMP | High | 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 | Google Cloud | Azure |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2008 | 2008 |
| Headquarters | USA | USA |
| Locations | 40 | 66 |
| Example customers | Shopify, Wayfair, Etsy, The Home Depot, Unilever, Lloyds Banking Group | General Motors, NHS, Fujitsu, NBA |
| Website | cloud.google.com | azure.microsoft.com |
Alternatives to consider
Compare Google Cloud and Azure against other cloud providers.
Our data for Google Cloud was last updated on Oct. 2, 2026, and for Azure on Oct. 2, 2026.