Alibaba Cloud vs Microsoft Azure Comparison
Compare Alibaba Cloud vs Microsoft Azure features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
Alibaba Cloud
6.5/10
Alibaba Group's public cloud platform, offering pay-as-you-go compute, storage, databases, CDN, security and AI services to businesses, with an especially strong presence in Asia.
Microsoft Azure
6.9/10
Microsoft's public cloud platform offering virtual machines, containers, serverless, databases, storage and AI services on pay-as-you-go pricing for businesses of all sizes.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.5/10 | 6.9/10 |
| Analytics | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Cost | 7/10 | 4/10 |
| Customization | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Ease of Use | 5/10 | 4/10 |
| Integration | 6/10 | 9/10 |
| Scalability | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 9/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 5/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | Contact for pricing |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Contact for pricing | Free Azure free account |
| Features | ||
| API and CLI | Not listed | |
| Managed Databases | ||
| Multiple Regions | ||
| DDoS Protection | Not listed | |
| Object Storage | ||
| Managed Kubernetes | ||
| Cloud Compute | ||
| Content Delivery Network | ||
| Serverless Functions | Not listed | |
| VPS Hosting | Not listed | |
| Shared Hosting | Not listed | |
| Free SSL Certificates | Not listed | |
Alibaba Cloud vs Microsoft Azure cost by team size
| Team size | Alibaba Cloud | Microsoft Azure |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | Contact for pricing | FreeAzure free account |
| 5 users | Contact for pricing | FreeAzure free account |
| 10 users | Contact for pricing | FreeAzure free account |
| 25 users | Contact for pricing | FreeAzure free account |
| 50 users | Contact for pricing | FreeAzure free account |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Alibaba Cloud
- Higher Cost score (7/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (5/10 vs 4/10)
Why choose Microsoft Azure
- Has a free plan (Alibaba Cloud does not)
- Higher Integration score (9/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Security score (9/10 vs 7/10)
Pros & Cons
Alibaba Cloud
Pros
- Low hosting costs in Asia, according to PeerSpot reviewers
- Very broad catalogue that covers compute, storage, databases, CDN, security and AI
- Dense region coverage in China and Asia-Pacific, with 106 zones across 31 regions
- Scaling up or down is straightforward, and redundant or mirror setups are supported
Cons
- Support is often described as slow and hard to reach
- Accurate pricing is hard to find for some services, such as RDS and MongoDB
- SDK and API quality is uneven across services
- The console is more complex for newcomers than some rival clouds'
Microsoft Azure
Pros
- Free account includes a 200 USD credit plus always-free allowances such as 1 million Functions requests and Azure DevOps for 5 users.
- Close integration with Microsoft products such as Entra ID and Power BI is repeatedly praised by reviewers.
- Very broad catalogue covering compute, Kubernetes, serverless, databases, storage and AI services.
- Global footprint of over 400 datacenters across 70 regions as of fiscal 2025.
- Reviewers credit built-in identity management and security.
Cons
- Reviewers on Capterra and TrustRadius say monthly bills are hard to understand and predict.
- Steep learning curve, with many services carrying similar names.
- Some PeerSpot reviewers report support tickets taking weeks or months to resolve.
- Paid support is extra, from 29 to 1,000 USD per month beyond the free Basic plan.
- Integration with non-Microsoft platforms and documentation for new releases draw criticism.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Microsoft Azure scores higher on our AI Software criteria: 6.9/10 against 6.5/10 for Alibaba Cloud. The largest gap is in Cost: 7/10 for Alibaba Cloud and 4/10 for Microsoft Azure.
Microsoft Azure has a free plan; Alibaba Cloud does not list one.
