Fastly vs Microsoft Azure: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Fastly and Microsoft Azure to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
Fastly
6.7/10
Fastly is an edge cloud platform that combines a programmable CDN, WebAssembly serverless compute, edge storage, and web security for engineering-led businesses.
Microsoft Azure
7.1/10
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 | 6.7/10 | 7.1/10 |
| Integration | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 5/10 |
| Cost | 4/10 | 4/10 |
| Customization | 9/10 | 9/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Reliability | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4/10 | 4/10 |
| Analytics | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Scalability | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $500/mo Compute Starter | Contact for pricing |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Usage-based (free allowance) | Free Azure free account |
| Features | ||
| Managed Kubernetes | ||
| Shared Hosting | ||
| VPS Hosting | ||
| Content Delivery Network | ||
| Free SSL Certificates | ||
| Multiple Regions | ||
| Object Storage | ||
| Serverless Functions | ||
| API and CLI | Not listed | |
| Cloud Compute | Not listed | |
| DDoS Protection | Not listed | |
| Dedicated Servers | Not listed | |
| Managed Databases | Not listed | |
| Managed WordPress | Not listed | |
Fastly vs Microsoft Azure cost by team size
Fastly and Microsoft Azure cost the same at every team size we checked.
| Team size | Fastly | Microsoft Azure |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeUsage-based (free allowance) | FreeAzure free account |
| 5 users | FreeUsage-based (free allowance) | FreeAzure free account |
| 10 users | FreeUsage-based (free allowance) | FreeAzure free account |
| 25 users | FreeUsage-based (free allowance) | FreeAzure free account |
| 50 users | FreeUsage-based (free allowance) | 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 Fastly
- Higher Support score (6/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for developers (9/10 vs 7/10)
Why choose Microsoft Azure
- Higher Integration score (9/10 vs 8/10)
- Higher Security score (9/10 vs 8/10)
- Includes Managed Kubernetes, which Fastly lacks
- Includes Shared Hosting, which Fastly lacks
- Includes VPS Hosting, which Fastly lacks
Pros & Cons
Fastly
Pros
- Instant Purge clears cached content worldwide in about 150 ms, which suits news and e-commerce sites that change content often.
- VCL and WebAssembly-based Compute give engineers fine control over edge logic per request.
- Real-time log streaming to more than 30 endpoints, including Datadog, Splunk, and BigQuery, is included.
- The Next-Gen WAF, from the Signal Sciences acquisition, is known for low false-positive rates (a vendor claim reported by Technologymatch).
- Self-serve sign-up includes free monthly allowances for delivery, compute, storage, and TLS.
Cons
- Reviewers describe VCL as hard to learn and say the dashboard is complex for beginners.
- Region-based bandwidth rates make monthly bills hard to predict, especially for smaller companies.
- About 76 POPs, far fewer than Cloudflare or Akamai, with no presence in mainland China, Russia, or the CIS region.
- Some PeerSpot reviewers report slow support responses.
- Bot management and the full security suites are sold by sales quote only.
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 Hosting & Infrastructure criteria: 7.1/10 against 6.7/10 for Fastly. The largest gap is in Analytics: 7/10 for Fastly and 8/10 for Microsoft Azure.
Both are free for 10 users.
Yes, both Fastly and Microsoft Azure have a free plan.
Fastly is the better fit for developers: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 7/10 for Microsoft Azure.
Microsoft Azure has Managed Kubernetes, Shared Hosting and VPS Hosting, which Fastly lacks.
