Virtual Machines

Name: Virtual Machines
Brand: Microsoft
Rating: 4.5 (2779 reviews)

Azure Virtual Machines is Microsoft Azure's Infrastructure-as-a-Service compute offering that deploys and operates Windows and Linux virtual machines across multiple instance families, supports lift-and-shift migrations and custom application hosting, and integrates with Azure networking, storage, identity, and governance controls.

Est 1975|Valuation $2888.5B|Raised $72.9B

LinkedIn 29.0M|Website|Web traffic 1233.4M|FTEs 232,851|HQ Redmond, Washington, US

MarketsCloud Infrastructure Providers (IaaS/PaaS)Desktop as a Service (DaaS)Cloud Infrastructure Providers (IaaS/PaaS)

Platform CoversBackup and Data Protection Infrastructure Monitoring Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

01Competitive Landscape

| Aspect | Azure Virtual Machines | Amazon EC2 | Google Compute Engine | |--------|------------------------|------------|------------------------| | Starting Price | Usage-based; varies by VM size/region/OS; storage priced separately | Usage-based; varies by instance/region/OS; EBS/storage and transfer separate | Usage-based; varies by machine type/region; persistent disk and transfer separate | | Best For | Microsoft-centric organizations; hybrid enterprise governance; Windows/SQL workloads | Broad ecosystem and service breadth; mature purchasing constructs | Data/AI-focused workloads; sustained-use/commitment models; GCP-native teams | | Key Strength | Integration with Microsoft products; broad VM catalog; enterprise governance tooling | Large instance variety; ecosystem maturity; widely understood operational patterns | Competitive performance options; integrated GCP networking/data platform | | Key Weakness | Cost opacity/billing complexity cited by customers; governance learning curve | Pricing complexity; some niche GPU reservation price changes have been reported | Some users report pricing/billing surprises and complexity in commitments | - Pricing comparison: value proposition vs alternatives - Azure VMs - Official pricing is published, with important caveats about estimates and separate managed disk pricing. (Source: Official vendor pricing documentation and product pages) - AWS EC2 - AWS publishes EC2 pricing (on-demand and other models). (Source: Official vendor pricing documentation and product pages) - Google Compute Engine - Google publishes Compute Engine pricing information. (Source: Official vendor pricing documentation and product pages) - Customer testimonials comparing this product to competitors - FinOps and independent cost commentary emphasize that real cost comparisons are difficult and bills diverge based on discount models, idle time, and commitment terms. (Source: Independent FinOps and cost analysis commentary) - Market share and adoption trends - This analysis did not retrieve a current, authoritative market share dataset in the available results. Buyers seeking market share numbers should consult recent analyst reports from major industry analysts for up-to-date figures. - When customers choose competitors instead (and why) - AWS EC2 - Often chosen for breadth of third-party tooling, default cloud mindshare, or specific instance families. - GCP Compute Engine - Often chosen by teams aligned with GCP’s data stack and networking patterns. - On-prem virtualization - Chosen when latency/data sovereignty, sunk hardware cost, or licensing constraints dominate.

01Competitive Landscape

Aspect	Azure Virtual Machines	Amazon EC2	Google Compute Engine
Starting Price	Usage-based; varies by VM size/region/OS; storage priced separately	Usage-based; varies by instance/region/OS; EBS/storage and transfer separate	Usage-based; varies by machine type/region; persistent disk and transfer separate
Best For	Microsoft-centric organizations; hybrid enterprise governance; Windows/SQL workloads	Broad ecosystem and service breadth; mature purchasing constructs	Data/AI-focused workloads; sustained-use/commitment models; GCP-native teams
Key Strength	Integration with Microsoft products; broad VM catalog; enterprise governance tooling	Large instance variety; ecosystem maturity; widely understood operational patterns	Competitive performance options; integrated GCP networking/data platform
Key Weakness	Cost opacity/billing complexity cited by customers; governance learning curve	Pricing complexity; some niche GPU reservation price changes have been reported	Some users report pricing/billing surprises and complexity in commitments

Pricing comparison: value proposition vs alternatives
- Azure VMs
  - Official pricing is published, with important caveats about estimates and separate managed disk pricing. (Source: Official vendor pricing documentation and product pages)
- AWS EC2
  - AWS publishes EC2 pricing (on-demand and other models). (Source: Official vendor pricing documentation and product pages)
- Google Compute Engine
  - Google publishes Compute Engine pricing information. (Source: Official vendor pricing documentation and product pages)
Customer testimonials comparing this product to competitors
- FinOps and independent cost commentary emphasize that real cost comparisons are difficult and bills diverge based on discount models, idle time, and commitment terms. (Source: Independent FinOps and cost analysis commentary)
Market share and adoption trends
- This analysis did not retrieve a current, authoritative market share dataset in the available results. Buyers seeking market share numbers should consult recent analyst reports from major industry analysts for up-to-date figures.
When customers choose competitors instead (and why)
- AWS EC2
  - Often chosen for breadth of third-party tooling, default cloud mindshare, or specific instance families.
- GCP Compute Engine
  - Often chosen by teams aligned with GCP’s data stack and networking patterns.
- On-prem virtualization
  - Chosen when latency/data sovereignty, sunk hardware cost, or licensing constraints dominate.

Aspect

Azure Virtual Machines

Amazon EC2

Google Compute Engine

Starting Price

Usage-based; varies by VM size/region/OS; storage priced separately

Usage-based; varies by instance/region/OS; EBS/storage and transfer separate

Usage-based; varies by machine type/region; persistent disk and transfer separate

Best For

Microsoft-centric organizations; hybrid enterprise governance; Windows/SQL workloads

Broad ecosystem and service breadth; mature purchasing constructs

Data/AI-focused workloads; sustained-use/commitment models; GCP-native teams

Key Strength

Integration with Microsoft products; broad VM catalog; enterprise governance tooling

Large instance variety; ecosystem maturity; widely understood operational patterns

Competitive performance options; integrated GCP networking/data platform

Key Weakness

Cost opacity/billing complexity cited by customers; governance learning curve

Pricing complexity; some niche GPU reservation price changes have been reported

Some users report pricing/billing surprises and complexity in commitments