Microsoft Azure vs Amazon Lightsail
We have tested 11 VPS plans from Microsoft Azure and Amazon Lightsail. This page is a summary and comparison of all test results for those 2 providers.
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure was founded in 2008.
It is headquartered in the USA.
It offers VPS, Database, Storage and Networking hosting products.
- Australia
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- France
- Germany
- Norway
- Singapore
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Switzerland
- UAE
- UK
- USA
Amazon Lightsail
Amazon Lightsail was founded in 2016.
It is headquartered in the USA.
It offers VPS hosting products.
- Australia
- Canada
- France
- Germany
- India
- Ireland
- Japan
- Singapore
- South Korea
- UK
- USA
VPS Plans
| Plan Name | Monthly Price | CPU cores | Memory (GB) | Disk Space (GB) | Data Transfer (GB) | Latest trial | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1GB 1core | $5.00 | 1 | 1.0 | 40 | 2000 | Mar 22 2019 |
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2GB 1core | $10.00 | 1 | 2.0 | 60 | 3000 | Oct 22 2019 |
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B1MS | $15.11 | 1 | 2.0 | 4 | 1000 | Oct 11 2018 |
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4GB 2cores | $20.00 | 2 | 4.0 | 80 | 4000 | Aug 07 2019 |
|
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B2s | $30.37 | 2 | 4.0 | 8 | 100 | Nov 25 2019 |
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A1 v2 | $31.39 | 1 | 2.0 | 10 | 200 | Dec 27 2018 |
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F1 | $36.00 | 1 | 2.0 | 16 | 1000 | Mar 19 2019 |
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8GB 2cores | $40.00 | 2 | 8.0 | 160 | 5000 | May 19 2019 |
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B2MS | $60.73 | 2 | 8.0 | 16 | 0 | Sep 16 2019 |
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F2s v2 | $61.00 | 2 | 4.0 | 16 | 0 | Jul 14 2019 |
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D2 v3 | $69.12 | 2 | 8.0 | 50 | 0 | May 16 2019 |
Performance Grades
To summarize the performance of each VPS plan, we generated grades based on the various tests that were run: web, sysbench, endurance and remote timing tests. Each grade focuses on one aspect of the VPS speed or stability (cpu, disk IO, network IO...) and is made of one or more metrics measured during the tests.
Grades are evenly distributed between A and F. A is best, F is worst.
Follow the letter links to find the test results backing the grade.
| Plan Name | Web Perf | Raw CPU Power | Perf Stability | Disk IO Perf | Network Perf | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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1GB 1core
$5.00 |
F | F | F | E | D |
|
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2GB 1core
$10.00 |
B | E | E | E | C |
|
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B1MS
$15.11 |
B | F | D | E | C |
|
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4GB 2cores
$20.00 |
B | C | C | D | D |
|
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B2s
$30.37 |
A | D | C | E | B |
|
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A1 v2
$31.39 |
F | F | D | F | D |
|
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F1
$36.00 |
C | E | D | E | B |
|
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8GB 2cores
$40.00 |
B | C | C | D | C |
|
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B2MS
$60.73 |
A | C | C | D | C |
|
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F2s v2
$61.00 |
B | B | C | D | C |
|
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D2 v3
$69.12 |
B | D | B | E | C |
VPS Instance Provisioning Time
This is the average time it took to create an instance for Microsoft Azure and Amazon Lightsail from instance order to instance accepting connections.
| Microsoft Azure | Amazon Lightsail | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of instance creations in sample | 6 | 6 |
| Provisioning time in seconds | 125s | 44s |
In Depth...
The grades above are based on the following test results.
Web Response Times
We ran a database intensive web application with ~100,000 hits per day for several days on cloud servers from Microsoft Azure and Amazon Lightsail. This is the average response time measured locally on the VPS for each plan we tested.
Local Response Time per Plan
Lower is better
During the Web Test, we collect response time metrics, CPU metrics and database performance metrics. All of those are measured locally on the VPS running the web server. All metrics can be compared on the Web Performance Comparison page.
Sysbench CPU Performances
We ran the full suite of Sysbench tests on VPS plans of Microsoft Azure and Amazon Lightsail. These are the Sysbench CPU test results:
Rate of operations
Higher is better
Sysbench test results are also available for random disk IO tests, sequential disk IO tests and memory tests.
Review and compare all Sysbench numbers on the Sysbench Comparison page for Microsoft Azure and Amazon Lightsail.
Remote Timings
During the entire duration of the web performance test, we collected web response times from 5 different locations in the world. The chart below reports the connection establishment time + TLS handshake latency from all 5 locations. (That excludes the time spent on the server that is already measured in web response times above and it also excludes the DNS resolution time since it is not dependent on the provider).
Remote Latency per Plan
Lower is better
Detailed remote timings measurements including connection time, TLS handshake time, and response time can be compared for Microsoft Azure and Amazon Lightsail on the Remote Timings Comparison page.
Network Transfers
We have performed large file transfers from the Microsoft Azure and Amazon Lightsail VPS and we measured the speed of downloads and uploads.
The transfers involve multiple files, 10 threads and last for at least 10 seconds at maximum speed. The transfers are repeated 3 times from different servers and only the fastest transfer is reported here.
Download Speed per Plan
Higher is better
| Provider | Plan | Network Download Speed |
|---|---|---|
| Azure | B1MS | 904.7Mbps |
| Azure | B2s | 1250.5Mbps |
| Azure | A1 v2 | 594.3Mbps |
| Azure | F1 | 1416.9Mbps |
| Azure | B2MS | 759.1Mbps |
| Azure | F2s v2 | 284.9Mbps |
| Azure | D2 v3 | 735.5Mbps |
| Lightsail | 1GB 1core | 583.3Mbps |
| Lightsail | 2GB 1core | 697.9Mbps |
| Lightsail | 4GB 2cores | 647.8Mbps |
| Lightsail | 8GB 2cores | 860.6Mbps |
Network Transfers measurements including download and upload speeds can be compared for Microsoft Azure and Amazon Lightsail on the Network Transfers Comparison page.
Sustained CPU Endurance Tests
We pushed the CPU of those VPS plans hard for 24 hours straight.
This test shows how fast the VPS can go for long periods of time, how stable the performance is and it also gives clues on how overallocated the VPSs may be.
Average number of operations per hour
Higher is better
Review and compare endurance test results for Microsoft Azure and Amazon Lightsail on the Sustained CPU Endurance Comparison page.
Features and Usability
Features not included in the VPS price of the plan will be marked as missing but they may be available for the fee.
| Microsoft Azure Review | Amazon Lightsail Review | |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly Billing | Yes | Yes |
| DDOS Protection | No | No |
| Backups | No | No |
| Control Panel | Custom | custom |
| SSH Keys Setup | Yes | Yes |
| Total Number of Datacenters | 40 | 13 |
| Number of Datacenter Continents | 4 | 4 |
Screenshots
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Use the VPS Screener to quickly zero in on the specifications, performance and price that you're looking for.
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Disclaimer
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