Azure Virtual Machines vs Amazon Lightsail

Azure Virtual Machines9.1Visit Amazon Lightsail8.8Visit

Higher score Azure Virtual Machines #3 in Ubuntu VPS Hosting 9.1/10 Paid Visit Azure

vs

Amazon Lightsail #6 in Ubuntu VPS Hosting 8.8/10 Paid Try Amazon Lightsail

• Azure Virtual Machines fits best

  Enterprise Ubuntu deployments on Azure

• Amazon Lightsail fits best

  Low-cost Ubuntu VPS for simple workloads

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Side by side

Feature	Azure Virtual Machines 9.1/10 Visit ↗	Amazon Lightsail 8.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.1	8.8
Ranking	#3 in Ubuntu VPS Hosting	#6 in Ubuntu VPS Hosting
Best for	Enterprise Ubuntu deployments on Azure	Low-cost Ubuntu VPS for simple workloads
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starting price	Not checked yet	$3.50/unit/mo
Free plan	—	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud, Browser extension
Platforms	Web, Windows, Linux	Web
Support	Tickets, Community, Docs · 24/7	Docs
Integrations	7 integrations	90+ integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market
Specs
vCPU cores	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
RAM	Not checked yet	0.5 GB
NVMe storage	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Bandwidth	Not checked yet	1 TB/mo
Server locations	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Managed support	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
DDoS protection	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Choose Linux or Windows VM series, sizes and Azure regions. Scale VM instance counts with Virtual Machine Scale Sets. Connect VMs to Azure monitoring, backup and load balancing.	$3.50 monthly Nano Linux bundle with 2 vCPUs and 1 TB transfer Root access, browser SSH, firewall rules, snapshots and metric alarms Lightsail API integration with Amazon EC2 and other AWS resources
Cons	Costs vary by VM configuration, operating system, region and usage. No ongoing free plan is available. VMs depend on the broader Azure cloud ecosystem.	Nano-0.5GB bundle provides only 0.5 GB memory The lowest listed Linux bundle is IPv6-only Support is provided through documentation channels
Our verdict	Azure Virtual Machines provides configurable Linux and Windows virtual machines on Microsoft Azure. It suits teams hosting applications, databases or high-performance computing workloads that need to select VM sizes and regions, with… Read the review →	Amazon Lightsail is an AWS cloud service for virtual private server instances and related cloud resources. It suits solo developers, small teams and mid-market groups hosting websites, web applications or development environments on… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Azure Virtual Machines — where it wins

  • Choose Linux or Windows VM series, sizes and Azure regions.
  • Scale VM instance counts with Virtual Machine Scale Sets.
  • Connect VMs to Azure monitoring, backup and load balancing.

  Where it doesn't

  • Costs vary by VM configuration, operating system, region and usage.
  • No ongoing free plan is available.
  • VMs depend on the broader Azure cloud ecosystem.

• Amazon Lightsail — where it wins

  • $3.50 monthly Nano Linux bundle with 2 vCPUs and 1 TB transfer
  • Root access, browser SSH, firewall rules, snapshots and metric alarms
  • Lightsail API integration with Amazon EC2 and other AWS resources

  Where it doesn't

  • Nano-0.5GB bundle provides only 0.5 GB memory
  • The lowest listed Linux bundle is IPv6-only
  • Support is provided through documentation channels

• Azure Virtual Machines9.1/10 · Paid

  A flexible Azure VM service for teams that need scaling, monitoring and backup options.

  Visit AzureFull verdict →
• Amazon Lightsail8.8/10 · Paid

  A low-cost AWS VPS for straightforward Linux workloads, with limited support channels.

  Try Amazon LightsailFull verdict →