Suggestions appear as you type. Use the up and down arrows to choose one and Enter to open it.

This page's audience our own tag's counts — open to see them
–Visits
–Page views
–Clicks to vendors
–Time on page
–Reading now
Clicks to vendors, by tool
  • –
Top countries
  • –
Devices
  • –

– · visits, page views and clicks counted by our own tag, which counts more than our checked analytics; every figure rounded down · how we count

Head-to-head · Cloud Hosting

Google Compute Engine vs Azure Virtual Machines

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Higher score Google Compute Engine #3 in Cloud Hosting 9.3/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Google Cloud
Azure Virtual Machines #4 in Cloud Hosting 9.2/10 Paid ✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Azure

Google Compute Engine leads on 1 check, Azure Virtual Machines on 0, and 4 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 5 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreGoogle Compute Engine · 9.3/10
  • Free planonly Google Compute Engine

Google Compute Engine scores higher on our rubric for cloud hosting: 9.3 against 9.2 out of 10; our editors rank them #3 and #4.

Google Compute Engine offers free plan; Azure Virtual Machines doesn't.

Google Compute Engine is the better fit for enterprise VM workloads needing broad controls. Azure Virtual Machines is the better fit for organizations standardizing on Azure.

  • Google Compute Engine fits best

    Enterprise VM workloads needing broad controls

  • Azure Virtual Machines fits best

    Organizations standardizing on Azure

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature Google Compute Engine 9.3/10 Visit ↗ Azure Virtual Machines 9.2/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.3 9.2
Ranking #3 in Cloud Hosting #4 in Cloud Hosting
Best for Enterprise VM workloads needing broad controls Organizations standardizing on Azure
Pricing model Free plan + paid Paid
Starting price Free plan Not checked yet
Free plan ✓ (best) —
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud Cloud
Platforms Web Web, Windows, Linux
Support Docs, Community · 24/7 Tickets, Community, Docs · 24/7
Integrations 4 integrations 7 integrations
Built for Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Google Compute Engine 4/4 · Azure Virtual Machines 4/4
Autoscaling ✓ ✓
Load balancing ✓ ✓
Object storage ✓ ✓
Managed databases ✓ ✓
Specs
Regions available Not checked yet Not checked yet
Monthly bandwidth Not checked yet Not checked yet
Support level Premium Premium
Our review
Pros
  • Custom VM types, block storage, autoscaling, and load balancing
  • Supports Linux, Windows, GPUs, TPUs, APIs, and console control
  • Connects with Cloud Storage, BigQuery, Cloud SQL, and more
  • Supports both Linux and Windows virtual machines
  • Adds autoscaling, load balancing, zones, and scale sets
  • Connects with Azure storage, monitoring, backup, and databases
Cons
  • Self-managed infrastructure requires operational expertise
  • Usage-based billing can make costs harder to forecast
  • Broader controls may be more than simple hosting needs
  • Pricing varies by region, operating system, usage, and configuration
  • Requires Azure ecosystem knowledge for the broadest fit
  • No free plan; ongoing usage can make costs complex to manage
Our verdict

Google Compute Engine is an infrastructure-as-a-service platform for creating and running self-managed virtual machines on Google infrastructure. It suits teams running web servers, applications, databases, containers, batch processing,…

Read the review →

Azure Virtual Machines is a cloud computing service for deploying and running Linux or Windows virtual machines. It suits organizations that need configurable compute for enterprise software, databases, applications, APIs, or…

Read the review →
  1. Google Compute EngineCloud Hosting 9.3Free plan
  2. Azure Virtual MachinesCloud Hosting 9.2Paid

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Google Compute Engine — where it wins

    • Custom VM types, block storage, autoscaling, and load balancing
    • Supports Linux, Windows, GPUs, TPUs, APIs, and console control
    • Connects with Cloud Storage, BigQuery, Cloud SQL, and more

    Where it doesn't

    • Self-managed infrastructure requires operational expertise
    • Usage-based billing can make costs harder to forecast
    • Broader controls may be more than simple hosting needs

  • Azure Virtual Machines — where it wins

    • Supports both Linux and Windows virtual machines
    • Adds autoscaling, load balancing, zones, and scale sets
    • Connects with Azure storage, monitoring, backup, and databases

    Where it doesn't

    • Pricing varies by region, operating system, usage, and configuration
    • Requires Azure ecosystem knowledge for the broadest fit
    • No free plan; ongoing usage can make costs complex to manage

More comparisons

All cloud hosting comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update