Azure vs Google Cloud pricing: what differs and how to compare

Azure and Google Cloud differ most in how a discount reaches you. Google Cloud applies some discounts automatically to virtual machines that run most of the month; on Azure the pay-as-you-go rate stays until you commit. Licences for Windows Server and SQL Server, the network tier and the machine shapes each cloud sells account for most of the rest.

This page explains those differences without quoting prices, because prices change and differ by region. To see real numbers for your own workload, price it on both clouds on the canvas: each quote comes from that cloud's own pricing engine.

How Azure and Google Cloud charge, side by side

How it is charged	Azure	Google Cloud
Without a commitment	Pay-as-you-go: billed for the time a resource runs, at a rate set per size and per region, with no commitment.	On-demand: VMs are billed per second after a short minimum, with no commitment.
Commitment discounts	Azure Reservations (1 or 3 years) for a specific resource type, or the Azure savings plan for compute: an hourly spend commitment for 1 or 3 years that follows usage across sizes and regions.	Committed use discounts for 1 or 3 years: resource-based (a fixed amount of vCPU, memory and other resources in one region) or spend-based (an hourly spend across eligible services). Commitments are billed monthly.
Automatic discounts	None for virtual machines: the pay-as-you-go rate stays unless you buy a reservation or the savings plan.	Sustained use discounts: applied automatically when eligible Compute Engine VMs run for a large part of the month. Not every machine series qualifies.
Spare capacity	Azure Spot Virtual Machines: spare capacity at a discount, evicted when Azure needs it back.	Spot VMs: spare capacity at a discount, preempted when Google Cloud needs it back.
Windows Server and SQL Server	Licence-included Windows Server and SQL Server, or Azure Hybrid Benefit, which applies licences you already own with Software Assurance or a qualifying subscription and removes the licence part of the rate.	Premium images add the Windows Server or SQL Server licence to the VM price. Bringing your own Windows Server licences generally needs sole-tenant nodes; SQL Server can use License Mobility.
Data transfer	Data in is free. Data out to the internet is billed per GB in tiers that fall with volume, after a monthly free amount; routing preference and transfer between regions change the rate.	Data in is free. Internet egress is billed per GB and depends on the network tier (Premium or Standard) and the destination; traffic between zones and regions is billed too.
Support plans	Basic support is included. Paid plans such as Developer and Standard are a flat monthly fee.	Basic support is included. Paid Customer Care tiers (Standard, Enhanced, Premium) are priced from a monthly minimum and a share of spend.
Free offers	A free account with a time-limited credit, some services free for an initial period, and services that are always free within monthly limits.	A Free Trial credit for new customers, and a Free Tier with monthly usage limits on some products.

Where an Azure and a Google Cloud quote usually differ

Automatic discounts versus commitments

Google Cloud gives sustained use discounts automatically when eligible Compute Engine VMs run for a large part of the billing month, with no commitment. Not every machine series qualifies: some, such as E2, are priced lower instead and get no sustained use discount. Azure has no equivalent for virtual machines, so an always-on Azure VM without a commitment stays at the pay-as-you-go rate.

That makes the no-commitment comparison sensitive to the machine series the Google Cloud engine chooses. Check the series on each line of the quote, and compare again with a commitment.

Commitments

Azure sells reservations for a specific resource type and the Azure savings plan for compute, an hourly spend that follows usage across sizes and regions. Google Cloud sells committed use discounts in two kinds: resource-based, for a fixed amount of vCPU and memory in one region, and spend-based, for an hourly spend across eligible services. Both run for one or three years. Google Cloud bills its commitments monthly; Azure lets you pay upfront or monthly.

SQL Server and Windows Server

Azure Hybrid Benefit lets you apply Windows Server and SQL Server licences you already own, with Software Assurance or a qualifying subscription, to Azure VMs and to Azure SQL. On Google Cloud, premium images add the licence to the VM price; bringing your own Windows Server licences generally needs sole-tenant nodes, while SQL Server can move with License Mobility. For a managed database, compare Azure SQL Database or SQL Managed Instance with Cloud SQL for SQL Server at the same edition and vCore count.

Network egress

Both clouds let data in for free and bill data out per gigabyte. Google Cloud prices internet egress by network tier: Premium, on Google's own network, or Standard, which hands traffic to the internet sooner and costs less. Azure has a similar choice in routing preference, between the Microsoft network and internet routing. Traffic between regions is billed on both, so put your expected outbound gigabytes per month and the destination in the request.

Machine shapes

Google Cloud lets you choose custom machine types for some series, setting vCPU and memory separately. Azure sells fixed sizes. A mirrored quote may therefore land on a slightly different shape on each cloud: check the vCPU and memory on each line before you compare the totals.

Support and free offers

Azure's paid support plans such as Developer and Standard are a flat monthly fee. Google Cloud's paid Customer Care tiers are priced from a monthly minimum and a share of spend. Neither is part of a workload quote. Both clouds also have a free credit for new customers and services that are free within monthly limits; the details change, so check the official pages.

How to compare Azure and Google Cloud on the canvas

Describe the workload once. In the box on the canvas, write what you want to run: the services, sizes, region, hours per month, operating system and licences, outbound data, and any commitment such as "1-year reserved". The more of it you say, the closer the two quotes match.
Price it on both clouds. Pick "All three" to send the same request to every engine at once, or price it on Azure first and use Mirror on Google Cloud on the quote card. Mirroring turns the priced quote into a provider-neutral description of the workload and lets the Google Cloud engine choose its own services and sizes.
Read the Compare lane. It lines the quotes up by role (compute, database, storage, network), with each cloud's monthly total and the difference against the cheapest. Lines that could not be priced live are flagged.
Change one assumption at a time. Add a commitment, switch the licences or the region, and price again, so you can see which choice moves the total.
Keep the result. Export to Excel or CSV, or share a read-only link with whoever signs off the budget.

An AI assistant can do the first two steps for you by writing an AI link. This one opens an 8-vCore SQL Server database on Azure SQL and on Cloud SQL, side by side:

https://cloudpricingcalculators.com/q/azure/sql/tier=generalpurpose_vcores=8/gcp/cloudsql/engine=sqlserver_vcores=8?n=SQL%20Server%20on%20Azure%20and%20Google%20Cloud

An AI link is priced when you open it, from your own free daily allowance. Nothing is priced in advance, so the page itself quotes no prices.

Official pricing pages

Each provider publishes its own prices and terms; these pages are where the details above come from.

Microsoft Azure

Google Cloud

Pricing on one cloud only

If the choice is already made, the single-cloud calculators go deeper on that cloud:

Azure Price Calculator: itemized Microsoft Azure quotes from the Azure Retail Prices API, which you can save, share, export and compare with the other clouds.
GCP Price Calculator: itemized Google Cloud quotes from the Cloud Billing Catalog API, which you can save, share, export and compare with the other clouds.

All three calculators are listed on the calculators page, and common questions are answered in the FAQ.

Other comparisons

Estimates are informational. cloudpricingcalculators.com is not affiliated with Microsoft, Amazon or Google. Validate prices with the provider or an authorised partner before buying.