Homeโ€บCloudways vs Microsoft Azure
Updated March 2026 ยท Independent Analysis

CloudwaysvsMicrosoft Azure

Cloudways starts at $14/mo; Microsoft Azure is free. Both rated 4.6/5 by users.

C
Cloudways

Managed cloud hosting platform on top of DigitalOcean, AWS, and Google Cloud

โ˜… 4.6/5Founded 2011250K+ websites users
Try Cloudways Free โ†’
M
Microsoft Azure

Microsoft's cloud computing platform for building, deploying, and managing apps

โ˜… 4.5/5Founded 201095% of Fortune 500 users
Try Microsoft Azure Free โ†’

โšก Quick Stats

โญ
Avg Rating
๐Ÿ† Cloudways wins
๐Ÿ’ฐ
Starting Price
๐Ÿ† Microsoft Azure wins
๐Ÿ”ง
Features
๐Ÿ† Cloudways wins
๐ŸŽ
Free Plan
๐Ÿ† Microsoft Azure wins

๐Ÿ“Š Ratings Breakdown

C

Cloudways

4.6/5 avg
G2 Score4.5/5
Capterra Score4.7/5
Overall Avg4.6/5
M

Microsoft Azure

4.5/5 avg
G2 Score4.4/5
Capterra Score4.5/5
Overall Avg4.45/5

โšก Quick Verdict

Independent analysis based on features, pricing, and user ratings

Choose Cloudways if you need:
  • โœ“ Managed Hosting
  • โœ“ 1-Click Install
  • โœ“ Free SSL
  • โœ“ Free Migration
  • โœ“ Staging Environment
Try Cloudways Free โ†’
Choose Microsoft Azure if you need:
  • โœ“ Virtual Machines
  • โœ“ App Service
  • โœ“ Azure Functions
  • โœ“ Azure SQL
  • โœ“ Cosmos DB
Try Microsoft Azure Free โ†’

๐Ÿ”ง Feature Comparison

Cloudways uniquely offers Managed Hosting, 1-Click Install, Free SSL. Microsoft Azure uniquely offers Virtual Machines, App Service, Azure Functions. Both share 1 features including CDN.

Feature
Cloudways
Microsoft Azure
CDN
โœ“
โœ“
Managed Hosting
โœ“
โœ—
1-Click Install
โœ“
โœ—
Free SSL
โœ“
โœ—
Free Migration
โœ“
โœ—
Staging Environment
โœ“
โœ—
Automated Backups
โœ“
โœ—
Server Monitoring
โœ“
โœ—
PHP Apps Support
โœ“
โœ—
WordPress Optimization
โœ“
โœ—
Team Collaboration
โœ“
โœ—
SFTP/SSH Access
โœ“
โœ—
24/7 Support
โœ“
โœ—
Git Deployment
โœ“
โœ—
CloudwaysBot
โœ“
โœ—
Virtual Machines
โœ—
โœ“
App Service
โœ—
โœ“
Azure Functions
โœ—
โœ“
Azure SQL
โœ—
โœ“
Cosmos DB
โœ—
โœ“
Blob Storage
โœ—
โœ“
Azure Kubernetes
โœ—
โœ“
Azure DevOps
โœ—
โœ“
Azure AI
โœ—
โœ“
Active Directory
โœ—
โœ“
Load Balancer
โœ—
โœ“
Monitoring
โœ—
โœ“
Key Vault
โœ—
โœ“
200+ Services
โœ—
โœ“
Total Features
15
15

๐Ÿ’ฐ Pricing Comparison

Cloudways starts at $14/mo; Microsoft Azure is free.

C

Cloudways Plans

Paid plans only

DO 1GBBest Value
$14/mo
  • โ€ข 1GB RAM
  • โ€ข 1 Core
  • โ€ข 25GB SSD
DO 2GB
$28/mo
  • โ€ข 2GB RAM
  • โ€ข 1 Core
  • โ€ข 50GB SSD
DO 4GB
$54/mo
  • โ€ข 4GB RAM
  • โ€ข 2 Cores
  • โ€ข 80GB SSD
AWS/GCE
$38/mo
  • โ€ข Starting price for AWS small
Full Cloudways pricing breakdown โ†’
M

Microsoft Azure Plans

Free tier available

Free Account
Free
  • โ€ข $200 credit
  • โ€ข 55+ always-free services
Pay-as-you-go
Custom
  • โ€ข VMs from $0.004/hr
  • โ€ข Blob Storage $0.018/GB
Full Microsoft Azure pricing breakdown โ†’
๐Ÿ”” Get notified when prices change

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