Compute: AWS to Azure service map
32 AWS → Azure mappings: 16 direct, 13 partial, 3 with no equivalent.
Virtual machines, instance families, images, Spot and commitment discounts, dedicated hardware, scaling, HPC, simple hosting, virtual desktops, hybrid and edge, VMware, and VM security. AWS mapped to Azure, verified against official docs.
Virtual machines & images(8)
Virtual machines (IaaS) Direct match
The Azure equivalent of Amazon EC2 is Azure Virtual Machines. Both are general-purpose IaaS VMs with per-second billing, Spot, commitment discounts, and dedicated-host options.
Instance types and VM sizes Direct match
EC2 instance types map to Azure VM sizes (series). Both group shapes by workload type and use letters in the name for the CPU vendor and features, but the naming schemes are different.
Cloud provider's own Arm CPUs Direct match
AWS Graviton maps to Azure Cobalt. Both are provider-designed Arm64 CPUs offered as general-purpose and memory-optimized VM families ("g" on EC2, "p" on Azure).
VM images and image sharing Direct match
Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) map to Azure Compute Gallery image versions. Azure's standalone "managed images" are now documented as legacy.
Automated image build pipelines Direct match
EC2 Image Builder maps to Azure VM Image Builder. Both are managed services that run your customization steps on a temporary VM and publish the resulting image.
VM hibernation Direct match
EC2 hibernation maps to Azure VM hibernation. Both save RAM to the OS disk and charge only for storage (and IPs) while hibernated.
macOS cloud machines No equivalent
Azure has no first-party macOS VM offering comparable to EC2 Mac instances. On Azure, macOS builds usually run on Microsoft-hosted macOS agents in Azure Pipelines or GitHub Actions, or on third-party Mac hosting.
General-purpose bare-metal servers Partial match
EC2 offers .metal sizes for many instance families, and Azure doesn't. On Azure, the closest options are Azure Dedicated Host (single-tenant but still virtualized), nested virtualization on supported VM sizes, or purpose-built bare-metal services such as Azure VMware Solution hosts.
Purchase options & licensing(6)
Spot (interruptible) VMs Direct match
EC2 Spot Instances map to Azure Spot Virtual Machines. Both are steeply discounted spare capacity that can be reclaimed, but the warning time and eviction options differ.
Spend-based commitment discounts (savings plans) Direct match
AWS Compute Savings Plans map to the Azure savings plan for compute. Both are a 1- or 3-year $/hour spend commitment applied automatically to eligible compute.
Reserved instances Direct match
EC2 Reserved Instances map to Azure Reservations (Reserved VM Instances). Both are 1- or 3-year discounts tied to a VM configuration and region, and both providers now steer flexible workloads toward savings plans.
Capacity reservations Direct match
EC2 On-Demand Capacity Reservations map to Azure on-demand capacity reservation. Both hold capacity at pay-as-you-go rates whether you use it or not, and both stack with commitment discounts.
Dedicated (single-tenant) hosts Direct match
EC2 Dedicated Hosts map to Azure Dedicated Host. Both give you a whole physical server, billed per host, with control over placement.
Bring-your-own-license and license tracking Partial match
AWS License Manager (tracking and enforcement) plus Dedicated Hosts for BYOL map loosely to Azure Hybrid Benefit. Azure's offering is a licensing benefit applied per VM, not a license-tracking service.
Scaling, placement & rightsizing(3)
VM auto scaling groups Direct match
Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling maps to Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets with autoscale. Both manage a group of VMs, replace unhealthy ones, and scale on metrics, schedules, or forecasts.
VM placement control Partial match
EC2 placement groups have no single Azure equivalent. Cluster placement maps to proximity placement groups, while spread and partition placement map to availability sets or scale-set fault domains.
Rightsizing recommendations Partial match
AWS Compute Optimizer maps partly to Azure Advisor's cost recommendations. Advisor is a broader best-practice engine; Compute Optimizer is a dedicated, deeper rightsizing service.
Batch & HPC(3)
Managed batch computing Direct match
AWS Batch maps to Azure Batch. Both are free schedulers that run jobs on pools of VMs (including Spot) that you pay for.
HPC cluster management (Slurm and other schedulers) Direct match
AWS ParallelCluster (self-managed) and AWS Parallel Computing Service (managed Slurm) map to Azure CycleCloud and CycleCloud Workspace for Slurm.
Low-latency HPC interconnect Partial match
AWS Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA) maps to InfiniBand on Azure H-series and ND-series VMs. Both give OS-bypass, RDMA-class networking for MPI and NCCL, but the technologies differ.
Simple hosting & virtual desktops(4)
Managed web app platform Partial match
AWS Elastic Beanstalk maps to Azure App Service. Both deploy code to a managed web platform, but App Service is a fully managed PaaS while Beanstalk orchestrates EC2 (or EKS) resources in your account.
Simple fixed-price VPS bundles No equivalent
Azure has no equivalent of Amazon Lightsail's fixed-price bundles. The usual Azure substitutes are a B-series VM, App Service (Free/Basic tiers), or Azure Static Web Apps, all billed by usage.
Virtual desktops (DaaS/VDI) Partial match
Amazon WorkSpaces maps to Azure Virtual Desktop (you run the session hosts) and Windows 365 (fully managed per-user Cloud PCs). WorkSpaces Personal is closest to Windows 365, and WorkSpaces Pools is closest to pooled Azure Virtual Desktop.
Application streaming Partial match
Amazon WorkSpaces Applications (formerly AppStream 2.0) maps to RemoteApp in Azure Virtual Desktop, which publishes individual apps from session hosts.
Hybrid, edge & VMware(4)
Provider infrastructure in your data center Partial match
AWS Outposts maps to Azure Local (formerly Azure Stack HCI). The key difference is ownership. AWS owns and manages Outposts hardware, while Azure Local runs on validated hardware you buy from partners.
Metro edge locations Partial match
AWS Local Zones map to Azure Extended Zones. Both are small provider-run extensions of a parent region in metro areas, but Extended Zones are fewer, access is by request, and fewer services are offered.
Compute inside telecom 5G networks No equivalent
AWS Wavelength has no current Azure equivalent. Azure public MEC, Microsoft's carrier-edge offering, now lives only in Microsoft's "previous versions" documentation archive. Azure Extended Zones are the nearest current option, but they're metro sites, not inside carrier networks.
VMware environment in the cloud Partial match
Amazon Elastic VMware Service (EVS) maps to Azure VMware Solution. Both run VMware Cloud Foundation on the provider's bare metal, and both now require a portable VCF subscription from Broadcom. The difference is operations. EVS is self-managed (or partner-managed), while Azure VMware Solution is operated by Microsoft.
VM security & operations(4)
Confidential computing Partial match
AWS Nitro Enclaves and AMD SEV-SNP on EC2 map to Azure confidential computing (confidential VMs and SGX application enclaves). Azure has a broader confidential VM lineup; AWS relies more on its Nitro System isolation plus enclaves.
Secure Boot and virtual TPM Direct match
EC2 UEFI Secure Boot plus NitroTPM maps to Azure Trusted Launch (Secure Boot, vTPM, and boot integrity monitoring).
Secure remote access to VMs Partial match
AWS Systems Manager Session Manager and EC2 Instance Connect Endpoint map to Azure Bastion. Bastion is a managed RDP/SSH gateway, while Session Manager is agent-based shell access through the Systems Manager service.
OS patch management Direct match
AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager maps to Azure Update Manager. Both scan and patch Windows and Linux machines on schedules, in the cloud and on-premises (through hybrid activations or Azure Arc).