Virtual machines & images
Amazon EC2 vs Azure Virtual Machines
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.
Side-by-side comparison
| Aspect | Amazon Web Services | Microsoft Azure |
|---|---|---|
| Service | Amazon EC2 | Azure Virtual Machines |
| Lifecycle | Generally available | Generally available |
| What it is | Resizable virtual servers (instances) on the Nitro System, with On-Demand, Spot, Savings Plans, Reserved Instance, and Dedicated purchase options. | On-demand Windows and Linux VMs with managed disks. Gen2 VMs default to Trusted Launch. Pay as you go, Spot, reservations, savings plan, and Azure Hybrid Benefit pricing. |
| Pricing model | Per-second On-Demand billing (60-second minimum) for Linux and Windows. Spot, Savings Plans, and Reserved Instances discount it, and Dedicated Hosts are billed per host. EBS, data transfer, and public IPv4 addresses are billed separately. | Per-second pay-as-you-go billing for running (allocated) VMs. Spot VMs, reservations, and the savings plan discount it. Azure Hybrid Benefit removes the Windows Server or SQL Server license charge if you bring licenses. Managed disks, bandwidth, and public IPs are billed separately. |
| Docs | Amazon EC2 docs | Azure Virtual Machines docs |
| Pricing page | Amazon EC2 pricing | Azure Virtual Machines pricing |
| Exams | CLF-C02 SAA-C03 SOA-C03 SAP-C02 Retiring | AZ-900 AZ-104 AZ-305 |
Key differences
- Networking model. An EC2 instance sits in a VPC subnet with security groups attached to its network interface. An Azure VM's NIC sits in a VNet subnet, filtered by NSGs on the NIC and/or subnet. Public IPs are separate resources on Azure.
- Stopping. A stopped EC2 instance isn't billed for compute. On Azure, a VM stopped from inside the OS keeps billing for compute. Only "Stopped (deallocated)" from the portal, CLI, or API stops compute charges.
- Disks. EC2 uses EBS volumes plus optional instance store. Azure uses managed disks (Standard HDD/SSD, Premium SSD v1/v2, Ultra) plus an optional temporary or local NVMe disk on "d" sizes.
- Resiliency constructs. AWS uses Availability Zones and placement groups. Azure uses availability zones, availability sets (fault/update domains), and scale sets. Azure also has single-instance VM SLAs that depend on disk type.
- Security defaults. New Azure Gen2 VMs default to Trusted Launch (Secure Boot plus vTPM). On EC2, UEFI Secure Boot and NitroTPM depend on the AMI's configuration.
- Resource organization. Every Azure VM lives in a resource group and subscription, which is the scope for RBAC, policy, and cost. EC2 instances are scoped to an account and Region, with tags.
Pricing summary
Pricing models only. No prices are quoted because they change by region and over time.
- AWS
- Per-second On-Demand billing (60-second minimum) for Linux and Windows. Spot, Savings Plans, and Reserved Instances discount it, and Dedicated Hosts are billed per host. EBS, data transfer, and public IPv4 addresses are billed separately. Amazon EC2 pricing →
- Azure
- Per-second pay-as-you-go billing for running (allocated) VMs. Spot VMs, reservations, and the savings plan discount it. Azure Hybrid Benefit removes the Windows Server or SQL Server license charge if you bring licenses. Managed disks, bandwidth, and public IPs are billed separately. Azure Virtual Machines pricing →
Certification exam mapping
| Exam | Provider | Level | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 | AWS | Foundational | current Italian and German versions retire after Dec 31, 2026. |
| AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate SAA-C03 | AWS | Associate | current Italian version retires after Dec 31, 2026. |
| AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer – Associate SOA-C03 | AWS | Associate | current Replaces AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate (SOA-C02), whose last exam day was Sep 29, 2025. Simplified Chinese and Korean versions retire after Nov 19, 2026. |
| AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional SAP-C02 | AWS | Professional | retiring Being updated to SAP-C03. Registration for SAP-C03 opens Oct 27, 2026. Last day to take SAP-C02 is Nov 16, 2026. |
| Microsoft Certified – Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 | Azure | Fundamentals | current |
| Microsoft Certified – Azure Administrator Associate AZ-104 | Azure | Associate | current |
| Microsoft Certified – Azure Solutions Architect Expert AZ-305 | Azure | Expert | current English version updated Apr 17, 2026. |
Relevance is based on each exam's published scope, not a line-by-line objective match. Check the official study guide.
FAQ
What is the Azure equivalent of Amazon EC2?
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.
How does pricing compare between Amazon EC2 and Azure Virtual Machines?
AWS: Per-second On-Demand billing (60-second minimum) for Linux and Windows. Spot, Savings Plans, and Reserved Instances discount it, and Dedicated Hosts are billed per host. EBS, data transfer, and public IPv4 addresses are billed separately. Azure: Per-second pay-as-you-go billing for running (allocated) VMs. Spot VMs, reservations, and the savings plan discount it. Azure Hybrid Benefit removes the Windows Server or SQL Server license charge if you bring licenses. Managed disks, bandwidth, and public IPs are billed separately. Check the official pricing pages for current rates.
Which certification exams cover this topic?
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02); AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03); AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer – Associate (SOA-C03); AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional (SAP-C02) [retiring]; Microsoft Certified – Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900); Microsoft Certified – Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104); Microsoft Certified – Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305).
Does a stopped Azure VM cost money?
Only if it's merely stopped from inside the OS. You stop paying for compute when the VM is "Stopped (deallocated)". Disks and static public IPs keep billing in both cases, just as EBS volumes and Elastic IPs do on AWS.