# IBM Cloud vs Microsoft Azure

**Leader by Vioscale score:** IBM Cloud

| Attribute | IBM Cloud | Microsoft Azure |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 76.2 (73% (medium)) | 59.1 (48% (low)) |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true}` |
| description.long | A cloud infrastructure and services platform designed for building and managing applications across on-premises data centers and multiple cloud providers, with built-in security and compliance capabilities for regulated industries. | Microsoft's enterprise cloud platform providing AI-powered services, fully managed infrastructure, development tools, and integrations for building and operating applications across cloud and hybrid environments with multi-layered security and extensive compliance support. |
| features.capabilities | `{"tier":"hyperscaler","bare_metal":true,"block_storage":true,"gpu_instances":true,"regions_count":"Multiple regions","object_storage":true,"serverless_faas":true,"managed_kubernetes":true,"private_networking":true}` | `{"tier":"hyperscaler","block_storage":true,"object_storage":true,"serverless_faas":true,"managed_databases":true,"managed_kubernetes":true,"private_networking":true}` |
| integrations.count | 887 | 4 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Anaplan"},{"name":"Apache"},{"name":"Elasticsearch"},{"name":"IBM Analytics Engine"},{"name":"IBM Blockchain Platform"},{"name":"IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation"},{"name":"IBM Cloud Pak for Data"},{"name":"IBM Cloud Pak for Integration"},{"name":"IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation"},{"name":"IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps"},{"name":"IBM Db2 Warehouse"},{"name":"IBM InfoSphere Information Server"},{"name":"IBM Master Data Management"},{"name":"IBM Turbonomic"},{"name":"IBM Watson Assistant"},{"name":"IBM Watson Discovery"},{"name":"IBM Watson Knowledge Catalog"},{"name":"IBM Watson Knowledge Studio"},{"name":"IBM Watson Language Translator"},{"name":"IBM Watson Natural Language Classifier"},{"name":"IBM Watson Natural Language Understanding"},{"name":"IBM Watson Speech to Text"},{"name":"IBM Watson Studio"},{"name":"IBM Watson Text to Speech"},{"name":"Kubernetes"},{"name":"Linux"},{"name":"MongoDB"},{"name":"NVIDIA"},{"name":"Oracle"},{"name":"RabbitMQ"},{"name":"Red Hat"},{"name":"Red Hat OpenShift"},{"name":"Redis"},{"name":"SAP"},{"name":"SPSS Statistics"}]` | `[{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"Visual Studio Code"},{"name":"Visual Studio"},{"name":"Power Apps"}]` |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Lite","summary":"Free","features":["Free service access"],"description":"No-charge, quota-based plan","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Pay-As-You-Go","summary":"Usage-based pricing","features":["Full catalog access","Pay per use","No long-term commitment"],"description":"Pay for services used with no long-term contract required","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise Savings Plan","summary":"Committed spend plan","features":["Volume discount","Annual commitment"],"commitment":"annual","description":"Commit to annual spending and receive platform-wide discounts","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"IBM Cloud Reservations","summary":"Reserved capacity","features":["Capacity reservation","Long-term discount"],"commitment":"annual","description":"Reserve capacity in advance with 1 or 3-year terms","contactSales":false}],"addOns":[{"name":"Basic Support","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":200,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Advanced Support","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":10000,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Premium Support"}],"summary":"Free Lite tier available. Pay-As-You-Go for full access. Support plans from $200/month","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.ibm.com/products/cloud/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T13:40:05.155Z","billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"type":"usage","summary":"Consumption-based pricing model with free services and free trials.","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://azure.microsoft.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-05T14:09:25.712Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | low | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | yes |
| security.hipaa | yes | - |
| security.iso27001 | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |

## Capabilities (Cloud Infrastructure)

| Capability | IBM Cloud | Microsoft Azure |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Provider tier | Hyperscaler | Hyperscaler |
| **Reach** |  |  |
| Regions / global footprint | Multiple regions | - |
| **Compute** |  |  |
| Bare-metal servers | ✓ | - |
| GPU / accelerated compute | ✓ | - |
| Spot / preemptible pricing | - | - |
| **Storage** |  |  |
| Object storage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Block storage | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Managed** |  |  |
| Managed Kubernetes | ✓ | ✓ |
| Managed databases | - | ✓ |
| Serverless / FaaS | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Network** |  |  |
| VPC / private networking | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Pricing** |  |  |
| Free / low egress | - | - |
| **Compliance** |  |  |
| Data-residency / sovereign options | - | - |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| Partner marketplace | - | - |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T16:55:04.864Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*