Azure Virtual Machines vs Linode (Akamai Cloud)
Linode (Akamai Cloud) is cheaper across every workload modelled here.
List prices checked
Rate cards side by side
Only the axes at least one of them bills on. A dash means that provider does not charge for it.
| Billing axis | Azure Virtual Machines | Linode (Akamai Cloud) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | — | $5.00/mo | — |
| Compute | $0.052/vCPU-hr | $0.0075/vCPU-hr | 6.9× Linode (Akamai Cloud) |
| Data transfer out | $0.087/GB | $0.0050/GB | 17.4× Linode (Akamai Cloud) |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | — |
Source: Microsoft pricing (May 2026) · Akamai pricing (May 2026). Published list prices only — committed-use discounts, regional variation, and per-request charges are not included. Not yet independently re-checked against the vendor’s page.
Monthly cost for three real workloads
The rate cards applied to identical usage. This is where the winner changes.
| Workload | Azure Virtual Machines | Linode (Akamai Cloud) | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side projectA personal site or small app with modest traffic, a few gigabytes of assets, and one small always-on process. | $47 | $5.47 | Linode (Akamai Cloud)saves $41/mo (88%) |
| Growing SaaSA funded product serving a few thousand daily users, with an image-heavy frontend and two application servers. | $163 | $11 | Linode (Akamai Cloud)saves $152/mo (93%) |
| Media-heavy siteA publisher or video product where delivery dominates the bill and compute is almost an afterthought. | $908 | $50 | Linode (Akamai Cloud)saves $857/mo (94%) |
Workload definitions are identical on every comparison page, so figures here can be read against any other pair in the same category.
What each one is for
Azure Virtual Machines
by Microsoft
Microsoft's on-demand compute, where existing enterprise agreements and hybrid-benefit licensing usually move the final bill more than the published rate does.
Free tier: 750 hours per month of a B1s instance for 12 months
Linode (Akamai Cloud)
by Akamai
Flat-rate VPS instances now sold under Akamai, with transfer pooled across the account and egress overage priced at half a cent per gigabyte.
Free tier: 1 TB of egress included on the $5 plan
Common questions
- Is Azure Virtual Machines or Linode (Akamai Cloud) cheaper in 2026?
- Linode (Akamai Cloud) is cheaper in all 3 modelled workloads.
- What is the difference in egress cost between Azure Virtual Machines and Linode (Akamai Cloud)?
- Linode (Akamai Cloud) charges $0.0050 per GB against Azure Virtual Machines's $0.087, roughly 17.4× cheaper. Egress usually dominates the bill once traffic is measured in terabytes.
- Which has the better free tier, Azure Virtual Machines or Linode (Akamai Cloud)?
- Both publish one. Azure Virtual Machines: 750 hours per month of a B1s instance for 12 months. Linode (Akamai Cloud): 1 TB of egress included on the $5 plan.
- What do these estimates not include?
- Committed-use and reserved discounts, regional price variation, per-request API charges, support plans, and minimum retention periods. All of those move real invoices, sometimes by a lot. These figures compare published list prices for the same workload, which is the comparison the rate cards alone cannot give you.