Is Microsoft Azure's Hot tier the best deal?

Blob Storage · $0.02/mo

Competitively priced

Azure Blob Storage Hot tier is competitively priced at $0.02/GB/month, but Google Cloud Nearline and Oracle Object Storage Infrequent Access both match or undercut it at $0.01/GB/month base rate. However, retrieval fees, minimum storage durations, and egress charges narrow the gap significantly—Azure's simpler pricing may offer better value for frequent-access workloads despite the higher sticker price.

Cloud Storage Nearline

$0.01/mosave 50%

Half the base storage rate ($0.01 vs $0.02/GB/month) with 99.99% SLA and no per-operation metering overhead for reads/writes.

Caveat: Retrieval fee of $0.01/GB applies; 30-day minimum storage duration; egress charges kick in after 200 GiB/month free tier and rise steeply.

Object Storage Infrequent Access

$0.01/mosave 50%

Matches Google's $0.01/GB/month base rate with 99.95% SLA and no separate per-operation charges.

Caveat: Per-GB retrieval fee ($0.0102/GB) and minimum retention period required; early-deletion penalties apply.

Object Storage Standard

$0.01/mosave 50%

S3-compatible $0.01/GB/month with included incoming/outgoing traffic (APAC free until end-2026); 99.99% SLA.

Caveat: Billed per GiB-hour (not per-month flat); APAC egress free tier expires mid-2026; retrieval fees on cold tiers.

Object Storage Standard One Zone

$0.01/mosave 50%

Matches $0.01/GB/month base rate with 75 GB free egress per month and lower SLA variance (99.9-99.99%).

Caveat: Single availability zone (Paris region only); egress beyond 75 GB/month charged at EUR 0.01/GB; 99.9% SLA on base tier.

Before you switch

Azure's $0.02/GB is for Hot tier with metered read/write operations; compare total cost-of-ownership including operation fees against competitors' retrieval charges.
Google Cloud and Oracle both impose 30-90 day minimum storage durations and per-GB retrieval fees—verify your access pattern (frequent vs. infrequent) before switching.
OVHcloud and Scaleway egress allowances are generous now but time-limited or region-locked; confirm your traffic profile and geography.
All alternatives charge separately for egress beyond free tiers; Azure's outbound bandwidth pricing should be factored into the comparison.
Verify SLA requirements: Azure and Google offer 99.99%, Oracle 99.95%, Scaleway 99.9% base—confirm your workload tolerance.

This comparison is generated from publicly listed pricing and may contain errors or omissions. It is not financial or professional advice, and CloudHosting.io is not responsible for decisions made based on it. Pricing, promotions, and specs change frequently and may not reflect current terms, regional availability, taxes, or contract length. Always verify current pricing and terms directly on the provider's site before purchasing or switching.

Comparable plans across providers

Provider	Plan	Price	Specs
Google Cloud	Cloud Storage · Nearline storage	$0.01/mo	$0.010/GB/month, 30-day minimum storage duration, $0.01/GB retrieval fee	Visit
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure	Object Storage · Infrequent Access	$0.01/mo	$0.0102 per GB per month + $0.0102 per GB retrieval fee; minimum storage retention period applies	Visit
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure	Block Volume Storage · Balanced (10 VPU/GB, default)	$0.01/mo	Balanced performance tier (default): 10 VPUs per GB/month, ~$0.0085/GB/month performance add-on	Visit
OVHcloud	Object Storage · Standard	$0.01/mo	S3-compatible. Incoming/outgoing traffic included (APAC free until 2026-12-31). Billed per GiB/hour.	Visit
Scaleway	Object Storage · Standard One Zone	$0.01/mo	Per GB per month equivalent, single availability zone, Paris region	Visit

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Comparing prices across every provider we track...

Is Microsoft Azure's Hot tier the best deal?

Blob Storage · $0.02/mo

Competitively priced

Cloud Storage Nearline

$0.01/mosave 50%

Half the base storage rate ($0.01 vs $0.02/GB/month) with 99.99% SLA and no per-operation metering overhead for reads/writes.

Caveat: Retrieval fee of $0.01/GB applies; 30-day minimum storage duration; egress charges kick in after 200 GiB/month free tier and rise steeply.

Object Storage Infrequent Access

$0.01/mosave 50%

Matches Google's $0.01/GB/month base rate with 99.95% SLA and no separate per-operation charges.

Caveat: Per-GB retrieval fee ($0.0102/GB) and minimum retention period required; early-deletion penalties apply.

Object Storage Standard

$0.01/mosave 50%

S3-compatible $0.01/GB/month with included incoming/outgoing traffic (APAC free until end-2026); 99.99% SLA.

Caveat: Billed per GiB-hour (not per-month flat); APAC egress free tier expires mid-2026; retrieval fees on cold tiers.

Object Storage Standard One Zone

$0.01/mosave 50%

Matches $0.01/GB/month base rate with 75 GB free egress per month and lower SLA variance (99.9-99.99%).

Caveat: Single availability zone (Paris region only); egress beyond 75 GB/month charged at EUR 0.01/GB; 99.9% SLA on base tier.

Before you switch

Azure's $0.02/GB is for Hot tier with metered read/write operations; compare total cost-of-ownership including operation fees against competitors' retrieval charges.
Google Cloud and Oracle both impose 30-90 day minimum storage durations and per-GB retrieval fees—verify your access pattern (frequent vs. infrequent) before switching.
OVHcloud and Scaleway egress allowances are generous now but time-limited or region-locked; confirm your traffic profile and geography.
All alternatives charge separately for egress beyond free tiers; Azure's outbound bandwidth pricing should be factored into the comparison.
Verify SLA requirements: Azure and Google offer 99.99%, Oracle 99.95%, Scaleway 99.9% base—confirm your workload tolerance.

Comparable plans across providers

Provider	Plan	Price	Specs
Google Cloud	Cloud Storage · Nearline storage	$0.01/mo	$0.010/GB/month, 30-day minimum storage duration, $0.01/GB retrieval fee	Visit
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure	Object Storage · Infrequent Access	$0.01/mo	$0.0102 per GB per month + $0.0102 per GB retrieval fee; minimum storage retention period applies	Visit
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure	Block Volume Storage · Balanced (10 VPU/GB, default)	$0.01/mo	Balanced performance tier (default): 10 VPUs per GB/month, ~$0.0085/GB/month performance add-on	Visit
OVHcloud	Object Storage · Standard	$0.01/mo	S3-compatible. Incoming/outgoing traffic included (APAC free until 2026-12-31). Billed per GiB/hour.	Visit
Scaleway	Object Storage · Standard One Zone	$0.01/mo	Per GB per month equivalent, single availability zone, Paris region	Visit

Visit Microsoft Azure