Is Microsoft Azure's B1s the best deal?

Virtual Machines · $7.59/mo (1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU)

Better deals exist

Azure B1s at $7.59/mo is significantly more expensive than comparable Linux VMs elsewhere. Several providers offer 1GB RAM / 1 vCPU plans for $2-5/mo with similar or better specs, though you'll need to watch for renewal price hikes and hidden egress charges.

Cloud VPS XS

$2/mosave 74%

1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10GB NVMe, and unlimited traffic (up to 1 Gbit/s) for $2/mo - less than one-third Azure's price with better storage.

Caveat: $2/mo is intro pricing on a 1-year contract; renewal is 2-6x higher, and additional IPv4 addresses cost $6/mo each.

VPS Hosting NVMe 2

$2.09/mosave 72%

2GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 50GB NVMe SSD, unmetered bandwidth, and root SSH access for $2.09/mo intro rate.

Caveat: Intro pricing requires 36-month upfront commitment; renewal jumps to $9.99-$15.99/mo, and free domain/privacy are first-year only.

Cloud Servers Starter 1xCPU-1GB

$3.5/mosave 54%

1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10GB Standard SSD, and industry-leading 99.999% SLA for $3.50/mo with no intro-pricing trap.

Caveat: Backups add 20-40% surcharge; data transfer beyond Fair Transfer Policy may incur overages despite 'free egress' marketing.

VPS Hosting Spark

$3.88/mosave 49%

1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 20GB SSD, 1TB bandwidth, and unmanaged root access for $3.88/mo with no Windows license surcharge.

Caveat: Renewal pricing is substantially higher; management add-ons cost $10-25/mo extra; SLA is undefined.

Shared CPU Compute Nanode 1GB

$5/mosave 34%

1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25GB SSD, 1TB transfer, and 99.99% SLA for $5/mo with no intro-pricing lock-in.

Caveat: Backups are a separate add-on (20-25% surcharge); outbound bandwidth overages are $0.005/GB after allowance.

Before you switch

Azure B1s is a burstable tier; sustained workloads may throttle. Compare against your actual CPU/memory needs.
Most cheaper alternatives use intro pricing on 1-year+ contracts; verify renewal rates before committing (often 2-6x higher).
Azure's hidden costs (Windows licensing, egress over 100GB, Premium SSD IOPS, AKS control plane fees) can add up; ensure your workload doesn't trigger them.
IONOS, Bluehost, and Namecheap all have steep renewal increases; budget for $10-15/mo after year one if you stay.
UpCloud and Linode have no intro-pricing trap and transparent renewal rates, making them safer long-term choices despite higher sticker price.
Verify egress bandwidth allowances and overage rates for your use case; Azure charges above 100GB/mo, while others vary (IONOS 75GB free, Linode $0.005/GB overage).

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
Scaleway	Virtual Instances · STARDUST1-S	$0.43/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU	Visit
IONOS	Cloud VPS (Linux) · Cloud VPS XS	$2/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10 GB NVMe	Visit
Bluehost	VPS Hosting · NVMe 2	$2.09/mo	2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 50 GB NVMe SSD	Visit
InMotion Hosting	Shared Hosting · Core	$2.99/mo	512 MB RAM, 100 GB SSD	Visit
Fly.io	Machines (Shared CPU) · shared-cpu-1x - 512MB	$3.32/mo	512 MB RAM, 1 vCPU	Visit
Vultr	Cloud Compute · Regular 1vCPU/0.5GB	$3.5/mo	512 MB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10 GB NVMe SSD	Visit
AWS Lightsail	Virtual Servers · GP 0.5GB (Linux, IPv6)	$3.5/mo	512 MB RAM, 2 vCPU, 20 GB SSD	Visit
UpCloud	Cloud Servers - Starter · STARTER-1xCPU-1GB	$3.5/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10 GB Standard SSD	Visit
Namecheap	VPS Hosting · Spark	$3.88/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 20 GB SSD	Visit
DigitalOcean	Droplets · Basic 512MB	$4/mo	512 MB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10 GB SSD	Visit
Kamatera	Cloud VMs · Type A base (Availability, 1 vCPU/1GB)	$4/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 20 GB NVMe SSD	Visit
Alibaba Cloud	Simple Application Server · economy-e-2c-0.5g	$4.55/mo	512 MB RAM, 2 vCPU, 40 GB SSD	Visit
IONOS	VPS Hosting (VPS+) · VPS S+	$5/mo	2 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, 90 GB NVMe	Visit
Liquid Web	VPS Hosting · Compute 1	$5/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 30 GB SSD	Visit
Linode (Akamai)	Shared CPU Compute · Nanode 1 GB	$5/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB SSD	Visit

Visit Microsoft Azure

Comparing prices across every provider we track...