Which is cheaper, Azure AKS or Google GKE?

Azure is cheaper in 2 of 3 comparable categories, with an average price difference of 73.2%.

How do Azure AKS and Google GKE compare for general purpose workloads?

Both providers offer competitive pricing for general purpose workloads.

Updated Apr 6, 2026AzureGCP

Overall Winner

Azure

Azure Wins

GCP Wins

Ties

Azure wins 2 of 3 price comparisons, averaging 73.2% lower prices in categories where it leads.

Prices range from $0.004922/hr to $1.44/hr across comparable tiers.

Choose Azure

Best for Compute workloads

Comparing Azure AKS and Google GKE across 3 equivalent tiers. On-demand hourly rates are shown in USD for the default region.

Sort by:

Category	Azure Azure AKS	GCP Google GKE	Diff	Cheapest
Compute - Automatic - Automatic High Performance Compute	$0.0073/hr Automatic - Automatic High Performance Compute ($5.34/mo)	$0.0049/hr 9FF0-AB0A-36E8 ($3.59/mo)	+32.7%	GCP
Compute - Automatic - Automatic Confidential Compute	$0.0121/hr Automatic - Automatic Confidential Compute ($8.85/mo)	$0.1000/hr 6B92-A835-08AB ($73.00/mo)	+87.9%	Azure
Compute - Automatic - Automatic Storage Optimized	$0.0145/hr Automatic - Automatic Storage Optimized ($10.58/mo)	$1.4400/hr 6A8E-C1BB-65A8 ($1,051.20/mo)	+99.0%	Azure

✓Compute - Automatic - Automatic Confidential Compute - saves $64.17/mo (87.9% cheaper)
✓Compute - Automatic - Automatic Storage Optimized - saves $1,040.62/mo (99% cheaper)