Arm vs x86: cloud VM prices size by size
The cheapest x86 and the cheapest Arm machine type (AWS Graviton, Google Axion, Microsoft Cobalt, Ampere) of each common size, on-demand, on any cloud. Arm is cheaper for 1 of 11 sizes on Google Cloud, 11 of 11 sizes on AWS and 10 of 10 sizes on Azure.
Prices checked 25 October 2026, 08:30 UTC. A month (730 hours) with a 10 GB boot disk, Linux list prices in USD, machine types with dedicated vCPUs.
On-demand, cheapest anywhere
| Size | x86 | Arm | Arm against x86 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 vCPU · 2 GB | $27.48Azure A1 v2 · westus2 | $16.46AWS c6g.medium · ap-south-1 | −40% |
| 2 vCPU · 4 GB | $35.04AWS c6a.large · ap-south-1 | $31.10Azure D2pls v6 · centralindia | −11% |
| 2 vCPU · 8 GB | $41.46AWS m6a.large · ap-south-1 | $35.05Azure D2ps v6 · centralindia | −15% |
| 4 vCPU · 8 GB | $69.17AWS c6a.xlarge · ap-south-1 | $60.89Azure D4pls v6 · centralindia | −12% |
| 4 vCPU · 16 GB | $81.94AWS m5a.xlarge · ap-south-1 | $68.77Azure D4ps v6 · centralindia | −16% |
| 8 vCPU · 16 GB | $137AWS c6a.2xlarge · ap-south-1 | $120Azure D8pls v6 · centralindia | −12% |
| 8 vCPU · 32 GB | $163AWS m5a.2xlarge · ap-south-1 | $136Azure D8ps v6 · centralindia | −16% |
| 16 vCPU · 32 GB | $274AWS c6a.4xlarge · ap-south-1 | $239Azure D16pls v6 · centralindia | −13% |
| 16 vCPU · 64 GB | $325AWS m5a.4xlarge · ap-south-1 | $271Azure D16ps v6 · centralindia | −16% |
| 32 vCPU · 128 GB | $650AWS m6a.8xlarge · ap-south-1 | $541Azure D32ps v6 · centralindia | −17% |
| 64 vCPU · 256 GB | $1,299AWS m6a.16xlarge · ap-south-1 | $1,080Azure D64ps v6 · centralindia | −17% |
Per cloud
| Cloud | Sizes with both | Arm cheaper | Median saving with Arm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Cloud | 11 | 1 | 37% dearer |
| AWS | 11 | 11 | 9% |
| Azure | 10 | 10 | 17% |
More comparisons
Questions
Is Arm cheaper than x86 in the cloud?
Mostly. The cheapest Arm type is cheaper than the cheapest x86 type for 1 of 11 common sizes on Google Cloud (median 37% more), 11 of 11 common sizes on AWS (median 9% less) and 10 of 10 common sizes on Azure (median 17% less). On-demand list prices, checked 25 October 2026, 08:30 UTC.
Which Arm processors are compared?
AWS Graviton, Google Axion, Microsoft Cobalt and Ampere Altra, against Intel and AMD x86 types, as the providers name them.