VM vs serverless: when is a VM cheaper?
A VM costs the same busy or idle; request-billed serverless costs only while it works. Per size and zone, the cheapest VM against always-on containers (Fargate, Cloud Run instance-based) and the busy share up to which Cloud Run, Lambda and Container Apps stay cheaper than the on-demand VM. For 2 vCPU · 4 GB in us-east: up to 30% busy on Cloud Run.
Prices checked 25 October 2026, 16:05 UTC, from each provider's own price data. List prices in USD; a GB is 1,024 MB on every cloud here.
1 vCPU · 2 GB
| Zone | VM, on-demand | VM, spot | Cloud Run instance-based | Fargate | Fargate Spot | Cloud Run request-based cheaper up to | Lambda cheaper up to | Container Apps cheaper up to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| us-west US West | $25.41GCP n4a-highcpu-1 | $5.84AWS c9g.medium | $57.82us-west1 | $36.04us-west-2 | $11.22us-west-2 | 33% | 29% | 32% |
| us-central US Central | $25.41GCP n4a-highcpu-1 | $6.39Azure A1 v2 | $57.82us-central1 | – | – | 33% | – | 32% |
| us-east US East | $25.41GCP n4a-highcpu-1 | $4.08AWS c9g.medium | $57.82us-east5 | $36.04us-east-2 | $11.33us-east-2 | 33% | 29% | 32% |
| ca Canada | $28.04AWS c6g.medium | $7.12Azure A1 v2 | $69.38northamerica-northeast1 | $39.63ca-west-1 | $11.89ca-west-1 | 26% | 32% | 25% |
| mx Mexico | $26.90AWS c6g.medium | $7.71Azure A1 v2 | $57.82northamerica-south1 | $37.84mx-central-1 | $11.35mx-central-1 | 35% | 29% | 32% |
| sa-east Brazil | $39.77AWS c6g.medium | $6.34AWS c6gd.medium | $69.38southamerica-east1 | $61.90sa-east-1 | $19.64sa-east-1 | 37% | 45% | 50% |
| sa-west Chile | $41.96GCP c4a-highcpu-1 | $13.08Azure F1 | $69.38southamerica-west1 | – | – | 39% | – | 38% |
| eu-west Western Europe | $26.66GCP n4a-highcpu-1 | $5.63GCP c4a-highcpu-1 | $57.82europe-west1 | $36.04eu-west-1 | $10.93eu-west-1 | 35% | 30% | 34% |
| eu-north Northern Europe | $27.48AWS c6g.medium | $4.41AWS c8g.medium | $57.82europe-north1 | $39.64eu-north-1 | $11.98eu-north-1 | 36% | 31% | 35% |
| eu-central Central Europe | $29.28AWS c6g.medium | $6.73Azure A1 v2 | $69.38europe-central2 | $41.45eu-central-1 | $12.76eu-central-1 | 27% | 33% | 37% |
| eu-south Southern Europe | $27.52AWS c6g.medium | $5.77AWS c8gn.medium | $57.82europe-west8 | $41.45eu-south-2 | $12.43eu-south-2 | 36% | 31% | 35% |
| me Middle East | $29.02AWS c6g.medium | $7.27Azure A1 v2 | $57.82me-west1 | $46.13il-central-1 | $13.84il-central-1 | 38% | 32% | 37% |
| af South Africa | $32.35GCP c4a-highcpu-1 | $8.25Azure A1 v2 | $57.82africa-south1 | $48.62af-south-1 | $14.59af-south-1 | 42% | 28% | 41% |
| ap-south India | $16.46AWS c6g.medium | $2.74AWS c7g.medium | $57.82asia-south1 | $37.87ap-south-1 | $11.36ap-south-2 | 22% | 19% | 21% |
| ap-southeast Southeast Asia | $25.17AWS c6g.medium | $3.81AWS c6g.medium | $57.82asia-southeast3 | $40.48ap-southeast-7 | $12.15ap-southeast-7 | 33% | 32% | 27% |
| ap-east Hong Kong, Taiwan | $28.97AWS c6g.medium | $7.77AWS c8g.medium | $57.82asia-east1 | $40.48ap-east-2 | $12.15ap-east-2 | 38% | 37% | 37% |
| ap-northeast Japan, Korea | $29.02AWS c6g.medium | $6.46AWS c8g.medium | $57.82asia-northeast2 | $41.45ap-northeast-2 | $12.43ap-northeast-2 | 38% | 33% | 37% |
| au Australia | $33.37AWS c6g.medium | $5.69Azure A1 v2 | $69.38australia-southeast2 | $43.22ap-southeast-2 | $12.96ap-southeast-4 | 31% | 38% | 30% |
| nz New Zealand | $35.03AWS c6g.medium | $9.62Azure A1 v2 | – | $47.54ap-southeast-6 | $14.26ap-southeast-6 | – | 38% | 29% |
2 vCPU · 4 GB
| Zone | VM, on-demand | VM, spot | Cloud Run instance-based | Fargate | Fargate Spot | Cloud Run request-based cheaper up to | Lambda cheaper up to | Container Apps cheaper up to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| us-west US West | $46.46Azure D2pls v6 | $7.12GCP c2d-highcpu-2 | $116us-west1 | $72.08us-west-2 | $22.43us-west-2 | 30% | 27% | 29% |
| us-central US Central | $46.46Azure D2pls v6 | $9.56Azure D2pls v6 | $116us-central1 | – | – | 30% | – | 29% |
| us-east US East | $46.46Azure D2pls v6 | $9.49AWS c8gn.large | $116us-east5 | $72.08us-east-2 | $22.66us-east-2 | 30% | 27% | 29% |
| ca Canada | $51.69Azure D2pls v6 | $10.63Azure D2pls v6 | $139northamerica-northeast1 | $79.26ca-west-1 | $23.78ca-west-1 | 24% | 30% | 23% |
| mx Mexico | $51.11Azure D2pls v6 | $10.52Azure D2pls v6 | $116northamerica-south1 | $75.68mx-central-1 | $22.71mx-central-1 | 34% | 28% | 30% |
| sa-east Brazil | $74.22Azure D2pls v6 | $15.54Azure D2pls v6 | $139southamerica-east1 | $124sa-east-1 | $39.29sa-east-1 | 35% | 42% | 47% |
| sa-west Chile | $81.50GCP c4a-highcpu-2 | $16.92Azure D2als v6 | $139southamerica-west1 | – | – | 38% | – | 37% |
| eu-west Western Europe | $51.56GCP n4a-highcpu-2 | $9.42GCP c2d-highcpu-2 | $116europe-west1 | $72.08eu-west-1 | $21.87eu-west-1 | 34% | 29% | 33% |
| eu-north Northern Europe | $49.53Azure D2pls v6 | $9.30AWS c6gn.large | $116europe-north1 | $79.28eu-north-1 | $23.96eu-north-1 | 32% | 28% | 31% |
| eu-central Central Europe | $55.37Azure D2pls v6 | $11.21Azure D2pls v6 | $139europe-central2 | $82.90eu-central-1 | $25.53eu-central-1 | 26% | 32% | 35% |
| eu-south Southern Europe | $51.86Azure D2pls v6 | $9.93AWS c6g.large | $116europe-west8 | $82.89eu-south-2 | $24.87eu-south-2 | 34% | 30% | 33% |
| me Middle East | $56.77Azure D2pls v6 | $9.54GCP c2d-highcpu-2 | $116me-west1 | $92.26il-central-1 | $27.68il-central-1 | 37% | 31% | 36% |
| af South Africa | $61.35GCP c2d-highcpu-2 | $13.49Azure D2pls v6 | $116africa-south1 | $97.24af-south-1 | $29.17af-south-1 | 40% | 26% | 39% |
| ap-south India | $31.10Azure D2pls v6 | $4.34AWS c6g.large | $116asia-south1 | $75.73ap-south-1 | $22.72ap-south-2 | 20% | 18% | 20% |
| ap-southeast Southeast Asia | $49.48AWS c6g.large | $6.65AWS c6g.large | $116asia-southeast3 | $80.97ap-southeast-7 | $24.29ap-southeast-7 | 32% | 31% | 26% |
| ap-east Hong Kong, Taiwan | $57.07AWS c6g.large | $9.28GCP c2d-highcpu-2 | $116asia-east1 | $80.97ap-east-2 | $24.29ap-east-2 | 37% | 36% | 36% |
| ap-northeast Japan, Korea | $57.12AWS c6g.large | $8.21AWS c5.large | $116asia-northeast2 | $82.90ap-northeast-2 | $24.87ap-northeast-2 | 37% | 33% | 36% |
| au Australia | $58.13Azure D2pls v6 | $8.35GCP c2d-highcpu-2 | $139australia-southeast2 | $86.43ap-southeast-2 | $25.93ap-southeast-4 | 27% | 33% | 26% |
| nz New Zealand | $60.99Azure D2pls v6 | $12.67Azure D2pls v6 | – | $95.08ap-southeast-6 | $28.52ap-southeast-6 | – | 33% | 25% |
2 vCPU · 8 GB
| Zone | VM, on-demand | VM, spot | Cloud Run instance-based | Fargate | Fargate Spot | Cloud Run request-based cheaper up to | Lambda cheaper up to | Container Apps cheaper up to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| us-west US West | $49.92GCP e2-standard-2 | $8.35GCP e2-standard-2 | $137us-west1 | $85.06us-west-2 | $26.47us-west-2 | 28% | 14% | 16% |
| us-central US Central | $49.92GCP e2-standard-2 | $10.67Azure D2ps v6 | $137us-central1 | – | – | 28% | – | 16% |
| us-east US East | $49.92GCP e2-standard-2 | $10.67Azure D2ps v6 | $137us-east5 | $85.06us-east-2 | $26.74us-east-2 | 28% | 14% | 16% |
| ca Canada | $54.95GCP e2-standard-2 | $8.12GCP n2-standard-2 | $164northamerica-northeast1 | $93.47ca-west-1 | $28.04ca-west-1 | 22% | 16% | 12% |
| mx Mexico | $54.41GCP e2-standard-2 | $11.73Azure D2ps v6 | $137northamerica-south1 | $89.31mx-central-1 | $26.79mx-central-1 | 30% | 15% | 16% |
| sa-east Brazil | $79.15GCP e2-standard-2 | $16.90GCP e2-standard-2 | $164southamerica-east1 | $146sa-east-1 | $46.33sa-east-1 | 32% | 23% | 25% |
| sa-west Chile | $71.38GCP e2-standard-2 | $16.17GCP t2d-standard-2 | $164southamerica-west1 | – | – | 29% | – | 16% |
| eu-west Western Europe | $54.81GCP e2-standard-2 | $10.92GCP c4a-standard-2 | $137europe-west1 | $85.06eu-west-1 | $25.81eu-west-1 | 31% | 16% | 17% |
| eu-north Northern Europe | $52.36GCP e2-standard-2 | $10.62AWS m5.large | $137europe-north1 | $93.59eu-north-1 | $28.28eu-north-1 | 29% | 15% | 17% |
| eu-central Central Europe | $60.49GCP e2-standard-2 | $12.50Azure D2ps v6 | $164europe-central2 | $97.82eu-central-1 | $30.12eu-central-1 | 24% | 17% | 19% |
| eu-south Southern Europe | $57.90GCP e2-standard-2 | $9.24GCP n2-standard-2 | $137europe-west8 | $97.82eu-south-2 | $29.35eu-south-2 | 32% | 17% | 18% |
| me Middle East | $54.91GCP e2-standard-2 | $11.21GCP c2d-standard-2 | $137me-west1 | $109il-central-1 | $32.66il-central-1 | 31% | 15% | 17% |
| af South Africa | $54.91GCP e2-standard-2 | $15.03Azure D2ps v6 | $137africa-south1 | $115af-south-1 | $34.43af-south-1 | 31% | 12% | 17% |
| ap-south India | $35.05Azure D2ps v6 | $4.64AWS m6g.large | $137asia-south1 | $89.32ap-south-1 | $26.80ap-south-2 | 20% | 10% | 11% |
| ap-southeast Southeast Asia | $60.43AWS m6g.large | $7.97AWS m6g.large | $137asia-southeast3 | $95.50ap-southeast-7 | $28.65ap-southeast-7 | 34% | 19% | 16% |
| ap-east Hong Kong, Taiwan | $57.64GCP e2-standard-2 | $10.74GCP n4-standard-2 | $137asia-east1 | $95.50ap-east-2 | $28.65ap-east-2 | 32% | 18% | 18% |
| ap-northeast Japan, Korea | $64.05GCP e2-standard-2 | $9.75GCP c2d-standard-2 | $137asia-northeast2 | $97.82ap-northeast-2 | $29.35ap-northeast-2 | 36% | 18% | 20% |
| au Australia | $60.35GCP e2-standard-2 | $9.82GCP c2d-standard-2 | $164australia-southeast2 | $102ap-southeast-2 | $30.59ap-southeast-4 | 24% | 17% | 14% |
| nz New Zealand | $68.73Azure D2ps v6 | $14.10Azure D2ps v6 | – | $112ap-southeast-6 | $33.65ap-southeast-6 | – | 19% | 14% |
4 vCPU · 16 GB
| Zone | VM, on-demand | VM, spot | Cloud Run instance-based | Fargate | Fargate Spot | Cloud Run request-based cheaper up to | Lambda cheaper up to | Container Apps cheaper up to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| us-west US West | $98.84GCP e2-standard-4 | $15.54GCP c2d-standard-4 | $273us-west1 | $170us-west-2 | $52.95us-west-2 | 28% | – | – |
| us-central US Central | $98.84GCP e2-standard-4 | $16.83GCP c3-standard-4 | $273us-central1 | – | – | 28% | – | – |
| us-east US East | $98.84GCP e2-standard-4 | $20.09Azure D4ps v6 | $273us-east5 | $170us-east-2 | $53.48us-east-2 | 28% | – | – |
| ca Canada | $109GCP e2-standard-4 | $15.15GCP n2-standard-4 | $328northamerica-northeast1 | $187ca-west-1 | $56.08ca-west-1 | 22% | – | – |
| mx Mexico | $108GCP e2-standard-4 | $22.10Azure D4ps v6 | $273northamerica-south1 | $179mx-central-1 | $53.59mx-central-1 | 30% | – | – |
| sa-east Brazil | $157GCP e2-standard-4 | $23.86AWS m5.xlarge | $328southamerica-east1 | $292sa-east-1 | $92.66sa-east-1 | 31% | – | – |
| sa-west Chile | $141GCP e2-standard-4 | $30.92GCP t2d-standard-4 | $328southamerica-west1 | – | – | 28% | – | – |
| eu-west Western Europe | $109GCP e2-standard-4 | $20.08GCP c4a-standard-4 | $273europe-west1 | $170eu-west-1 | $51.61eu-west-1 | 30% | – | – |
| eu-north Northern Europe | $104GCP e2-standard-4 | $17.26AWS m5.xlarge | $273europe-north1 | $187eu-north-1 | $56.56eu-north-1 | 29% | – | – |
| eu-central Central Europe | $120GCP e2-standard-4 | $23.86Azure D4ps v6 | $328europe-central2 | $196eu-central-1 | $60.24eu-central-1 | 24% | – | – |
| eu-south Southern Europe | $115GCP e2-standard-4 | $15.63AWS m7g.xlarge | $273europe-west8 | $196eu-south-2 | $58.69eu-south-2 | 32% | – | – |
| me Middle East | $109GCP e2-standard-4 | $18.27GCP c3-standard-4 | $273me-west1 | $218il-central-1 | $65.33il-central-1 | 30% | – | – |
| af South Africa | $109GCP e2-standard-4 | $28.33Azure D4ps v6 | $273africa-south1 | $230af-south-1 | $68.85af-south-1 | 30% | – | – |
| ap-south India | $68.77Azure D4ps v6 | $8.29AWS m6g.xlarge | $273asia-south1 | $179ap-south-1 | $53.59ap-south-2 | 19% | – | – |
| ap-southeast Southeast Asia | $120AWS m6g.xlarge | $14.98AWS m6g.xlarge | $273asia-southeast3 | $191ap-southeast-7 | $57.30ap-southeast-7 | 34% | – | – |
| ap-east Hong Kong, Taiwan | $114GCP e2-standard-4 | $19.09GCP n4-standard-4 | $273asia-east1 | $191ap-east-2 | $57.30ap-east-2 | 32% | – | – |
| ap-northeast Japan, Korea | $127GCP e2-standard-4 | $18.20GCP c2d-standard-4 | $273asia-northeast2 | $196ap-northeast-2 | $58.69ap-northeast-2 | 35% | – | – |
| au Australia | $119GCP e2-standard-4 | $16.30GCP c3d-standard-4 | $328australia-southeast2 | $204ap-southeast-2 | $61.18ap-southeast-4 | 24% | – | – |
| nz New Zealand | $136Azure D4ps v6 | $26.54Azure D4ps v6 | – | $224ap-southeast-6 | $67.30ap-southeast-6 | – | – | – |
VM prices: every zone and every size. Serverless prices: every service, or the calculator for a workload of your own.
Questions
When is a VM cheaper than Cloud Run?
For 2 vCPU · 4 GB in us-east, the cheapest on-demand VM is $46.46 a month (Azure D2pls v6); Cloud Run with request-based billing costs $152 a month for the same vCPU and memory busy all the time. So the VM is cheaper once the service is busy more than 30% of the time; against Lambda ($175 busy all month), above 27%. Busy means handling at least one request; several at once on one Cloud Run instance count once.
How is this worked out?
The VM is the cheapest machine type with dedicated vCPUs of the size in the zone, a month with a 10 GB boot disk. Each serverless service is priced for the same vCPU and memory in its cheapest region of the zone: always-on services (Fargate, instance-based Cloud Run) for a whole month, request-billed services for every second of the month busy. The break-even share is the VM's price divided by the busy month, without request fees or free tiers, which move it a little.