Cloud · head to head · checked 8 August 2026
Alibaba Cloud vs IBM Cloud
6 cloud instances from the two, side by side: what each plan includes, what it costs (on-demand hourly rate × 730 hours, no commitment discount), and where the price comes from.
Alibaba Cloud
from $16.79/mo
ecs.n4.small · 3 plans listed
Best price per vCPU: $16.79/vCPU (ecs.n4.small)
IBM Cloud
from $63.51/mo
cx2-2x4 · 3 plans listed
Best price per vCPU: $31.75/vCPU (cx2-2x4)
Which is cheaper, Alibaba Cloud or IBM Cloud?
Alibaba Cloud's cheapest listed plan is ecs.n4.small at $16.79/mo; IBM Cloud's is cx2-2x4 at $63.51/mo. The price shown is on-demand hourly rate × 730 hours, no commitment discount.
Which gives more for the money, Alibaba Cloud or IBM Cloud?
On price per vCPU, Alibaba Cloud does best with ecs.n4.small at $16.79/vCPU; IBM Cloud's best is cx2-2x4 at $31.75/vCPU.
How many cloud instances does each offer here?
We list 3 for Alibaba Cloud and 3 for IBM Cloud, each checked against the provider's own pricing page.
Alibaba Cloud
Everything from Alibaba Cloudecs.n4.smallapprox
- vCPU
- 1
- RAM
- 2 GB
- Hourly
- $0.023
- Note
- Pay-as-you-go — system disk and public bandwidth billed separately
- Region
- Singapore
ecs.n4.largeapprox
- vCPU
- 2
- RAM
- 4 GB
- Hourly
- $0.047
- Note
- Pay-as-you-go — system disk and public bandwidth billed separately
- Region
- Singapore
ecs.n4.xlargeapprox
- vCPU
- 4
- RAM
- 8 GB
- Hourly
- $0.154
- Note
- Pay-as-you-go — system disk and public bandwidth billed separately
- Region
- Singapore
IBM Cloud
Everything from IBM Cloudcx2-2x4approx
- vCPU
- 2
- RAM
- 4 GB
- Hourly
- $0.087
- Note
- Compute-optimized VPC VSI, pay-as-you-go — boot volume and public network egress billed separately. IBM VSIs get a private-only NIC by default; inbound public reachability needs a separately-billed Floating IP — exact price not independently confirmed, flagged for follow-up
- Region
- Dallas (us-south)
bx2-2x8approx
- vCPU
- 2
- RAM
- 8 GB
- Hourly
- $0.099
- Note
- Balanced VPC VSI, pay-as-you-go — boot volume and public network egress billed separately. IBM VSIs get a private-only NIC by default; inbound public reachability needs a separately-billed Floating IP — exact price not independently confirmed, flagged for follow-up
- Region
- Dallas (us-south)
bx2-4x16approx
- vCPU
- 4
- RAM
- 16 GB
- Hourly
- $0.199
- Note
- Balanced VPC VSI, pay-as-you-go — boot volume and public network egress billed separately. IBM VSIs get a private-only NIC by default; inbound public reachability needs a separately-billed Floating IP — exact price not independently confirmed, flagged for follow-up
- Region
- Dallas (us-south)
Alibaba Cloud against the rest