Cloud · head to head · checked 8 August 2026

AWS 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.

AWS

from $30.37/mo

t3.medium · 3 plans listed

Best price per vCPU: $15.19/vCPU (t3.medium)

IBM Cloud

from $63.51/mo

cx2-2x4 · 3 plans listed

Best price per vCPU: $31.75/vCPU (cx2-2x4)

Which is cheaper, AWS or IBM Cloud?

AWS's cheapest listed plan is t3.medium at $30.37/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, AWS or IBM Cloud?

On price per vCPU, AWS does best with t3.medium at $15.19/vCPU; IBM Cloud's best is cx2-2x4 at $31.75/vCPU.

How many cloud instances does each offer here?

We list 3 for AWS and 3 for IBM Cloud, each checked against the provider's own pricing page.

AWS

Everything from AWS

t3.mediumapprox
vCPU
2
RAM
4 GB
Hourly
$0.0416
Note
Burstable — sustained full-vCPU load consumes CPU credits. Since Feb 2024, AWS charges ~$0.005/hr (~$3.65/mo) per public IPv4 address, in-use or not — not included in the price shown, unlike Oracle/Alibaba/Tencent which bundle a public IP free
Region
us-east-1
$30.37/moVisit price source · checked 2026-08-05
t3.largeapprox
vCPU
2
RAM
8 GB
Hourly
$0.0832
Note
Burstable — sustained full-vCPU load consumes CPU credits. Since Feb 2024, AWS charges ~$0.005/hr (~$3.65/mo) per public IPv4 address, in-use or not — not included in the price shown, unlike Oracle/Alibaba/Tencent which bundle a public IP free
Region
us-east-1
$60.74/moVisit price source · checked 2026-08-05
t3.xlargeapprox
vCPU
4
RAM
16 GB
Hourly
$0.1664
Note
Burstable — sustained full-vCPU load consumes CPU credits. Since Feb 2024, AWS charges ~$0.005/hr (~$3.65/mo) per public IPv4 address, in-use or not — not included in the price shown, unlike Oracle/Alibaba/Tencent which bundle a public IP free
Region
us-east-1
$121.47/moVisit price source · checked 2026-08-05

IBM Cloud

Everything from IBM Cloud

cx2-2x4approx
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)
$63.51/moVisit price source · checked 2026-08-08
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)
$72.27/moVisit price source · checked 2026-08-08
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)
$145.27/moVisit price source · checked 2026-08-08

AWS against the rest

IBM Cloud against the rest

How this page is made: every figure above is computed from the plans listed, which were checked against each provider's own pricing page (linked per plan, with the date). Nothing here is ranked by who pays us. The highlighted plan is each provider's best on price per vCPU. Non-USD prices are converted at an approximate fixed rate for comparison only. See our methodology and how we make money.