Azure Alternatives: UK Cloud Hosting Comparison for .NET Applications (2026 Pricing)

If you're running containerised .NET applications on Azure, you might be paying 50-85% more than necessary. We conducted comprehensive research into cloud hosting alternatives and discovered a 55x price variance between options - from £14/month to £771/month for equivalent workloads.

This guide compares Azure to 8 alternative providers with UK presence, complete with 2026 pricing and clear recommendations for different business scenarios.

The Azure cost problem

Azure is the default choice for .NET developers - and for good reason. The Microsoft ecosystem integration is excellent, the documentation is thorough, and most .NET tutorials assume Azure deployment.

But "default" doesn't mean "cost-effective."

Our research found UK businesses routinely overpaying by 50-85% compared to alternatives that offer:

• Free Kubernetes control planes (Azure charges £45-58/month)
• Comparable managed PostgreSQL databases
• UK or EU data centre availability
• Full Terraform support

Let's start with what Azure actually costs.

Azure baseline: what you're actually paying

We calculated the cost of a production-ready configuration for a containerised .NET application (like a CMS or API backend) on Azure UK South:

Recommended production setup (£93/month)

Component	Specification	Monthly cost (GBP)
Azure Container Apps	1 vCPU, 2GB RAM, always-on	£58.02
PostgreSQL Flexible Server	B1ms (1 vCore, 2GB RAM, 32GB storage)	£9.80
Blob Storage	100GB Hot tier	£1.42
Container Registry	Basic (10GB)	£3.95
Azure Cache for Redis	C0 (250MB) - optional	£13.27
Azure CDN	100GB/month - optional	£6.40
Total (core services)	Without Redis/CDN	£73.19
Total (recommended)	With Redis and CDN	£92.87

Important: These prices exclude 20% UK VAT. With VAT, the recommended configuration costs approximately £111/month.

Hidden costs to consider

Azure pricing isn't as simple as the component costs suggest:

• Data egress: First 100GB free, then approximately £0.069/GB
• Support plans: Basic is free, Developer is £29/month, Standard is £100/month
• Reserved capacity: Can save 40-60% on databases if you commit for 1-3 years

Most small sites stay within the free egress tier, but support costs can add up if you need faster response times.

The comparison table

Here's how Azure compares to 8 alternatives for an equivalent configuration (1 vCPU, 2GB RAM compute, managed PostgreSQL, 100GB storage):

Provider	Monthly cost	vs Azure	UK data centre	Free K8s control plane	Managed PostgreSQL
Azure (baseline)	£93	-	Yes (London, Cardiff)	No (£58/month)	Yes
Hetzner Cloud	£14-19	-85% to -80%	No (Germany)	N/A (self-managed)	Via Ubicloud
Scaleway	£32	-66%	No (France)	Yes	Yes
OVHcloud	£34	-64%	Yes (London)	Yes	Yes
DigitalOcean	£37	-60%	Yes (London)	Yes	Yes
Linode/Akamai	£38	-59%	Yes (London)	Yes	Yes
Vultr	£42	-55%	Yes (London)	Yes	Yes
GCP Autopilot	£54	-42%	Yes (London)	Included in Autopilot	Yes
AWS Fargate	£59	-37%	Yes (London)	N/A (serverless)	Yes

Key insight: European providers (Hetzner, Scaleway, OVHcloud) offer 50-80% savings while maintaining comparable features. The free Kubernetes control plane alone saves £45-58/month.

Provider deep dives

DigitalOcean: best value with simplicity (£37/month)

DigitalOcean has become the go-to alternative for teams wanting cloud simplicity without hyperscaler complexity.

What you get for £37/month:

• DOKS (DigitalOcean Kubernetes Service) with free control plane
• 1 worker node (1 vCPU, 2GB RAM)
• Managed PostgreSQL (2GB single node)
• 250GB Spaces object storage
• Free container registry

Why teams choose DigitalOcean:

• Transparent, predictable pricing (no bill shock)
• Excellent documentation and tutorials
• London data centre available
• Monthly price caps prevent runaway costs
• Simple UI compared to Azure/AWS

Trade-offs:

• Smaller scale than hyperscalers
• Fewer advanced services
• Single-node PostgreSQL isn't HA by default (HA costs £61/month)

Best for: Small to medium businesses wanting simplicity with UK data presence

Get started with DigitalOcean - New accounts receive free credit to trial the platform.

Hetzner Cloud: cost leader (£14-19/month)

Hetzner offers the lowest costs we found - 85% cheaper than Azure - but requires more technical expertise.

What you get for £14-19/month:

• CX21 VM (2 vCPU, 4GB RAM) for Kubernetes
• CX21 VM for PostgreSQL (self-managed)
• 100GB block storage
• Unlimited traffic included (no egress charges)

Why Hetzner is so cheap:

1. They own their data centres and hardware (no markup layers)
2. European operating costs are lower than US tech hubs
3. Minimal sales and marketing overhead (word-of-mouth growth)
4. Simple pricing model with no hidden fees

Trade-offs:

• No managed Kubernetes - you'll need to set up k3s or use third-party Syself (adds £25/month)
• No managed PostgreSQL - self-host or use Ubicloud (£9.48/month)
• No UK data centres - Germany and Finland only (20-30ms latency to UK)
• Requires strong DevOps skills

Best for: Cost-conscious teams with DevOps expertise who accept EU data residency

OVHcloud: European sovereignty with UK presence (£34/month)

OVHcloud is the largest European cloud provider and offers something rare: European ownership with UK data centres.

What you get for £34/month:

• Managed Kubernetes (MKS) with free control plane
• Worker node (2 vCPU, 7GB RAM)
• Managed PostgreSQL Essential
• Object storage (100GB)

Why teams choose OVHcloud:

• London data centre available (unlike Hetzner, Scaleway)
• European company (French) - no US data sovereignty concerns
• Strong GDPR compliance built-in
• Brexit-proof (both UK and EU presence)
• £175 free credit for new users

Trade-offs:

• Interface can be complex
• Less documentation than US providers
• Support varies by plan tier

Best for: UK businesses wanting European data sovereignty without sacrificing UK data residency

Scaleway: sustainable European cloud (£32/month)

The French provider Scaleway has carved out a niche as the sustainable, developer-friendly European option.

What you get for £32/month:

• Kubernetes Kapsule with free control plane
• DEV1-M worker (3GB RAM, 2 cores)
• Managed PostgreSQL production instance
• 100GB object storage

Why teams choose Scaleway:

• Strong commitment to sustainability (100% renewable energy)
• Innovative services (ARM instances, serverless containers)
• Excellent Terraform support
• Simple, transparent pricing
• Free 75GB egress per month

Trade-offs:

• No UK data centres (Paris and Amsterdam closest - 15-25ms to UK)
• Smaller ecosystem than hyperscalers
• Limited enterprise certifications

Best for: Environmentally conscious organisations comfortable with EU data residency

Quick comparison: other providers

Vultr (£42/month)

• Free Kubernetes control plane
• London data centre
• Performance-focused (NVMe storage, high-frequency CPUs)
• Database pricing uses 3x multiplier (can get expensive)
• Good for: Performance-critical workloads

Linode/Akamai (£38/month)

• Free Kubernetes control plane
• London data centre
• Akamai CDN network integration (added value)
• 24/7 support included on all plans
• Good for: Teams needing CDN and simple pricing

Google Cloud Autopilot (£54/month)

• Autopilot mode simplifies Kubernetes (pay per pod)
• Best-in-class Kubernetes (Google invented it)
• London data centre with 3 zones
• Good for: Enterprise teams wanting simplified K8s

AWS Fargate (£59/month)

• Serverless containers (no cluster management)
• Most mature cloud platform
• Complex pricing but calculable
• Good for: AWS-native shops with existing investments

Decision framework: which provider to choose

Choose DigitalOcean when:

• You want simplicity + UK data residency
• Your team is small (1-10 developers)
• Predictable pricing is important
• You don't need enterprise compliance certifications

Choose Hetzner when:

• Lowest cost is the priority
• Your team has strong DevOps/Linux skills
• EU data residency is acceptable
• You can self-manage Kubernetes and PostgreSQL

Choose OVHcloud when:

• You need UK data centre with European ownership
• Data sovereignty is a concern
• You want free Kubernetes control plane
• Your workload fits standard patterns

Choose Azure when:

• You're heavily invested in Microsoft ecosystem
• Enterprise compliance certifications are required (ISO, SOC2, etc.)
• You need services beyond basic compute/database
• Your organisation has Azure expertise and relationships

Quick decision flowchart

Do you need UK data residency?
├── Yes: Does your team have DevOps expertise?
│   ├── Yes: OVHcloud (£34) or DigitalOcean (£37)
│   └── No: DigitalOcean (£37) - simpler
└── No: Is lowest cost the priority?
    ├── Yes: Hetzner (£14-19) - requires DevOps skills
    └── No: Scaleway (£32) - good balance

Three-year cost comparison

Here's what the costs look like over three years (excluding VAT):

Provider	Monthly	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	3-year total	3-year savings vs Azure
Hetzner Cloud	£14	£168	£168	£168	£504	£2,844
Scaleway	£32	£384	£384	£384	£1,152	£2,196
OVHcloud	£34	£408	£408	£408	£1,224	£2,124
DigitalOcean	£37	£444	£444	£444	£1,332	£2,016
Azure	£93	£1,116	£1,068*	£1,068*	£3,252	-

*Azure Year 2-3 includes reserved capacity savings on PostgreSQL

The savings are substantial: switching from Azure to DigitalOcean saves over £2,000 over three years. Hetzner saves nearly £3,000 - though you'll spend some of that on additional DevOps time.

What about the hyperscalers?

AWS and Google Cloud are worth considering if you're already invested in their ecosystems:

AWS (£59-110/month)

• Fargate (serverless) is £59/month - competitive with alternatives
• EKS (Kubernetes) is £110/month - expensive due to £57/month control plane fee
• Best documentation and largest ecosystem
• Complex pricing requires careful monitoring

Google Cloud (£54-144/month)

• Autopilot mode (£54/month) is excellent value
• Standard GKE (£144/month) is expensive
• Best Kubernetes implementation (they invented it)
• Good .NET support despite Google's focus on other languages

Both are viable if you have existing relationships or specific service needs, but they're typically 40-60% more expensive than the alternatives we've highlighted.

Migration considerations

Switching cloud providers is easier than you might think, especially if you're using:

Terraform: All 9 providers we evaluated have official Terraform providers. Your infrastructure code transfers with modifications to provider-specific resources.

Containers: Docker images work identically across providers. You'll need to:

1. Push images to the new registry
2. Update deployment configurations
3. Configure networking and secrets

Databases: PostgreSQL migrations are straightforward:

1. Take a backup from your current provider
2. Restore to the new managed PostgreSQL instance
3. Update connection strings
4. Test thoroughly before switching DNS

Typical migration timeline: 1-2 days for simple applications, 1-2 weeks for production systems with thorough testing.

Action steps

1. Calculate your current Azure spend using the Azure Cost Management portal
2. Identify your requirements: UK data residency, compliance certifications, team expertise
3. Trial an alternative: Most providers offer free credits
   • DigitalOcean - Free credit for new accounts
   • OVHcloud - £175 free credit
   • Hetzner - No free tier but very low minimums
4. Start with non-production: Move staging or development first
5. Measure and compare: Track actual costs and performance before production migration

Summary

Azure isn't overpriced for what it offers - the Microsoft ecosystem integration and compliance certifications have real value. But for many .NET applications, that value doesn't justify 50-85% higher costs.

Our recommendations:

• Small businesses without DevOps expertise: DigitalOcean (£37/month) - best balance of simplicity, cost, and UK data presence
• Cost-conscious teams with DevOps skills: Hetzner Cloud (£14-19/month) - lowest cost, but requires self-management
• European data sovereignty needs: OVHcloud (£34/month) - UK data centre with European ownership
• Enterprise with Microsoft investment: Stay on Azure, but evaluate reserved capacity and right-sizing

The cloud hosting market has matured significantly. Free Kubernetes control planes are now standard (except at hyperscalers), and European providers offer genuine alternatives to US-dominated options. For UK businesses, there's never been a better time to evaluate your hosting costs.

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Related articles:

• Stop Paying for Kubernetes: 5 Providers with Free Control Planes (2026)
• European Cloud Providers: 50-80% Cheaper Than Azure with GDPR Built-In
• Render, Railway, Fly.io: When PaaS Beats Cloud for .NET Applications

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Last updated: January 2026

Cloud pricing changes frequently. We recommend verifying current prices on provider websites before making decisions. All prices shown exclude VAT unless otherwise stated.