# Azure alternatives: what AI models name instead, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. 231 of the 252 answers in the 1 category where Azure holds a standing named it neither first nor as an alternative; these are the first choices those answers made. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/vendors/azure/alternatives/

## Named instead, most often (every category and segment added)

- Amazon Web Services: 60
- DigitalOcean Droplets: 36
- Microsoft Azure: 36
- Hostinger: 10
- Cloudways: 6
- Akamai Connected Cloud: 5

## Cloud hosting

**Small business**: 78 of 84 answers did not name Azure (Azure is #14 of 14 at 0%).

- DigitalOcean Droplets: first choice in 29 of those 78
- Amazon Web Services: first choice in 7 of those 78
- Cloudways: first choice in 6 of those 78
- Akamai Connected Cloud: first choice in 5 of those 78
- Hostinger: first choice in 5 of those 78
- Microsoft Azure: first choice in 3 of those 78
- Vultr: first choice in 3 of those 78
- AWS Lightsail: first choice in 2 of those 78

**Mid-market**: 78 of 84 answers did not name Azure (Azure is #6 of 12 at 4%).

- Amazon Web Services: first choice in 22 of those 78
- Microsoft Azure: first choice in 12 of those 78
- DigitalOcean Droplets: first choice in 6 of those 78
- Hostinger: first choice in 5 of those 78
- Google Cloud: first choice in 3 of those 78
- Hetzner: first choice in 2 of those 78
- Vultr: first choice in 2 of those 78
- Amazon Web Services, AWS: first choice in 1 of those 78

**Enterprise**: 75 of 84 answers did not name Azure (Azure is #3 of 8 at 6%).

- Amazon Web Services: first choice in 31 of those 75
- Microsoft Azure: first choice in 21 of those 75
- DigitalOcean Droplets: first choice in 1 of those 75
- Google Cloud: first choice in 1 of those 75
- Microsoft Azure with an Enterprise Agreement: first choice in 1 of those 75
- Microsoft Windows 365: first choice in 1 of those 75
- Oracle Cloud Infrastructure: first choice in 1 of those 75
- Rackspace Technology: first choice in 1 of those 75

Published under CC BY 4.0. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.