Small API
2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 24/7
Sealos 72% lower
As AI technology advances, choosing the right platform is crucial for your team's speed, governance, and long-term success. Both Sealos and Azure have their strengths. The sections below compare them across developer experience, scalability, and total cost of ownership.
As AI technologies evolve, delivering and scaling applications has become essential for powering modern businesses, from AI startups to large-scale enterprises. There are various solutions available, including comprehensive cloud operating systems, managed Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and traditional IaaS. Selecting the right platform is crucial for your team's velocity, governance, and long-term success.
Sealos and Azure both bring unique strengths to application delivery, each with its own capabilities and limitations. The best choice depends on your specific use case and requirements. In the following sections, we'll compare both platforms regarding developer experience, scalability, and total cost of ownership, helping you determine the most suitable option for your needs—even if it's not us.
| Infrastructure | Standard Kubernetes | Azure-managed PaaS |
| Source Available | 100% source-available (Apache 2.0) | |
| Deployment Options | Cloud Self-hosted Hybrid | Azure cloud only |
| Free Trial | 7 days, 4 vCPU + 4GB (no credit card) | Azure free tier (limited) |
| Max vCPU per Service | Plan-based (4-64 vCPU) | Plan-based (App Service Plan) |
| Max RAM per Service | Plan-based (4-128 GB) | Plan-based (App Service Plan) |
| Custom Domains | Unlimited | |
| Replicas per Service | Unlimited (within quota) | Plan-based (scale out) |
| Cron Jobs | Unlimited | WebJobs/Functions |
| Log Retention | Configurable | Configurable (Azure Monitor) |
| Scale-to-Zero | ||
| App Marketplace |
Cost evidence
Estimates use the listed average CPU and RAM for a 30-day month. Storage and egress are excluded unless a platform note says otherwise.
Small API
2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 24/7
Medium App
8 vCPU, 16GB RAM, 24/7
Production Stack
16 vCPU, 32GB RAM, 24/7
2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 24/7
Sealos 72% lower
8 vCPU, 16GB RAM, 24/7
Sealos 60% lower
16 vCPU, 32GB RAM, 24/7
Sealos 15% lower
Plan prices include the resource package listed on the Sealos pricing page.
Azure calculation: App Service Plan tiers + monitoring over 720 hours/month
Sealos is an AI-native Cloud Operating System built on Kubernetes that unifies the entire application lifecycle, from development in Cloud Development Environments (CDEs) to production deployment and management. It is perfect for building and scaling modern AI applications, SaaS platforms, managed databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, MongoDB) and complex microservice architectures. The platform is 100% source-available, and for production you can choose either a fully managed cloud service or self-host on your own infrastructure.
Azure App Service is Microsoft managed PaaS for hosting web apps, APIs, and containerized services. It integrates with Azure DevOps/GitHub, supports deployment slots, and scales within App Service Plans. It a strong fit for teams already on Azure who want a managed runtime with deep Azure integrations and enterprise compliance support.
Predictable costs for 24/7 production workloads
Cloud Development Environment (CDE) for consistent dev/prod environments
Self-hosting option for data sovereignty or compliance (100% source-available)
Kubernetes-native control with full API access
100+ ready-to-deploy apps from the marketplace
Enterprise multi-tenancy with granular RBAC and resource quotas
Building .NET applications with Microsoft tooling
Need Azure service integration (Cosmos DB, Blob Storage, etc.)
Require enterprise compliance with Azure certifications
Want deployment slots for zero-downtime staging
Using Azure AD for identity and access management
Need global Azure regions for worldwide deployment
Everything you need to know about Sealos and Azure.