Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) vs. IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) is a web service that provides secure, resizable compute capacity in the cloud. Users can launch instances with a variety of OSs, load them with custom application environments, manage network access permissions, and run images on multiple systems.
$0.01
per IP address with a running instance per hour on a pro rata basis
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers are customizable, public or private, cloud-based servers available from IBM. User can launch applications and software across blended, hybrid environments as the servers integrate with all cloud models.
$0.01
per hour
Pricing
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
Editions & Modules
Data Transfer
$0.00 - $0.09
per GB
On-Demand
$0.0042 - $6.528
per Hour
EBS-Optimized Instances
$0.005
per IP address with a running instance per hour on a pro rata basis
Carrier IP Addresses
$0.005 - $0.10
T4g Instances
$0.04
per vCPU-Hour Linux, RHEL, & SLES
T2, T3 Instances
$0.05 ($0.096)
per vCPU-Hour Linux, RHEL, & SLES (Windows)
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers (dedicated host)
starting at $0.22
per hour
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers (dedicated host)
starting at $149.00
per month
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers (multi-tenant)
starting at $0.038
per hour
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers (multi-tenant)
starting at $25.21
per month
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers (reserved)
starting at $0.02
per hour
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers (reserved)
starting at $13.27
per month
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers (transient)
starting at $0.01
per hour
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional Details—IBM Cloud virtual servers include 250 GB of outbound public bandwidth, unmetered inbound public bandwidth, and unmetered private and management network bandwidth.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
Considered Both Products
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)

No answer on this topic

IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
Chose IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
IBM APIs are easier to use to create, configure, and destroy VSIs.
Chose IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
We mostly use IBM Cloud Virtual Servers. IBM provides a better choice of locations, easy to use interface and APIs for management, and better pricing compared to similar providers.
Chose IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers offer more customization options than Amazon EC2, with the ability to select from a range of operating systems, storage types, and network configurations. IBM also provides a wide range of tools and services to help manage and optimize your virtual …
Chose IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
We have our running cloud projects hosted on Amazon EC2 and our primary option is always amazon because the team are more experienced with AWS, now we are looking into other options in the market
Chose IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
I chose IBM over others because of many reasons but the top reason is that IBM provided the paid trial for one year to my business which is not even an option for any other provider. This helped us tested IBM thoroughly without spending a dime. Moreover, IBM is the pioneer of …
Chose IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
We still haven't reached the critical volumes where every resource is full. For our usage we prefer IBM because it's cheaper than competition plus they have a very generous StartUp programs. The live support chat and debugging is really helpful and it's available even on the …
Chose IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
Amazon's high IOPS storage devices are more expensive than the ones on the IBM cloud, per singular IOPS (input/output operation per second) so it makes much more sense for us to stick with IBM even if the other services that amazon offers are somewhat less costly, all things …
Chose IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
If I had to list a personal "grand total", IBM Cloud would always come last due to the poor integration options and its tooling.
Chose IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
SoftLayer [now called IBM Cloud Virtual Servers] allows more customization with Disk/Network/etc., and allows for out of the box (OOB) access to their servers.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
Comparison of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) features of Product A and Product B
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
9.1
18 Ratings
11% above category average
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
8.3
88 Ratings
2% above category average
Service-level Agreement (SLA) uptime8.717 Ratings8.381 Ratings
Dynamic scaling9.317 Ratings8.276 Ratings
Elastic load balancing9.217 Ratings8.364 Ratings
Pre-configured templates9.517 Ratings7.973 Ratings
Monitoring tools8.217 Ratings8.384 Ratings
Pre-defined machine images9.817 Ratings8.378 Ratings
Operating system support9.617 Ratings8.284 Ratings
Security controls9.617 Ratings8.978 Ratings
Automation8.37 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
Small Businesses
Linode
Linode
Score 9.0 out of 10
Linode
Linode
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SAP on IBM Cloud
SAP on IBM Cloud
Score 9.1 out of 10
SAP on IBM Cloud
SAP on IBM Cloud
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
SAP on IBM Cloud
SAP on IBM Cloud
Score 9.1 out of 10
SAP on IBM Cloud
SAP on IBM Cloud
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(65 ratings)
8.1
(89 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
7.8
(3 ratings)
Usability
8.5
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.5
(12 ratings)
7.5
(5 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
Likelihood to Recommend
Amazon AWS
I think nowadays, Amazon EC2 is best-suited for most app development and deployment use cases, especially if your resource requirements are not fixed over a long period of time. The flexibility provided by the on-demand pricing and rescaling option makes Amazon EC2 a great service, especially if your tech stack already runs on AWS. On the other hand, I think Amazon EC2 is not the best option if your tech infrastructure runs on another public cloud.
Read full review
IBM
One scenario that immediately came to my mind was large-scale data processing, IBM Cloud Virtual Servers is well-suited for organizations that require high-performance computing capabilities, particularly when processing large amounts of data. It can also be useful for companies or organizations that wish to migrate their workplace to the cloud and it may suite companies that have strict compliance requirements since the servers have robust security features.
Read full review
Pros
Amazon AWS
  • A great variety of choices in Amazon Machine Image (AMI) types. Users can select a more basic type to run generic workloads, but also have the choice to pick an AMI pre-installed with specific services in the AWS Marketplace.
  • The range of instance types can support the usage from a student's exploration (inexpensive general-purpose nano instances) to an enterprise's most intense workloads (memory or storage-optimized instances with terabytes of memory and ultra-fast network connection).
  • The pricing options, from regular instances, reserved instances to spot instances allow users to get the job done and make smart choices about how much they want to pay and when they want to pay.
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IBM
  • Scalability: IBM Cloud Virtual Servers enable businesses to simply and quickly scale up or down the resources they require in response to changing business demands. This enables firms to respond to traffic spikes, requests for new services, or changes in business size without the need for additional hardware purchases or maintenance.
  • Cost savings: By employing virtual servers in the cloud, enterprises can decrease capital expenditures for hardware and infrastructure while also lowering ongoing operational expenses by removing server maintenance and management costs. This can result in significant cost savings for enterprises, particularly those that need to raise or decrease their computer capacity fast and easily.
  • High availability: IBM Cloud Virtual Servers is built with high availability in mind, giving enterprises the certainty that their applications and data will be available and accessible even if hardware fails or other disruptions occur. This assists enterprises in maintaining business continuity and lowering the chance of downtime, which is crucial for firms that rely on 24/7 access to their systems. Furthermore, IBM's comprehensive network and security features aid in the prevention of data breaches and other security risks, assuring the availability and reliability of their applications and data.
Read full review
Cons
Amazon AWS
  • This service is a bit difficult to consume. New users need a big learning curve to use this service effectively.
  • UI for EC2 service is a little complex and at many places, it misses detailed explanation.
  • Sometimes it takes too long to create images of EC2 instances. This keeps your EC2 up for that extra time. When instances are heavy, it penalizes a lot of money.
Read full review
IBM
  • It would also be nice if there were more templates to choose from when creating a server. Right now there are only a few options, and we'd like to see more variety.
  • We'd like to see the ability to create server groups. This would make it easier to manage a large number of servers since we could do all of the updates and management tasks for them at once.
  • There doesn't seem to be a way to automatically install updates on all of the virtual servers. We have to go in and manually update each one, which can be time-consuming. It would be really nice if automatic updates can be done.
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Likelihood to Renew
Amazon AWS
No answers on this topic
IBM
It has a flexible and affordable pricing, easy to configure and manage. It is easy to spawn one or multiple instances and have them up and running in no time
Read full review
Usability
Amazon AWS
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) allows various ways of gaining incidents, such as slow growth, money, and the reserved ones, mostly depend entirely on the necessity, because it makes highly intelligent choices possible at these times, which enable considerable cost savings whilst addressing the situation as best I like.
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IBM
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Amazon AWS
No answers on this topic
IBM
Always available when you need an instance.
Read full review
Performance
Amazon AWS
No answers on this topic
IBM
Most of the instances work on hypervisors with good processors, but not all of them.
Read full review
Support Rating
Amazon AWS
AWS's support is good overall. Not outstanding, but better than average. We have had very little reason to engage with AWS support but in our limited experience, the staff has been knowledgeable, timely and helpful. The only negative is actually initiating a service request can be a bit of a pain.
Read full review
IBM
It is adequate, but you need to be ready to argue your point - which is fair enough, I suppose, but being given the opposite of the benefit of the doubt every time does not necessarily result in an enjoyable user experience.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Amazon AWS
No answers on this topic
IBM
We did not use IBM professional services to implement IBM Cloud Virtual Servers.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Amazon AWS
Azure VM and Google Compute Engine are alternatives to EC2. AWS EC2 is most matures and advanced of the 3. All these provide easy-to-deploy and automatically configured third-party applications, including single virtual machine or multiple virtual machine solutions.
Read full review
IBM
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers offer more customization options than Amazon EC2, with the ability to select from a range of operating systems, storage types, and network configurations. IBM also provides a wide range of tools and services to help manage and optimize your virtual servers, including a web-based console, CLI, and API.

AWS EC2 is a more managed platform, with a focus on providing a simple and easy-to-use interface. Amazon provides a range of predefined instance types, each with different specs and pricing, to make it easy to find the right option for your needs. AWS also offers a number of management and monitoring tools, but these are often more basic than what is available from IBM.
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Scalability
Amazon AWS
No answers on this topic
IBM
It worked well for us in the beginning, it works well for us when we have more instances.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Amazon AWS
  • AWS has had a very positive return on investment for every client we have that uses it. They are saving money in the long run.
  • AWS includes the underlying operating system licenses with their EC2 instances so no longer do we have to navigate through Microsoft licensing headache.
  • EC2 allows us to easily create a golden image of servers and store them as AMIs. This makes spinning up new servers that need a particular set of software in the future extremely easy and cost-effective.
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IBM
  • Supports businesses who want compute power on demand (instances are ready within minutes).
  • It can give you access to a 32-core CPU at $0.29 for short running or interruptible processes - enabling cost-efficient number crunching.
  • Given me a taste of the powers of remote compute power for compilation and development.
Read full review
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