Azure Functions vs. IBM Cloud Functions

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Azure Functions
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Azure Functions enables users to execute event-driven serverless code functions with an end-to-end development experience.
$18
per month approximately
IBM Cloud Functions
Score 6.6 out of 10
N/A
IBM Cloud Functions is a PaaS platform based on Apache OpenWhisk. With it, developers write code (“actions”) that respond to external events. Actions are hosted, executed, and scaled on demand based on the number of events coming in. No servers or infrastructure to provision and manage.
$0
per second of execution
Pricing
Azure FunctionsIBM Cloud Functions
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Basic Cloud Functions Rate
$0.00017
per second of execution
API Gateway Rate
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Azure FunctionsIBM Cloud Functions
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Azure FunctionsIBM Cloud Functions
Features
Azure FunctionsIBM Cloud Functions
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Azure Functions
10.0
2 Ratings
17% above category average
IBM Cloud Functions
-
Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Azure Functions
8.3
2 Ratings
23% above category average
IBM Cloud Functions
-
Ratings
Dashboards9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Function as a Service (FaaS)
Comparison of Function as a Service (FaaS) features of Product A and Product B
Azure Functions
10.0
2 Ratings
18% above category average
IBM Cloud Functions
-
Ratings
Programming Language Diversity10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Runtime API Authoring10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Function/Database Integration10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
DevOps Stack Integration10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Azure FunctionsIBM Cloud Functions
Small Businesses
AWS Lambda
AWS Lambda
Score 8.3 out of 10
AWS Lambda
AWS Lambda
Score 8.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Red Hat OpenShift
Red Hat OpenShift
Score 9.1 out of 10
Red Hat OpenShift
Red Hat OpenShift
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Red Hat OpenShift
Red Hat OpenShift
Score 9.1 out of 10
Red Hat OpenShift
Red Hat OpenShift
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Azure FunctionsIBM Cloud Functions
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(2 ratings)
3.0
(7 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Azure FunctionsIBM Cloud Functions
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
It is well suited for REST APIs that need scalable functionality and for hosting microservices with a short life cycle. It is not well suited for Applications that need real-time features or heavy processing, such as image processing or model training, that need to stay up for longer periods and require compute.
Read full review
IBM
IBM Cloud Functions [is] not the worse product on the IBM cloud. I decided to write this review as I thought it would be balanced. I would still use functions to set up a serverless architecture where execution time is pretty quick and the code is relatively simple. I wouldn't use IBM Cloud Functions for async calls obviously, as costs could be higher. The functions documentation is lacking in terms of CI/CD, and there are unexplainable errors occurring - like the network connection that I mentioned. So I wouldn't just rely on IBM Cloud Functions too much for the entire system, but make sure it's diversified.
Read full review
Pros
Microsoft
  • They natively integrate with many triggers from other Azure services, like Blob Storage or Event Grid, which is super handy when creating cloud-native applications on Azure (data wrangling pipelines, business process automation, data ingestion for IoT, ...)
  • They natively support many common languages and frameworks, which makes them easily approachable by teams with a diverse background
  • They are cheap solutions for low-usage or "seasonal" applications that exhibits a recurring usage/non-usage pattern (batch processing, montly reports, ...)
Read full review
IBM
  • Great substitute for a simple API calls to run non-complicated code.
  • Easy way to run Python/Java/Javascript to get something done.
  • File validation.
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • Timing for creating new instances.
Read full review
IBM
  • Billing can be a hassle, not the most responsive customer service/support team
  • Handles & executes most functionalities, but other platforms offer more scalability if you're seeking consistent and stable growth
Read full review
Usability
Microsoft
Sometimes the Azure dashboard can feel confusing at first, and it can be hard to understand where things are. But overall, it has good integrations, is trustworthy for running there without disruptions, is well-documented and easy to implement, especially for newbies on the team, and has nice automated deployment features.
Read full review
IBM
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
This is the most straightforward and easy-to-implement server less solution. App Service is great, but it's designed for websites, and it cannot scale automatically as easily as Azure Functions. Container Apps is a robust and scalable choice, but they need much more planning, development and general work to implement. Container Instances are the same as Container Apps, but they are extremely more limited in termos of capacity. Kubernetes Service si the classic pod container on Azure, but it requires highly skilled professional, and there are not many scenario where it should be used, especially in smaller teams.
Read full review
IBM
  • ICF is a lightweight service and does not require runtime configurations
  • Scalable on demand and hence there is no need to pay for runtime costs
Read full review
Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • They allowed me to create solutions with low TCO for the customer, which loves the result and the low price, that helped me create solutions for more clients in less time.
  • You can save up to 100% of your compute bill, if you stay under a certain tenant conditions.
Read full review
IBM
  • It directly affected our expenses since we do not need to deploy and maintain a set of separate applications.
  • It allowed us to pay for only the amount of time cloud functions run.
  • It saved on maintenance and monitoring of the applications it replaced.
Read full review
ScreenShots