Provider Overview
Strengths & Best For
Microsoft Azure offers ND H100 v5 and NC A100 v4 series VMs across 60+ regions, with enterprise compliance certifications including HIPAA, FedRAMP, and SOC 2 built in. Deep Active Directory and hybrid cloud integration makes it the natural GPU cloud for Microsoft-centric organizations running LLM fine-tuning or AI inference at scale. On-demand, reserved, and spot GPU billing options are available with flexible commitment terms.
- Enterprise compliance
- Active Directory integration
- Hybrid cloud
- Microsoft 365 ecosystem
Runcrate is a Berlin-based GPU cloud marketplace aggregating bare-metal and VM instances across 21 GPU types and 11 global regions, with some of the lowest starting prices for on-demand GPU rental available anywhere. The marketplace model gives teams access to H100, A100, and a wide range of other GPU SKUs through a single platform, with flexible spot and on-demand billing. A cost-effective option for EU-based teams needing broad GPU variety and multi-region flexibility.
- 21 GPU types
- 11 global regions
- Very competitive pricing
- Bare metal + VM options
Live GPU Pricing
Region Coverage
Popular Comparisons
Azure — hyperscaler provider
Microsoft Azure offers ND H100 v5 and NC A100 v4 series VMs across 60+ regions, with enterprise compliance certifications including HIPAA, FedRAMP, and SOC 2 built in. Deep Active Directory and hybrid cloud integration makes it the natural GPU cloud for Microsoft-centric organizations running LLM fine-tuning or AI inference at scale. On-demand, reserved, and spot GPU billing options are available with flexible commitment terms.
Runcrate — marketplace provider
Runcrate is a Berlin-based GPU cloud marketplace aggregating bare-metal and VM instances across 21 GPU types and 11 global regions, with some of the lowest starting prices for on-demand GPU rental available anywhere. The marketplace model gives teams access to H100, A100, and a wide range of other GPU SKUs through a single platform, with flexible spot and on-demand billing. A cost-effective option for EU-based teams needing broad GPU variety and multi-region flexibility.
Billing model comparison
Azure uses a Pay-as-you-go, Reserved (1yr/3yr), Spot billing model with a minimum commitment of None (pay-as-you-go). Runcrate uses On-demand, Spot billing with a None minimum. Both providers offer flexible billing options — compare the live pricing table above to find the best rate for your specific GPU model and workload duration.
Which workloads each provider suits best
Azure is best suited for: Enterprise ML, Windows-based workloads, Teams on Microsoft stack. Its key strengths are enterprise compliance, active directory integration, hybrid cloud. Runcrate is best suited for: Cost-sensitive teams, Multi-region deployments, Wide GPU variety needs. Its key strengths are 21 gpu types, 11 global regions, very competitive pricing. Marketplace providers aggregate GPU supply from multiple sources, often offering the lowest spot rates but with more variable availability and less predictable performance compared to dedicated providers.
Support tiers and region coverage
Azure offers Basic → Premier support across 5 regions (eastus, westus2, westeurope and 2 more). Runcrate offers Community → Standard support across 4 regions (EU-Central, US, APAC and 1 more). Azure's broader region footprint gives it an advantage for latency-sensitive workloads or teams with data residency requirements in specific geographies.
Provider background: Azure vs Runcrate
Azure was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Redmond, WA. Runcrate was founded in 2024 and is headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Azure has 14 years more operational history than Runcrate, which may matter for teams evaluating provider stability and long-term contract risk. Use the live pricing table above to compare current on-demand and spot rates for specific GPU models, and the region map to verify coverage in your target geography.