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
Shadeform is a GPU cloud aggregator that provisions H100, A100, RTX 4090, and many other GPU types across 30+ underlying cloud providers through a single unified API, automatically routing to the cheapest available instance matching your requirements. On-demand and spot GPU rental options are surfaced from the entire provider network, giving teams multi-cloud flexibility without managing multiple accounts. The fastest way to find and launch the lowest-cost GPU for any AI training or inference workload.
- 30+ provider network
- Single API
- Automatic cheapest-price routing
- Wide GPU selection
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.
Shadeform — marketplace provider
Shadeform is a GPU cloud aggregator that provisions H100, A100, RTX 4090, and many other GPU types across 30+ underlying cloud providers through a single unified API, automatically routing to the cheapest available instance matching your requirements. On-demand and spot GPU rental options are surfaced from the entire provider network, giving teams multi-cloud flexibility without managing multiple accounts. The fastest way to find and launch the lowest-cost GPU for any AI training or inference workload.
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). Shadeform 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. Shadeform is best suited for: Teams wanting multi-cloud flexibility, Cost-optimized provisioning, Spot-tolerant workloads. Its key strengths are 30+ provider network, single api, automatic cheapest-price routing. 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). Shadeform offers Community → Enterprise support across 4 regions (US, EU, 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 Shadeform
Azure was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Redmond, WA. Shadeform was founded in 2023 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Azure has 13 years more operational history than Shadeform, 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.