vs
Alibaba Cloud vs Tencent Cloud
The two big Chinese clouds' lightweight servers, priced in dollars on their international sites. Tencent's Lighthouse Starter (2 vCPU, 2 GB) is $4.20 a month; Alibaba's Simple Application Server starts at $3.50 for 0.5 GB and is $9 for 2 GB. Alibaba lists 22 locations, Tencent 11.
Which one to pick
Pick Alibaba Cloud if
Cloud serversBilled in US dollars
- You want more locations: 22 across Asia, Europe and North America
- You want hourly billing
- You need managed Kubernetes
Pick Tencent Cloud if
Cloud serversBilled in US dollars
- You want 2 GB for the lower price: $4.20 a month
- You'd like the 3-month Lighthouse free trial for new users
- You want a datacenter in South America
The same server on both
Each host's cheapest entry plan with at least this much memory, with the IPv4 address added where it's extra.
MemoryAlibaba CloudTencent Cloud
Alibaba CloudTencent Cloud1 GB+
Alibaba Cloud
1 vCPU / 1 GB 1 vCPU, 1 GB, 20 GB SSD$4.50
Tencent Cloud
Starter 2 GB 2 vCPU, 2 GB, 40 GB SSD$4.20
2 GB+
Alibaba Cloud
1 vCPU / 2 GB 1 vCPU, 2 GB, 40 GB SSD$9.00
Tencent Cloud
Starter 2 GB 2 vCPU, 2 GB, 40 GB SSD$4.20
Where they differ most
With IPv4, per month
- Alibaba Cloud
- $3.50/month
- Tencent Cloud
- $4.20/month
Hourly billing
- Alibaba Cloud
- YesYes
- Tencent Cloud
- NoNo
Continents
- Alibaba Cloud
- Asia, Europe, North America
- Tencent Cloud
- Asia, Europe, North America, South America
Included traffic
- Alibaba Cloud
- 1 TB on 1 vCPU / 0.5 GB
- Tencent Cloud
- 0.5 TB on Starter 2 GB
Managed databases
- Alibaba Cloud
- MySQL, PostgreSQL, sqlserver, MariaDB
- Tencent Cloud
- MySQL
Managed Kubernetes
- Alibaba Cloud
- YesYes
- Tencent Cloud
- Not statedNot stated
Every fact, side by side
A dot marks a row where they differ. Rows with an info mark open a note.
Alibaba CloudTencent CloudWhat it really costs
Cheapest plan (differs)$3.50/month, 1 vCPU / 0.5 GB (1 vCPU, 0.5 GB, 20 GB SSD)$4.20/month, Starter 2 GB (2 vCPU, 2 GB, 40 GB SSD)
With IPv4, per month (differs)$3.50/month$4.20/month
Promo and renewal Same price on renewalSame price on renewal
VAT in listed prices Not statedNot stated
How you pay
Refunds (differs)No money-back window; partial refunds for unused subscription timeRemaining time refunded on early termination, up to 30 instances per bundle a year; discounts not refunded
What you get
Entry plan sizes (differs)1/0.5 GB, 1/1 GB, 1/2 GB, 2/2 GB2/2 GB, 2/2 GB, 2/1 GB, 2/2 GB
CPU in entry plans Not statedNot stated
Included traffic (differs)1 TB on 1 vCPU / 0.5 GB0.5 TB on Starter 2 GB
Where it runs
Datacenters (differs)22 in 12 countries11 in 11 countries
Continents (differs)Asia, Europe, North AmericaAsia, Europe, North America, South America
What comes with it
Who you're renting from
Owned by (differs)Alibaba GroupTencent
