Direct answer: using verifiable official prices retrieved on 7 November 2026 (AWS us-east-1, Azure eastus, USD, retail/pay-as-you-go, excluding tax and discounts), AWS Backup's EBS warm-storage example rate is USD 0.05/GB-month, with EBS partial restore at USD 0.03/GB. Azure Backup Standard LRS storage is USD 0.0224/GB-month, but it also charges a USD 10/VM-month protected-instance fee; Archive LRS is USD 0.0013/GB-month (180-day early-deletion period, retrieval charged separately). For 10 VMs, 30-day retention and a monthly restore of 10% of data: at 1TB, AWS is about USD 53/month and Azure LRS about USD 122/month; at 10TB, AWS is about USD 530/month and Azure LRS about USD 324/month; at 100TB, AWS is about USD 5,300/month and Azure LRS about USD 2,340/month. The crossover is roughly 3.3TB (AWS vs Azure LRS) and 12.2TB (AWS vs Azure GRS): at small volumes Azure's per-VM fee dominates, while at large volumes Azure's lower per-GB storage wins.
This guide is for IT operations, cloud architecture and procurement teams budgeting cloud backup/DR, comparing AWS and Azure and optimising retention. Prices come from the AWS Backup pricing page and AWS Price List API (AWSBackup, publicationDate 14 October 2026) and the Azure Backup pricing page and Azure Retail Prices API (serviceName=Backup, eastus, retrieved 7 November 2026). Official price facts, editorial calculations and excluded items are kept separate.
(1) Azure Backup is not purely per GB: it also charges a per-VM/workload protected-instance fee, which dominates small estates. (2) AWS Backup for EBS is billed as snapshot storage, with a warm-storage example of USD 0.05/GB-month and partial restore at USD 0.03/GB. (3) Calculate the data-volume crossover before discussing reservations or compression; retention, cross-region copies and archive retrieval are the long-term cost drivers.
Scope: per GB, per VM, per restore
The billing structures differ. AWS Backup charges mainly for backup storage GB-month, cross-region copies, restored data volume and backup evaluations, with no separate fixed per-VM fee. Azure Backup charges a protected-instance fee (for example Azure VM USD 10/month, Azure Files USD 5/month, SQL Server in Azure VM USD 25/month, SAP HANA USD 80/month) plus backup storage GB-month, with Standard and Archive tiers and different LRS/ZRS/GRS/RA-GRS redundancy prices. This article compares only Azure VM + Standard/Archive LRS/GRS with AWS Backup EBS warm storage, excluding cross-region copies, request charges, early deletion, archive retrieval, support and tax.
| Billing item | AWS Backup | Azure Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Primary storage | EBS warm storage example USD 0.05/GB-month | Standard LRS 0.0224, ZRS 0.028, GRS 0.0448, RA-GRS 0.0569 USD/GB-month |
| Archive/cold storage | Cold Storage varies by resource type (unverified EBS cold rate not included) | Archive LRS 0.0013, GRS 0.004 USD/GB-month |
| Instance/workload fee | No separate fixed per-VM fee | Azure VM USD 10/month; Files 5; SQL 25; SAP HANA 80 |
| Restore | EBS partial restore USD 0.03/GB | Standard restore free; Archive retrieval charged at Blob retrieval rates |
| Cross-region/redundancy | Cross-region copy charged per GB | GRS/RA-GRS priced higher; cross-region restore configured separately |
| Early deletion | Varies by resource type/policy | Archive 180-day early-deletion fee |
Sources: AWS Backup pricing page and AWS Price List API (AWSBackup, 14 October 2026); Azure Backup pricing page and Azure Retail Prices API (serviceName=Backup, eastus, 7 November 2026). This is an editorial summary; specific resource types, regions, redundancy and discounts follow the official pages/invoice.
TCO: 10 VMs, 30-day retention, 10% restored
Assume 10 Azure VMs (or an equivalent number of AWS instances), total backup data of 1/10/100TB, 30-day retention, a monthly restore of 10% of data, Standard/warm storage and no cross-region copy. AWS is "storage x 0.05 + restore x 0.03"; Azure LRS is "10 x USD 10 + storage x 0.0224", with Standard restore free; Azure GRS is "10 x USD 10 + storage x 0.0448". The result: at 1TB, Azure's USD 100 instance fee pushes the total above AWS; from 10TB, Azure LRS is cheaper; at 100TB, Azure LRS is about 44% of AWS. This is not an absolute "who is cheaper" conclusion but a function of data volume and VM count.
| Total backup data | AWS Backup (warm + partial restore) | Azure LRS (instance + storage) | Azure GRS (instance + storage) | Lower |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1TB | about 53 | about 122 | about 145 | AWS |
| 10TB | about 530 | about 324 | about 548 | Azure LRS |
| 100TB | about 5,300 | about 2,340 | about 4,580 | Azure LRS |
Editorial calculation: AWS = data GB x 0.05 + restored GB (10% of data) x 0.03; Azure LRS = 10 x 10 + data GB x 0.0224; Azure GRS = 10 x 10 + data GB x 0.0448; 1TB = 1,000GB. Excludes free allowances, compression, cross-region copies, request fees, early deletion, archive retrieval, support and tax; the invoice governs.
Crossover: small volumes hinge on instance fees, large volumes on per-GB rates
Write the two providers as lines: AWS is about USD 0.053/GB (0.05 storage + 0.003 restore); Azure LRS is about USD 0.0224/GB + USD 100/month (10 VMs); Azure GRS is about USD 0.0448/GB + USD 100/month. The AWS vs Azure LRS crossover = 100 / (0.053 - 0.0224) = about 3,268GB (3.3TB); AWS vs Azure GRS = 100 / (0.053 - 0.0448) = about 12,195GB (12.2TB). So with 10 VMs, AWS is cheaper below about 3.3TB of data; above that Azure LRS is cheaper; if GRS redundancy is mandatory, Azure only becomes cheaper above about 12.2TB. More VMs raise the crossover (each additional VM adds USD 10/month).
| Data volume | AWS estimate | Azure LRS estimate | Azure GRS estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1TB | 53 | 122 | 145 |
| 3.3TB | about 175 | about 174 | about 248 |
| 10TB | 530 | 324 | 548 |
| 20TB | 1,060 | 548 | 996 |
| 100TB | 5,300 | 2,340 | 4,580 |
Editorial calculation: 10 VMs, 30-day retention, 10% restored, no free allowances/compression/cross-region copies; Azure instance fee = 10 x USD 10/month; AWS restore = data x 10% x 0.03. 3.3TB is the theoretical AWS vs Azure LRS crossover, 12.2TB is the theoretical AWS vs Azure GRS crossover, and 20TB is illustrative.
Beyond the list price: hidden backup costs
A backup bill is rarely just "storage x GB". Long retention increases stored volume; cross-region copies add transfer and destination storage; the archive tier has retrieval and early-deletion fees; frequent restores incur restore charges; many objects add request fees; backup software, snapshots, indexes, malware scanning and support plans are billed separately. The most underestimated item is retention: 30 days versus 365 days can differ by an order of magnitude, not by a small margin.
| Cost item | Trigger | Control |
|---|---|---|
| Retention | 30/90/365 days or a compliance period | Tier by data class; auto-delete on expiry |
| Cross-region copy | DR/compliance requires an off-site copy | Copy only critical data; assess destination storage |
| Archive retrieval | Restoring from Archive | Write acceptable recovery time into policy |
| Early deletion | Deleting Archive data before 180 days | Keep short-lived data out of the archive tier |
| Restore volume | Frequent drills/restores | Separate drills from real restores; limit full restores |
| Requests/indexing | Many objects, backup search/indexing | Reduce small files; enable indexing only when needed |
| Support/tax/FX | Enterprise support, cross-border purchasing | Budget on a tax-inclusive, support-inclusive basis |
Editorial synthesis; specific meters follow the AWS/Azure official pricing pages and invoices. Self-managed backup software, labour, drill environments and migration costs are not included.
How to choose: by data volume, VM count and recovery target
Start with four questions: how many VMs/workloads, how much backup data, what recovery time is acceptable, and is cross-region/off-site redundancy mandatory. For a small estate and less than about 3.3TB, AWS Backup's lack of a per-VM fee is often simpler; for many VMs and large data volumes where LRS is acceptable, Azure Backup's lower per-GB rate wins; if GRS/RA-GRS is mandatory, include the redundancy premium, which pushes the crossover to about 12.2TB; for long-term archiving, Azure Archive at USD 0.0013/GB-month is attractive, subject to the 180-day early-deletion and retrieval fees.
| Scenario | Prefer | Check first |
|---|---|---|
| Few VMs, 1-3TB | AWS Backup (no per-VM fee) | Snapshot storage, restore fees, cross-region |
| Many VMs, 10TB+ | Azure Backup LRS | Instance fees, compression, retention |
| Off-site redundancy required | AWS cross-region copy vs Azure GRS | Crossover, transfer fees, RTO/RPO |
| Long-term archive/compliance | Azure Archive | 180-day early deletion, retrieval fees |
| Hybrid/on-premises | Depends on existing cloud stack and egress | Egress, gateway/proxy, support |
Editorial selection framework, not a vendor recommendation; validate against backup-software compatibility, RTO/RPO, compliance, egress and support levels.
90-day cost optimisation checklist
Use the first 90 days to establish what is backed up, for how long, whether it has been restored and where the bill goes. The order is: inventory, classification, retention policy, crossover calculation, restore drill, purchase/reservation.
| Phase | Action | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-2 | Inventory VMs/workloads, backup data, retention and restore frequency | Backup asset list, monthly bill baseline |
| Weeks 2-4 | Classify by business/compliance need; identify data that can be less frequent or archived | Data classes, retention policy |
| Weeks 4-6 | Calculate AWS/Azure crossover and 1/3-year TCO using actual volumes | Vendor comparison, budget range |
| Weeks 6-8 | Run a restore drill; record RTO/RPO and restore cost | Drill report, restore cost |
| Weeks 8-10 | Remove orphan snapshots/expired backups; turn off unused cross-region copies | Savings list, execution record |
| Weeks 10-12 | Evaluate reserved capacity/commit discounts and contract terms | Procurement recommendation, renewal plan |
Editorial optimisation advice, not an official template; retention, archiving, replication and reservation requirements follow compliance, RTO/RPO and vendor contracts.
FAQ
What does 1TB of backup cost?
Under the assumptions here (10 VMs, 30-day retention, 10% restored): AWS Backup about USD 53/month (storage 50 + partial restore 3); Azure Backup LRS about USD 122/month (10 x 10 + 1,000GB x 0.0224); Azure GRS about USD 145/month. Actual cost varies with compression, free allowances, cross-region copies and retention.
Why is Azure more expensive at small volumes?
Azure Backup charges a protected-instance fee in addition to storage, and an Azure VM is USD 10/VM-month. Ten VMs means USD 100/month regardless of data volume; at 1TB the storage charge is only about USD 22, so the instance fee dominates. The effect is stronger with fewer VMs and less data.
What is AWS Backup's cold storage rate?
AWS Backup Cold Storage pricing varies by resource type. This article uses only the verifiable EBS warm-storage example of USD 0.05/GB-month and EBS partial restore at USD 0.03/GB; it does not include an unverified EBS cold rate. Use the official price page for the specific resource type if you plan to use a cold/archive tier.
Is Azure Archive really USD 0.0013/GB-month?
Yes, that is the eastus Archive LRS retail rate (GRS is 0.004). But there are constraints: Archive is intended for long-term retention (the page suggests more than six months), a 180-day early-deletion fee applies, and restoring from Archive incurs a retrieval fee and takes longer. It is not an equivalent replacement for the Standard tier.
How are restore charges calculated?
AWS Backup charges USD 0.03/GB for EBS partial restore; Azure Backup restores from Standard are free, while Archive restores incur Blob retrieval charges. Budget for both drills and real restores; full, cross-region and frequent restores can significantly increase cost.
How should we choose cross-region copy/GRS?
Start with RTO/RPO and compliance: choose GRS/cross-region only if off-site redundancy is mandatory. Azure GRS storage is priced higher than LRS; AWS cross-region copy adds transfer and destination storage. Under the assumptions here, with 10 VMs the AWS vs Azure GRS crossover is about 12.2TB. Do not copy everything just because "more copies feel safer".
How much can reserved capacity save?
Azure Backup offers 1-year/3-year Reserved Capacity (100TB/1PB increments), and AWS offers savings-plan/reservation-type discounts, but discounts vary by region, term and commitment. This article excludes reservations; obtain a like-for-like quote and compare the effective unit price after discount with on-demand pricing and actual data volume.
Do these prices include tax/discounts?
No. The tables use AWS us-east-1 and Azure eastus retail/pay-as-you-go prices and exclude enterprise/CSP discounts, tax, exchange rates, support plans and free allowances. Cross-border purchasing also involves currency, payment terms and export/import compliance.
Research method and limitations
This article separates "official price facts" from "editorial calculations": AWS Backup's EBS warm-storage example of USD 0.05/GB-month and EBS partial restore of USD 0.03/GB come from the AWS Backup pricing page and AWS Price List API (AWSBackup, publicationDate 14 October 2026); Azure Backup Standard/Archive LRS/GRS and the Azure VM USD 10/month fee come from the Azure Backup pricing page and Azure Retail Prices API (serviceName=Backup, eastus, 7 November 2026). TCO, crossovers and the 90-day list are editorial calculations/advice.
Eight limitations: (1) only AWS Backup EBS warm storage and Azure Backup Azure VM Standard/Archive are compared, not every resource type; (2) cross-region copies, request fees, early deletion, archive retrieval, support and tax are excluded; (3) AWS Free Tier, Azure free allowances, compression and deduplication are not modelled; (4) the scenario assumes 10 VMs, 30-day retention and 10% restored; (5) no restore-performance/RTO testing was performed; (6) prices change and should be re-queried after publication; (7) third-party backup software, hybrid cloud and local tape are not covered; (8) this is not procurement, commercial or legal advice.
Sources and basis
- AWS, AWS Backup pricing: aws.amazon.com/backup/pricing/. EBS warm-storage example USD 0.05/GB-month, EBS partial restore USD 0.03/GB, cross-region copy/restore/evaluation notes. Accessed 7 November 2026.
- AWS, Price List API (AWSBackup current index): pricing.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/offers/v1.0/aws/AWSBackup/current/index.json. publicationDate 14 October 2026; used to verify the EBS partial-restore meter at USD 0.03/GB. Accessed 7 November 2026.
- Microsoft, Azure Backup pricing: azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/backup/. Standard/Archive, LRS/ZRS/GRS/RA-GRS, protected-instance fees, free Standard restore, Archive retrieval/180-day early deletion. Accessed 7 November 2026.
- Microsoft, Azure Retail Prices API (serviceName=Backup, armRegionName=eastus): prices.azure.com/api/retail/prices. Standard LRS 0.0224, GRS 0.0448, Archive LRS 0.0013/GRS 0.004, Azure VM USD 10/month and related meters. Accessed 7 November 2026.
Data cut-off 7 November 2026; prices and specifications follow AWS/Azure official pages/APIs and the invoice; not procurement, commercial or legal advice.