Alibaba Cloud vs Amazon Web Services (AWS): Complete 2026 Comparison
In-depth comparison of these two hosting providers across pricing, performance, features, and support.
Overall Winner
Alibaba Cloud
- Wins in 3 of 7 categories
- Top in: Best Price, Best Support, Best for Beginners
- 3.5/5 overall rating
Category Winners
Best Price
Alibaba Cloud
$4.46/mo vs $5.00/mo
Best Value
Tie
Similar renewal pricing
Best Performance
Tie
Similar performance metrics
Best Support
Alibaba Cloud
Live chat, Phone, 24/7
Best for WordPress
Tie
Similar WordPress features
Best for Developers
Tie
Similar developer features
Best for Beginners
Alibaba Cloud
Higher ease of use score (4.0/10)
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | Cloud Infrastructure | Cloud Infrastructure |
| Monthly Price | $4.46/mo | $5.00/mo |
| Renewal Price | $4.46 | $5.00 |
| Renewal Markup | 0% | 0% |
| Overall Rating | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.99% | 99.99% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 2.0/5 | 1.3/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 81 | 361 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $53.52 | $60.00 |
| Second Year Cost | $53.52 | $60.00 |
| Money Back Guarantee | — | — |
| Setup Fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly Billing | ||
| Minimum Contract | 0 months | 0 months |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | — | 40 GB |
| Storage Type | SSD/ESSD/ULTRA DISK | SSD |
| Bandwidth | — | 2000 GB |
| Max Websites | — | — |
| Max Databases | — | — |
| PHP Versions | — | — |
| SSH Access | ||
| Git Deployment | ||
| Staging Environment | — | — |
| Cron Jobs | ||
| Redis Available | ||
| Programming Languages | ||
| Node.js Support | ||
| Python Support | ||
| Ruby Support | ||
| WordPress Features | ||
| WordPress Optimized | ||
| WordPress Auto-Install | ||
| WordPress Auto-Updates | ||
| WordPress Staging | ||
| WooCommerce Optimized | ||
| LiteSpeed Cache | ||
| Object Caching | ||
| WP Multisite | ||
| WP-CLI Access | ||
| Security | ||
| DDoS Protection | ||
| DDoS Protection Level | Anti-DDoS Basic (free); Anti-DDoS Pro from $85/mo | AWS Shield Standard (free); Shield Advanced ($3000/mo+) |
| Malware Scanning | ||
| Malware Removal | ||
| Firewall Included | ||
| Backup Frequency | Manual/Snapshot-based | Manual/Snapshot-based |
| Backup Retention | — | — |
| Backup Restore Fee | Free | Free |
| On-Demand Backup | ||
| Two-Factor Auth | ||
| Wildcard SSL | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Support | ||
| Support Channels | Ticket, Phone, Chat, Knowledge Base | Ticket, Phone, Chat, Knowledge Base, Forums |
| Live Chat | ||
| Live Chat Hours | 24/7 | Paid support plans |
| Phone Support | ||
| Phone Support Hours | 24/7 with paid support | 24/7 with paid support |
| Ticket Support | ||
| Priority Support | ||
| Support Languages | English, Chinese, Japanese | English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish |
| Knowledge Base Quality | 3.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Avg Support Wait | — | — |
| Email Accounts | ||
| Email Account Limit | 0 | 0 |
| Mailbox Size | — | — |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | Alibaba Cloud CDN (additional cost) | CloudFront (additional cost) |
| Server Locations | Hangzhou (China), Shanghai (China), Beijing (China), Shenzhen (China), Zhangjiakou (China), Hohhot (China), Ulanqab (China), Chengdu (China), Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney (Australia), Melbourne (Australia), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (South Korea), Mumbai (India), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Manila (Philippines), Bangkok (Thailand), Dubai (UAE), Frankfurt (Germany), London (UK), Virginia (US), Silicon Valley (US), São Paulo (Brazil) | US East (Virginia), US East (Ohio), US West (Oregon), US West (California), Canada (Central), Canada West (Calgary), South America (Sao Paulo), Europe (Ireland), Europe (London), Europe (Frankfurt), Europe (Paris), Europe (Stockholm), Europe (Milan), Europe (Spain), Europe (Zurich), Middle East (Bahrain), Middle East (UAE), Africa (Cape Town), Asia Pacific (Mumbai), Asia Pacific (Singapore), Asia Pacific (Sydney), Asia Pacific (Tokyo), Asia Pacific (Seoul), Asia Pacific (Osaka), Asia Pacific (Hong Kong), Asia Pacific (Jakarta), Asia Pacific (Melbourne), Asia Pacific (Hyderabad), China (Beijing), China (Ningxia), Israel (Tel Aviv), Thailand (Bangkok), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) |
| Server Location Count | 29 | 38 |
| Choose Server Location | ||
| HTTP/2 Support | ||
| Brotli Compression | ||
| Uptime SLA Credit | ||
| Platform Support | ||
| Drupal Support | ||
| Joomla Support | ||
| Magento Support | ||
| Laravel Support | ||
| Django Support | ||
| Next.js Support | ||
| Rails Support | ||
| Static Site Support | ||
| Control Panel | ||
| cPanel Included | ||
| Control Panel | Alibaba Cloud Console | AWS Console / Lightsail Console |
| Softaculous | ||
| Website Builder | ||
| Builder Name | — | — |
| Migration | ||
| Migration Websites Limit | 0 | 0 |
| Migration Turnaround | — | — |
| Paid Migration Cost | — | — |
| Migration Quality | — | — |
| Compliance | ||
| GDPR Compliant | ||
| PCI Compliant | ||
| HIPAA Compliant | ||
| Data Center Certs | SOC 1, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, PCI DSS, CSA STAR, GxP, TISAX | SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 9001, PCI DSS Level 1, HIPAA, FedRAMP |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Performance Rating | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Support Quality | 2.5/10 | 2.0/10 |
| Security Rating | 3.5/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Features Rating | 4.5/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Ease of Use | 3.0/10 | 2.5/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 2.5/10 | 2.0/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 2.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 3.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Developers | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 1.0/10 | 1.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | Pay per GB; rates vary by region | 2TB included on $5 Lightsail; overage $0.09/GB |
| Storage Overage | Pay for storage used | Pay for additional volumes/snapshots |
| Adult Content Allowed | ||
| Gambling Sites Allowed | ||
| Crypto Sites Allowed | ||
| Reseller Hosting | ||
| White Label | ||
| API Access | ||
| Company Info | ||
| Year Founded | 2009 | 2006 |
| Headquarters | China | United States |
| Parent Company | Alibaba Group | Amazon.com Inc. (subsidiary) |
| Green Hosting | ||
| Instant Activation | ||
| Managed WordPress | ||
| Managed WP Available | ||
| Pricing Model | — | — |
| Monthly Visit Limit | — | — |
| Visit Overage Cost | — | — |
| PHP Workers | — | — |
| Plugin Restrictions | — | — |
| Dev Environment | — | — |
| Dev Env Name | — | — |
| Regional Info | ||
| Best Countries | China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India | United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Brazil, India, Canada |
| Local Currencies | USD, CNY, SGD, JPY, AUD | USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, AUD, SGD, BRL, INR, CAD |
| Support Languages | English, Chinese, Japanese | English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR, PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, CSA STAR | GDPR, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, FedRAMP, SOC 2, ISO 27001 |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 4.0/5 | 4.6/5 |
| BBB Rating | NR | NR |
| Advanced Technical | ||
| Inode Limit | — | — |
| Max DB Size | — | — |
| Max Upload Size | — | — |
| Database Type | ApsaraDB (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MongoDB, Redis) | MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL/MSSQL/Oracle |
| Elasticsearch | ||
| Image Optimization | — | — |
| PHP Switching | — | — |
| Subdomains | — | — |
| FTP Accounts | — | — |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | — | — |
| Money Back Exclusions | Pay-as-you-go; Free trial credits available | Pay-as-you-go; No traditional refund; Free tier available for 12 months |
| Payment Methods | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Wire Transfer | Credit Card, Debit Card, ACH Direct Debit, Wire Transfer, AWS Credits |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | — | |
| Domain Privacy Cost | — | — |
| SSL Provider | Alibaba Cloud SSL Certificates | AWS Certificate Manager (free SSL for AWS resources) |
| Dedicated IP Cost | — | — |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | Global | Global |
| Priority Support Cost | — | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | ||
| Object Cache Type | — | — |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Per sale | Per sale |
| Commission Amount | Varies by product | Varies by service; AWS Partner Network available |
| Additional Policies | ||
| File Hosting Allowed | ||
| Proxy/VPN Allowed | ||
| Bandwidth Overage Cost | — | $0.09 |
| Account Suspension Policy | Violation of ToS; non-payment; abuse | Violation of ToS; non-payment; abuse |
| Malware Removal Cost | — | — |
| Downloadable Backups | ||
| Additional Platforms | ||
| PrestaShop | ||
| Ghost | ||
| Shopify Migration | ||
| Wix Migration | ||
| Squarespace Migration | ||
| Webflow Export | ||
| Editorial Info | ||
| Best For | Businesses targeting Asia-Pacific market; E-commerce in China; Organizations already in Alibaba ecosystem; Cost-effective cloud in APAC region; Companies needing China presence | Enterprise deployments needing AWS ecosystem; Developers comfortable with cloud infrastructure; Businesses needing compliance certifications (HIPAA, PCI, FedRAMP); Global deployments with 38 regions; Those already invested in AWS ecosystem |
| Avoid If | Primary audience in Americas/Europe; Need HIPAA compliance; Prefer English-first support; Concerned about China data regulations | Beginner wanting simple hosting; Need included support; Want managed WordPress; Budget-conscious without cloud expertise; Need predictable billing |
| Known Issues | Poor Trustpilot rating (2.0) due to support issues and security concerns; Documentation quality issues; Language barrier in support; Complex for Western users; Security/abuse report handling criticized; Performance issues during peak hours reported | Extremely poor Trustpilot rating (1.3) due to billing complaints and support issues; Complex pricing can lead to unexpected bills; Support costs extra (free tier has no support); Not beginner-friendly; EC2 pricing confusing; Lightsail less flexible than competitors |
| Unique Selling Point | Dominant cloud provider in Asia-Pacific with 37% regional market share and deep Alibaba ecosystem integration | Market-leading cloud provider with 38 regions, most compliance certifications, and Lightsail for simplified VPS at $5/month |
| Ideal Customer | Business targeting Asia-Pacific markets, especially China, needing cost-effective cloud with Alibaba ecosystem integration | Enterprise or developer needing global cloud infrastructure with extensive compliance certifications and AWS ecosystem integration |
| Best Alternative To | AWS in Asia-Pacific | Google Cloud Platform |
| Primary Competitors | Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Huawei Cloud | Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, DigitalOcean, Vultr |
We strive for accuracy, but pricing and features change frequently. Some data may be outdated. Report an error and we'll update it promptly.
Our Verdict
Choose Alibaba Cloud if you...
- Want to save money ($4.46/mo vs $5.00/mo)
- Require 24/7 live chat support
Choose Amazon Web Services (AWS) if you...
- Need enterprise-grade features
- Want more server locations (38 available)