Microsoft Azure vs Rackspace Cloud [EOL] comparison

Microsoft and Rackspace Technology are both solutions in the PaaS Clouds category. Additionally, 95% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Rackspace Technology users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Azure

Read 324 Microsoft Azure reviews

25,540 Views
14,302 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Rackspace Cloud [EOL]

Read 11 Rackspace Cloud [EOL] reviews

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure

Rackspace Cloud [EOL]

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Azure and Rackspace Cloud [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Red Hat and others in PaaS Clouds.

To learn more, read our detailed PaaS Clouds Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

PaaS Clouds

April 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 896,387 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Azure

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

324

Ranking in other categories

Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) (1st), PaaS Clouds (1st)

Rackspace Cloud [EOL]

Average Rating

8.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Q&A Highlights

Avigail Sugarman

Community Manager at PeerSpot (formerly IT Central Station)

Aug 21, 2014

Rackspace, Dimension Data, and others that were in last year's Challenger quadrant became Niche Players: Agree/ Disagree

Agree. All those are not true cloud player but somewhere in between hosted cloud and true cloud computing.

See all answers

Featured Reviews

Syed Abid

Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra

Versatile integrations and reliable customer satisfaction elevate cloud service experience

For Microsoft Azure improvement, they need to enhance their support system. The first level of support should be improved in terms of quality and response time. They need more technical support at the first level, as there are currently only one or two technical people among five to ten staff members at this level. They should ensure that the first level support is more technical because we normally provide services to technical users ourselves. When an issue arises, it usually escalates to the second or third level. When facing first level support, they may have limited knowledge and only collect screenshots to forward to their seniors. They should ensure that the first level support is aligned with L2 and L3 to better assist us, especially since we mention in the ticket that our issues are related to specific problems and require that sort of support.

Read full review

Rajbir Singh

Director - DevOps and Infrastructure at INTIGRAL

There is easy integration with multiple providers and third-party services

It is very stable. It works 99.9 percent of the time. We are quite happy with it. This product is used to help broadcast football games' live streams, video matches and fantasy games, and it is used extensively. We have almost two million plus downloads, and during peak seasons, we could have 100,000 concurrent users watching 11 different matches.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Azure is very user-friendly, I was able to create some database servers really fast, and the user interface is intuitive."

"We have found the most valuable feature to be the pricing calculator."

"The Azure Portal has an advantage in terms of UX making buying resources or downgrading really easier to understand, and while AWS has micro, smaller functionalities, Azure has more end-to-end focus which makes it easier, saving you time and money."

"The solution is very flexible, it is not limited to Microsoft solutions. It integrates well with other solutions, such as Oracle. There are a lot of templates we are able to use allowing us to reduce the time for configuration."

"Azure services like EDM and Batch are all famous, but one of the most popular services for development is Azure Functions, especially the PaaS option. Depending on a customer's environment, they can go for the PaaS."

"SQL Server has been most beneficial for our client’s workload."

"All services in the cloud are easy to set up, the services are ready to use from the outset."

"For me, it's a perfect product and I enjoy its capabilities."

More Microsoft Azure pros

"Image backup is a valuable feature, and even though this is a common feature, it is very helpful for us."

"Ability to quickly create reliable virtual servers."

"The tourism business is seasonally based, therefore our infrastructure needs are variable, and this service works perfectly for us."

"The new generation of Rackspace Cloud servers are a strong improvement over the first generation."

"There is easy integration with multiple providers and third-party services."

"It is very stable; it works 99.9 percent of the time, and we are quite happy with it."

"Image backup is a valuable feature. Even though this is a common feature, it is very helpful for us."

"The most valuable feature for us is the support, which is really efficient."

Cons

"More integration with other platforms is what I would like included in the next release for this solution."

"The cost of the product is too high. It would be ideal if they could lower it a bit for their customers."

"There are many bugs in the solutions and we already have a ticket to Microsoft."

"The Azure Billing API could be so much better. It only provides billing metrics for a set duration."

"The pricing could be better."

"Sometimes when you try to connect, it is quite unresponsive. When you want to communicate using the API, you get an internal error."

"The first level of support should be improved in terms of quality and response time."

"I would like to see all of the cloud providers be more compatible with each other."

More Microsoft Azure cons

"It doesn't offer Elastic IP like AWS. And also we can't configure our server based on region."

"It's often difficult to get timely support with a ticket, they seem to live by phone calls there."

"I had a few instances where techs on off hours made extremely bad decisions, resulting in extended site outages lasting hours."

"It would be nice to have more built-in suites compared to others. It would enable easier integration."

"Comparatively, this solution is a bit expensive."

"Vertical scalability is very limited compared with Amazon EC2, which offers many sorts of instances."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft Azure is a cost-effective solution where you use it as per your requirement and pay for it."

"We pay our bill in a monthly or 6 monthly billing cycle. The cost depends on how much you use during the period."

"The price needs to be lower because they're competing with AWS."

"The long-term cost is higher than if you set up the servers on-premises, which is something that could be improved through more competitive pricing."

"It is operational expenditure (OPEX). There is no cost upfront. When you start using it, you have to pay the charges. Initially, the cost is less, but after you start using it more and more, the cost will go higher. It is a little bit costly, but that is okay because you get better resources. You also get better support in terms of how you create the resources. Documentation is available, and the SLAs are met."

"The licensing price is fine."

"Licensing costs for Enterprise are on an annual basis."

"Licensing fees are paid monthly."

More Microsoft Azure pricing and cost advice

"The service includes licenses (for operating systems, databases, etc.). Asset management is easier with services like that."

"Comparatively, this solution is a bit expensive."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which PaaS Clouds solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

896,387 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

it_user8586

Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

Aug 14, 2013

Amazon vs Rackspace vs Microsoft vs Google: Cloud Hosting Services Comparison

Amazon Web Services, Rackspace OpenStack, Microsoft Windows Azure and Google are the major cloud hosting and storage service providers. Athough Amazon is top of them and is oldest in cloud market, Rackspace, Microsoft and Google are giving tough competition to each other and to Amazon also for…

Read full review

Answers from the Community

Avigail Sugarman

Community Manager at PeerSpot (formerly IT Central Station)

Aug 21, 2014

Rackspace, Dimension Data, and others that were in last year's Challenger quadrant became Niche Players: Agree/ Disagree

Agree. All those are not true cloud player but somewhere in between hosted cloud and true cloud computing.

2 out of 4 answers

it_user105252

CTO at a healthcare company with 51-200 employees

Aug 20, 2014

I completely agree. Cloud Computing vending is a scale business. And unless you have the $$ Billions to invest in DCs, interconnects, CDN capacity, as well as in continually investing in the OS and Management software infrastructure, you cannot be anything but a vendor that caters to a particular narrow segment. Its a bit like telephony. You aren't going to do very well going up against GE/Sprint, ATT or Southwest Telecom. BUT if you are an EarthLink, you can play in then niche space of those who want a "socially responsible" Telco. About a year ago, both Rackspace and Centurylink were looking for "capital partners" for future growth investment precisely because of these issues. I don't think they ever raised enough $$. I have been saying for about 5 years now that there is room for 4-5 major cloud vendors and they were going to be: Amazon, Google, Microsoft. and then fighting for the last 1-2 slots were IBM, salesFORCE.com, EMC and perhaps Oracle. Oracle seems to have opted not to keep fighting, and EMC is now more focused on delivering services. So you basically have IBM leveraging its corporate DC and mainframe hardware consolidation capabilities and Salesforce is leverging its lead in CRM to get apps built on Force.com But pretty much everyone else is a niche player. The Future is Platform As A Service. NOT "vms" and Rackspace and Dimension Data all were hoping to move from VMs to PaaS but that's a hard move to make.

Read full answer

it_user8685

Infrastructure Expert at Cloud Counselage Inc. (www.cloudcounselage.com)

Aug 20, 2014

DISAGREE. VMware is the present and the Future. Be it VMware vCloud and vSphere suites, tough competition for Amazon etc. or be it vCHS. Also, VMware's very own Public IaaS Cloud; vCHS (VMware vCloud Hybrid Service) which will change everything in days to come vis-a-vis Rackspace, IBM's Softlayer etc. Microsoft is not in a competition at all, because it lacks quality compared to the names mentioned above. __Tushar Topale

Read full answer

See all 4 answers

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

University

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	141
Midsize Enterprise	54
Large Enterprise	153

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	2

Questions from the Community

Which is preferable - IBM Public Cloud or Microsoft Azure?

IBM Public Cloud is IBM’s Platform-as-a-Service. It aims to provide organizations with a secure cloud environment to manage data and applications. One of the features we like is the cloud activity ...

See all answers

Which is better - SAP Cloud Platform or Microsoft Azure?

One of the best features of SAP Cloud Platform is that it is web-based and you can log in from anywhere in the world. SAP Cloud Platform is suitable for companies of any size; it works well with bo...

See all answers

How does Microsoft Azure compare to Google Firebase?

I would recommend Google Firebase instead of Microsoft Azure, simply for the array of features that it has to offer. In particular, the Firebase library grants you access to a shared data structure...

See all answers

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

Comparisons

Google Firebase vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 8% of the time

Amazon AWS vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 8% of the time

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 7% of the time

Alibaba Cloud vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 6% of the time

Pivotal Cloud Foundry vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 5% of the time

More Microsoft Azure Competitors

Amazon AWS vs Rackspace Cloud [EOL]

Compared 19% of the time

Xigo Dimension Data vs Rackspace Cloud [EOL]

Compared 19% of the time

Google Firebase vs Rackspace Cloud [EOL]

Compared 15% of the time

Oracle Visual Builder Cloud Service vs Rackspace Cloud [EOL]

Compared 13% of the time

Lumen Symphony vs Rackspace Cloud [EOL]

Compared 11% of the time

More Rackspace Cloud [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure

May 2026

Download Microsoft Azure product report

Buyer's Guide

Rackspace Cloud [EOL]

May 2026

Download Rackspace Cloud [EOL] product report

Also Known As

Windows Azure, Azure, MS Azure

No data available

Overview

Microsoft Azure is a versatile cloud platform known for its scalability, flexibility, and ease of use, offering comprehensive solutions like virtual machines, identity management, and data storage with robust security measures and global data centers.

Azure provides a straightforward setup with dynamic scaling and seamless integration with existing tools. Its robust security, compliance with privacy laws, and global data center presence make it a trusted choice for enterprises. With features supporting DevOps, IoT, AI/ML, and hybrid cloud environments, Azure facilitates efficient cloud migration and modernization, enhancing operational efficiency.

What are some of the key features of Microsoft Azure?

Scalability: Adjust resources automatically to meet demand.
Flexibility: Support for hybrid cloud setup and smooth integration with existing tools.
Virtual Machines: Extensive support for VMs to run various workloads.
Active Directory: Robust identity and access management services.
Data Storage: Diverse storage options for different data management needs.
Security Measures: Comprehensive security protocols and compliance support.

What benefits and ROI should users consider when evaluating Microsoft Azure?

Cost Efficiency: Managed services that reduce operational costs.
Reliability: High availability with global data center coverage.
Ease of Migration: Facilitates transition from on-premises solutions to the cloud.
Operational Efficiency: User-friendly interface and extensive training resources.

Organizations primarily use Azure for infrastructure services, application hosting, and data management across industries such as finance, healthcare, and retail. Resellers deploy cloud services for clients in private, public, and hybrid clouds, supporting enterprise applications and digital transformation projects.

Microsoft

Rackspace is a listed company that specializes in hybrid cloud environments to support your applications and sites. The environments are based on its open-source operating system OpenStack.Rackspace Cloud caters for the private cloud, public cloud, dedicated servers, or a hybrid of platforms.

Your Rackspace Cloud environment is customizable according to your cloud requirements, and all products work together seamlessly from one portal.

Rackspace Technology

Sample Customers

BMW, Toyota, easyJet, NBC Sports, HarperCollins, Aviva, TalkTalk Business, Avanade, and Telenor.

3D Capacity, Acquity Group, Axios Systems, Behance, Blastro, Dominos Pizza, and Sage.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Red Hat and others in PaaS Clouds. Updated: April 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

896,387 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our list of best PaaS Clouds vendors.

We monitor all PaaS Clouds reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.