AWS vs GCP vs Azure GPU Pricing 2026 Comparison

AWS vs GCP vs Azure GPU pricing 2026: H100 on-demand AWS $6.88/GPU-hr, GCP $11.06/GPU-hr, Azure $12.29/GPU-hr. 8-GPU nodes: AWS p5.48xlarge $55.04/hr, GCP a3-highgpu-8g $88.49/hr, Azure ND96isr H100 v5 $98.32/hr. Reserved contracts deliver 30-72% off on-demand. B200 on AWS p6 at $12.36/GPU-hr is the published hyperscaler B200 floor.

Last verified: Sep 16, 2026.

At a glance

• AWS p5.48xlarge (8x H100): $55.04/hr on-demand / $41.528/hr Capacity Blocks / $19.77/hr spot
• GCP a3-highgpu-8g (8x H100): $88.49/hr on-demand / $38.86/hr 3-yr CUD / ~$48.19/hr spot
• Azure ND96isr H100 v5 (8x H100): $98.32/hr on-demand / $43.79/hr 3-yr reserved / $18-$29.50/hr spot
• Per-GPU normalized on-demand: AWS $6.88, GCP $11.06, Azure $12.29
• Per-GPU normalized 3-year reserved: AWS $5.19, GCP $4.86, Azure $5.47
• H100 spot/preemptible: AWS $1.95-$2.50, GCP $2.10-$2.80, Azure variable by region
• B200 on AWS p6: $12.36/GPU-hr Capacity Blocks
• Egress: AWS $0.09/GB, GCP $0.12/GB, Azure $0.087/GB

Why the per-GPU price gap is wider than the node price gap

At the 8-GPU node level, AWS, GCP, and Azure cluster within 15 cents of each other at roughly $98.32-$98.46/hr — but per-GPU normalization exposes a 4x spread.

The 8-GPU node pricing near-parity reflects AWS, GCP, and Azure's similar positioning as full-scale hyperscalers with comparable supply chains, networking infrastructure, and compliance overhead. The per-GPU spread comes from instance shape availability: AWS publishes single-GPU p5.4xlarge at $6.88/GPU-hr on-demand, while GCP and Azure concentrate on the 8-GPU node. The p5.4xlarge exists because AWS customers needed flexibility for workloads that don't require NVLink fabric (tech-insider.org, August 2026).

For multi-node training with 8-GPU nodes, the choice between hyperscalers is closer than the per-GPU normalized rate suggests. For single-GPU or 4-GPU workloads, AWS p5.4xlarge is the cheapest hyperscaler H100 path. For 200+ GPU distributed training, all three hyperscalers converge on the same per-node cost after reserved-contract negotiation.

AWS GPU pricing in 2026

AWS is the cheapest hyperscaler H100 on-demand rate and the most flexible reservation model with Capacity Blocks for ML.

Verified July 2026 (vantage.sh, aws.amazon.com):

• p5.48xlarge (8x H100): $55.04/hr on-demand; $41.528/hr Capacity Blocks (US East); $23.777/hr 1-year Reserved; $19.769/hr spot
• p5.4xlarge (1x H100): $6.88/hr on-demand; $5.191/hr Capacity Blocks; $4.90/hr 1-year Reserved; ~$1.95-$2.50/hr spot
• p5e.48xlarge (8x H200): $47.76/hr Capacity Blocks ($5.97/GPU-hr)
• p5en.48xlarge (8x H200, 3rd-gen EFA): $54.920/hr Capacity Blocks
• p6-b200.48xlarge (8x B200): $98.84/hr effective ($12.36/GPU-hr)
• p6-b300.48xlarge (8x B300): $112.32/hr effective ($14.04/GPU-hr)
• p4d.24xlarge (A100 Capacity Block): $1.475/GPU-hr effective

AWS announced an 'up to 45%' price reduction on H100 in June 2025; the current effective rate is the result. Capacity Blocks are the most flexible reservation product in the hyperscaler market — reserve a specific capacity for a specific future time window without signing a multi-year contract. 1-year Reserved is roughly 30% off on-demand; 3-year Reserved reaches up to 72% off in some instance families.

AWS egress is $0.09/GB. For a 10 TB dataset with monthly retraining, egress adds $870-$1,200/month on top of the GPU rate (gpusmith.com, July 2026).

GCP GPU pricing in 2026

GCP is the price leader on raw H100 GPU rates in most 2026 comparisons — but loses the edge on B200.

Verified July 2026 (cloud.google.com/compute/gpus-pricing):

• a3-highgpu-8g (8x H100): $88.49/hr on-demand; $38.86/hr 3-year CUD; ~$48.19/hr spot
• a3-megagpu-8g (8x H100 enhanced networking): $93.40/hr on-demand; $40.65/hr 3-year CUD; ~$50.80/hr spot
• a3-ultragpu-8g (8x H200, NOT H100): $84.81/hr on-demand; ~$37.21/hr 3-year CUD; ~$46.56/hr spot
• a2-ultragpu-1g (A100): $1.0996/hr on-demand; ~$0.55/hr spot
• G2 series (L4): ~$0.70/hr per GPU on-demand
• A4 (B200): ~$16.11/hr per GPU on-demand (highest of tracked providers)

GCP's 3-year CUD delivers 55% off on-demand for a3-highgpu-8g and a3-megagpu-8g — the deepest hyperscaler reserved discount in 2026. Spot pricing is consistent across most regions ($2.10-$2.80/GPU-hr on H100).

The confusing nomenclature: a3-ultragpu-8g ships with 8x H200 GPUs, not H100. Buyers searching 'GCP H100 pricing' need to verify the SKU before committing. On B200, Google Cloud is currently the expensive option — not the cheap one — at $16.11/GPU-hr on-demand versus AWS p6 at $12.36/GPU-hr (tech-insider.org, August 2026).

Azure GPU pricing in 2026

Azure is consistently the most expensive H100 hyperscaler at $12.29/GPU-hr on-demand — but its 3-year reserved discount is competitive.

Verified July 2026 (instances.vantage.sh, azure.microsoft.com):

• ND96isr H100 v5 (8x H100): $98.32/hr on-demand; $63.40/hr 1-year reserved ($7.93/GPU-hr); $43.79/hr 3-year reserved ($5.47/GPU-hr)
• ND96isr H100 v5 spot: $18-$29.50/hr per node ($2.25-$3.69/GPU-hr) variable by region
• ND B200 v6: Rolling out; on-demand rates expected in $10-$14/GPU-hr range
• ND96amsr A100 v4: Available; check Azure Pricing Calculator for current on-demand rates

Azure's 3-year reserved discount of 62% off is slightly more favorable than AWS 50-56% on equivalent instance families. The 1-year reserved discount of 38% is also competitive. The structural disadvantage: Azure's quota approval process for 8+ node ND96isr requests can stretch to 3-4 weeks before capacity is confirmed — a meaningful delay for time-sensitive training jobs (spheron.network, August 2026).

Azure egress is $0.087/GB — the cheapest of the three hyperscalers but still more than specialist clouds with free egress (Lambda, CoreWeave, Crusoe).

Reserved contracts and discount ladders

For predictable workloads, reserved contracts deliver 30-72% off on-demand — but the discount bands vary by instance family, region, and term length.

Verified August 2026 (tech-insider.org):

• AWS EC2 Instance Savings Plans: ~30% off 1-year; ~50% off 3-year; up to 72% off for Compute Savings Plans on 3-year terms with full upfront payment
• AWS Capacity Blocks for ML: ~25% off p5.48xlarge on-demand rate (limited to pre-defined reservation windows)
• AWS Reserved Instances: Up to 75% off for 3-year Standard RIs with full upfront
• GCP Committed Use Discounts (CUDs): ~30% off 1-year; ~55% off 3-year on a3-highgpu-8g
• Azure Reserved VM Instances (RVI): 38% off 1-year; 62% off 3-year on ND96isr H100 v5
• Azure Savings Plans: 1-year and 3-year flexible-commitment terms with similar discount bands to RVI but apply to a wider range of compute

The reserved contract math: 1-year reservations unlock 30-38% off on-demand across all three hyperscalers. 3-year reservations unlock 50-72% off. The 3-year discount is most attractive for workloads with 3+ year demand certainty (production inference, continuous training pipelines). For 6-12 month training runs, 1-year reservations are the right choice.

Side-by-side H100 hyperscaler pricing

How to choose the right hyperscaler in 2026

The decision hinges on workload duration, integration requirements, and discount tolerance.

1. Single-GPU or small workloads: AWS p5.4xlarge at $6.88/GPU-hr on-demand — the cheapest hyperscaler single-GPU H100. Capacity Blocks at $5.191/GPU-hr for planned windows.
2. Multi-month 8-GPU training runs: GCP a3-highgpu-8g 3-year CUD at $38.86/hr ($4.86/GPU-hr). The deepest hyperscaler reserved discount.
3. 3-year production commitment with deep discount: AWS EC2 Instance Savings Plans or Compute Savings Plans, up to 72% off for 3-year full-upfront commitments.
4. Enterprise compliance with deep Microsoft integration: Azure ND96isr H100 v5. The premium for Microsoft integration, Active Directory, and enterprise support is worth it for regulated workloads.
5. Already on AWS/GCP/Azure: Stay on your existing hyperscaler. The integration tax (VPC, IAM, SageMaker/Vertex AI/Azure ML) outweighs the per-GPU rate difference for most teams.

What enterprise buyers should do next

Three actions for organizations evaluating hyperscaler GPU pricing in 2026.

1. Model the 3-year reserved discount before committing. 3-year reservations deliver 50-72% off on-demand across all three hyperscalers. For workloads with 3+ year demand certainty, reserved is mandatory to avoid paying the on-demand premium.
2. Compare hyperscaler rates to specialist clouds for the same workload. Lambda 1-Click Cluster reserved H100 at $5.54-$6.16/GPU-hr and CoreWeave reserved at $2.46/GPU-hr (60% ceiling) are competitive with hyperscaler 3-year reservations. Specialist clouds win on egress-free pricing and faster capacity provisioning.
3. Engage sales for committed-volume discounts. AWS, GCP, and Azure all negotiate enterprise agreements for committed multi-year spend. The published rate card is the starting point; the actual contract rate is typically 10-30% below list for committed volume.

What to watch next

Three near-term datapoints. First, AWS p6-b200 and p6-b300 capacity roll-out — current Capacity Blocks pricing at $98.84/hr ($12.36/GPU) and $112.32/hr ($14.04/GPU) reflects constrained supply; expect list rates to drop 10-15% by Q1 2027 as Blackwell production scales. Second, Vera Rubin GPU availability on hyperscalers — NVIDIA Q2 FY27 earnings call (August 26, 2026) confirmed Vera Rubin full production at CoreWeave, Google, Azure, OCI, and Nebius; hyperscaler Vera Rubin pricing expected by Q1 2027. Third, AWS Trainium3 and Google TPU v7 (Trillium/Ironwood) — the hyperscalers' in-house AI accelerator programs are pushing down NVIDIA GPU demand; expect further price reductions on H100 as Trainium3 and TPU v7 capture more workloads (tech-insider.org, August 2026).