Microsoft Azure

General cloud · since 2010 · USA / Redmond, Washington

Fair

3.1

/ 5 ★

From~$15/mo

UptimeSingle-VM SLA ~99.9% (premium storage); higher with availability zones

1-click MT4/MT5No (self-setup)

SupportBasic free; paid support plans; extensive docs; no MT-specific help

Trial$200 credit for 30 days for new accounts; some free-tier services

HQUSA / Redmond, Washington

Server locations

Proximity to your broker's datacenter is the single biggest factor for an EA. Equinix LD4 (London), NY4 (New York), TY3 (Tokyo) and FR2 (Frankfurt) are where most brokers host.

📍 East US (Virginia)📍 West US📍 North Europe (Ireland)📍 West Europe (Netherlands)📍 UK South (London)📍 Germany📍 Japan East (Tokyo)📍 Southeast Asia (Singapore)📍 Australia East

Plans

Standard_B1s (Windows) · ~$0.02+/hr incl. Windows (~$15+/mo)1 vCPU, 1GB RAM

Standard_B2s (Windows) · ~$0.0416/hr base + Windows license (~$60+/mo Win)2 vCPU, 4GB RAM

Standard_B2ms (Windows) · higher; per-vCPU Windows premium applies2 vCPU, 8GB RAM

Pros

✓native Windows platform (Windows-first)

✓enterprise reliability + global regions

✓Hybrid Benefit can cut Windows license cost

✓$200 trial credit

Cons

✗no 1-click MT4/MT5 image

✗expensive vs budget VPS

✗complex billing/portal

✗Windows license premium per vCPU

✗not latency-optimized to brokers

Breakdown by axis

The score (out of 100) is the sum of 7 axes, same yardstick for everyone. Note: latency here is claimed (from provider/reviews), not yet measured by us.

Location & latency8/26 pts

Why: General-purpose cloud, not optimized to brokers datacenters

Uptime / reliability8/18 pts

Why: No published uptime SLA

Value & specs9/18 pts

Why: Tight base RAM (<2GB) for MT4/MT5

Ease of use (MT4/MT5)16/16 pts

Why: 1-click / preinstalled MT4/MT5, Windows included

Support6/10 pts

Why: Support available

Reputation & transparency4/7 pts

Why: Reputation with no clear signals

Trial & flexibility1/5 pts

Why: No clear free trial or refund

Notes

Premium, Windows-native and globally reliable but overkill/pricey for a single EA; DIY MetaTrader, not broker-tuned.

Sources

Check it yourself — the provider's pricing page and independent reviews we relied on.

🔗 Azure Windows VM pricing 🔗 B2s specs/pricing (Vantage)