Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun) vs BuyVM
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun) and BuyVM.
Quick Verdict
3.7/5
Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun)
0 reviews
4.1/5
BuyVM
0 reviews
BuyVM is rated higher (4.1 vs 3.7). Alibaba Cloud is the dominant cloud in China and largest cloud in Asia-Pacific. Essential for any application targeting Chinese users. Compliant with Chinese regulations. BuyVM (operated by Frantech Solutions) offers KVM VPS in Las Vegas, New York, and Roost (Luxembourg).
Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun) Asia-Pacific and China cloud by Alibaba | BuyVM Frantech-operated VPS with DDoS protection | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.7 (0 reviews) | 4.1 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | freemium | paid |
| Starting price | Free tier available✓ | From $2/mo |
| Best for | Businesses targeting users in mainland China or Asia-Pacific who need a full hyperscaler stack in-region, and technically mature teams comfortable with Chinese regulatory requirements. | Self-managed, bandwidth- and storage-heavy workloads — media servers, community platforms, backups, VPNs — where price per resource matters more than platform polish |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | — | 1 vCPU |
| RAM | — | 0.5 GB |
| Storage | — | 10 GB |
| Bandwidth | — | — |
| SLA uptime | — | 99.9% |
| Data-center count | — | 3 |
| €/vCPU/mo | — | €2.00 |
| €/GB RAM/mo | — | €4.00 |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ✓ | |
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ✓ | |
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ✓ | |
| Free tier | ✓ | |
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | — | Las Vegas, Nevada; New York, New York; Roost, Luxembourg |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tierhourly billinggpu availableeu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi access | nvme storageipv6ddos protectionbackups includedeu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenter |
| Visit Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun) → | Visit BuyVM → | |
Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun)
Pros
- + The only complete cloud platform inside mainland China
- + Largest Asia-Pacific footprint — 29 regions and 87 availability zones
- + Generous trial: up to $450-$1,300 in credits, 12-month ECS free trial
- + Competitive instance pricing with hourly billing and GPU families
- + Strong China-network connectivity and Hong Kong/Singapore bridges
Cons
- - Mainland regions need real-name verification and ICP filing
- - Dual international/mainland accounts and complex billing
- - Geopolitical and GDPR due-diligence burden for Western buyers
- - Thinner third-party ecosystem and mixed-language docs
BuyVM
Pros
- + Cheapest serious block storage we track: $1.25/256 GB, $5/TB per month, hot-migratable slabs
- + Unmetered 1 Gbps bandwidth on every slice — no egress metering to model
- + Cheap, credible DDoS filtering at $3/month per IP (3.5+ Tbps pooled, Path.net-backed)
- + Real KVM with custom ISOs, full disk encryption, and a free DirectAdmin license
- + 16-year track record with a support reputation that outclasses the price point
Cons
- - Stock shortages on popular slices and locations are routine; no elastic scaling
- - Self-managed only — no managed tier, no object storage product, no autoscaling API
- - Only three locations (Las Vegas, New York, Luxembourg); no Asia-Pacific presence
- - Modest 99.9% SLA with application-layer floods excluded; credits handled via TOS
- - No downgrades, and nightly backups cost extra (10% of base price)
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