UpCloud vs Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun)
A detailed comparison to help you choose between UpCloud and Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun).
Quick Verdict
4.5/5
UpCloud
367 reviews
4.0/5
Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun)
400 reviews
UpCloud is rated higher (4.5 vs 4.0). Finnish cloud provider with proprietary MaxIOPS storage that consistently tops disk I/O benchmarks. Strong European coverage with 13 datacenters. 100% uptime SLA — they compensate if breached. 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.
UpCloud MaxIOPS storage tops disk benchmarks consistently | Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun) Asia-Pacific and China cloud by Alibaba | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.5 (367 reviews)✓ | 4.0 (400 reviews) |
| Pricing model | paid | freemium |
| Starting price | From €7/mo | Free tier available✓ |
| Best for | Database-heavy applications in Europe where disk I/O performance is the primary bottleneck | Businesses needing cloud infrastructure in mainland China or the Asia-Pacific region |
| Performance | ||
| CPU score (sysbench) | 4,600 | — |
| Disk read (fio) | 2,800 MB/s | — |
| Disk IOPS (4K random) | 62,000 | — |
| Network out | 1 Gbps | — |
| Latency (TTFB) | 22 ms | — |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | hourly billingnvme storageipv6ddos protectionbackups includedsnapshotseu datacenterus datacenterapac datacentergdpr compliantapi accessprivate networking | free tierhourly billinggpu availableeu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi access |
| Visit UpCloud → | Visit Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun) → | |
UpCloud
Pros
- + MaxIOPS storage ranks #1 in disk benchmarks
- + 100% uptime SLA — they compensate
- + Strong European datacenter coverage including Helsinki and Warsaw
Cons
- - More expensive than Hetzner for equivalent specs
- - Fewer locations than Vultr
Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun)
Pros
- + Only viable cloud for China market
- + Largest APAC cloud
- + $450 free credits for new accounts
Cons
- - Requires Chinese registration for China regions
- - Complex compliance for non-Chinese companies
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