Cloud instance comparison · Prices checked July 2026
Azure Standard_E16s_v5 vs GCP n2-highmem-16
GCP n2-highmem-16 is cheaper than Azure Standard_E16s_v5 by $123.74/month (16.8% less), at matching specs of 16 vCPU and 128 GiB of memory. GCP n2-highmem-16 runs $612.10/mo on-demand versus $735.84/mo for Azure Standard_E16s_v5, based on GCP's us-central1 and Azure's eastus baseline on-demand Linux pricing.
Specs & pricing side by side
| Spec | Azure Standard_E16s_v5 | GCP n2-highmem-16 |
|---|---|---|
| vCPU | 16 | 16 |
| Memory | 128 GiB | 128 GiB |
| Region (baseline) | eastus | us-central1 |
| Hourly (on-demand) | $1.0080 | $0.8385 |
| Monthly (730 hrs) | $735.84 | $612.10 |
| Price difference | GCP n2-highmem-16 is $123.74/mo cheaper than Azure Standard_E16s_v5 (16.8% less) | |
Which one should you pick?
Pick GCP n2-highmem-16 if price is your primary constraint — it's $123.74/mo cheaper for the same 16 vCPU / 128 GiB profile, which adds up to $1,484.91/year at steady utilization.
Pick Azure Standard_E16s_v5 if you're already committed to the Azure ecosystem — existing VPC/network setup, IAM policies, reserved capacity, or team expertise on Azure usually outweighs a 17% list-price gap on a single instance. Cross-provider migration cost rarely pays for itself on compute pricing alone.
Either way, this is a single-instance, on-demand comparison. Reserved/committed-use discounts (up to ~72% on both platforms) and your actual utilization pattern will move the real numbers — model your full workload with the calculator before deciding.
Frequently asked questions
Is Azure Standard_E16s_v5 cheaper than GCP n2-highmem-16?
GCP n2-highmem-16 is cheaper. It costs $612.10/mo on-demand versus $735.84/mo for Azure Standard_E16s_v5 — a difference of $123.74/mo (16.8%). Both instances offer 16 vCPU and roughly 128 GiB of memory, so the comparison is apples-to-apples on specs.
What are the specs of Azure Standard_E16s_v5?
Azure Standard_E16s_v5 provides 16 vCPU and 128 GiB of memory, priced at $1.0080/hour on-demand ($735.84/month at 730 hours) in the eastus baseline region.
How much does Azure Standard_E16s_v5 cost per month compared to GCP n2-highmem-16?
At 730 hours/month, Azure Standard_E16s_v5 costs $735.84 and GCP n2-highmem-16 costs $612.10. That is a monthly difference of $123.74, or $1,484.91/year.
Prices checked July 2026. Baseline regions: Azure pricing uses eastus, GCP uses us-central1. All prices are on-demand Linux, list rate, before reserved/committed-use discounts. See our methodology for pricing sources, update cadence, and mapping rules.
Model your full stack, not just one instance
A single instance is one line item. Use the free SpendArk calculator to compare AWS, Azure, GCP, and DigitalOcean across your whole architecture — compute, database, storage, and networking together.
Open the cloud cost calculator →Related comparisons
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- AWS r5.large vs GCP n2-highmem-2
For a deeper dive on Azure vs GCP pricing beyond a single instance, read our full pricing comparison guide.