AWS vs Oracle Cloud (OCI) pricing compared.
On raw compute the two clouds are close, so the real cost gap sits in egress, database licensing, and commitment structure. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure undercuts AWS on egress by up to 90% and on many general-purpose shapes; AWS wins on breadth, managed-service depth and ecosystem. This note prices the 2026 numbers and gives an explicit rule for which cloud fits which workload.
There is no single "cheaper" cloud — only cheaper per workload. Oracle Cloud (OCI) wins decisively on egress (about $0.0085/GB after a 10 TB free monthly tier vs AWS at ~$0.09/GB) and on Oracle Database licensing via generous BYOL. AWS wins on service breadth, managed-service depth, and price-performance on custom silicon like Graviton. The highest-value move is to model the complete workload — not the vCPU rate — and place each part on the cloud that prices it best.
01 Key findings
Egress is the decisive line item, not compute. OCI gives 10 TB free outbound per month then charges ~$0.0085/GB; AWS gives 100 GB then ~$0.09/GB. At 100 TB/month that is roughly $780 vs $8,600 — a ~$94,000 annual gap on transfer alone.
General-purpose compute is close, and OCI edges it at list. OCI flexible shapes tend to land 10–30% below AWS on equivalent general-purpose compute, largely by avoiding the overprovisioning fixed families force. AWS closes or reverses that gap on GPU, specialized instances and Graviton.
Oracle Database licensing pulls Oracle estates to OCI. Oracle's license-included and BYOL terms — core factor and on-premise conversion — are most generous on Oracle's own cloud. Running Oracle Database on AWS is supported but costs more in effective license terms.
Commitment models differ in philosophy. AWS layers an account-wide EDP over Savings Plans and Reserved Instances, rewarding active management; OCI's Annual Universal Credits apply one discount across services, rewarding predictability and easier forecasting.
Hidden costs move the real bill 20%+. AWS support (3–10% of spend), inter-AZ and inter-region transfer, managed-service lock-in and one-time migration all belong in the model before any verdict holds.
02 Cost scorecard
Relative commercial strength across the dimensions that move a two-cloud pricing decision. Five dots = strongest; scoring reflects cost posture, not raw technical capability.
03 Compute & on-demand rates
On raw compute the two clouds are closer than the marketing suggests. A general-purpose core costs broadly the same on each at on-demand list, and both offer flexible shapes. OCI lets you pay only for the OCPUs and gigabytes configured; AWS prices fixed instance families with per-second billing. Representative general-purpose on-demand rates in 2026:
| Compute element | AWS (general purpose) | Oracle Cloud (OCI) |
|---|---|---|
| Per vCPU / hour, on-demand | ~$0.040–$0.048 | ~$0.030–$0.040 (flexible shape) |
| Per GB memory / hour | Bundled in instance | ~$0.0015 (flexible shape) |
| Billing granularity | Per second | Per second |
| Free tier | 12-month limited | Always-free tier plus trial credits |
| Shape flexibility | Fixed families plus some flex | Fully flexible OCPU and memory |
The practical read is that OCI tends to land 10–30% below AWS on equivalent general-purpose compute at list, largely because flexible shapes avoid the overprovisioning fixed families force. AWS closes or reverses that gap on specialized instances, GPU fleets and Graviton, where custom silicon and scale give it a genuine price-performance lead.
04 Egress economics
Data egress is where the two clouds diverge most, and it is the single line that most often decides the platform. OCI gives 10 TB of free outbound transfer each month, then charges about $0.0085/GB. AWS gives 100 GB free, then charges around $0.09/GB on a sliding scale that only falls at very high volume. First-TB-scale internet-egress list rates:
| Monthly egress | AWS estimated cost | OCI estimated cost | Annual difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 TB | ~$460 | $0 (within free 10 TB) | ~$5,500 |
| 25 TB | ~$2,300 | ~$130 | ~$26,000 |
| 100 TB | ~$8,600 | ~$780 | ~$94,000 |
| 500 TB | ~$40,000 | ~$4,260 | ~$429,000 |
On 100 TB a month of outbound transfer, AWS bills roughly $8,600 while OCI bills about $780 — a yearly gap near $94,000 before any other line item. For data-heavy, content-delivery or analytics-export workloads, egress alone can justify placing the workload on OCI even when compute is marginally pricier.
05 Provider profiles
- Deepest managed-service ecosystem and catalogue
- Price-performance lead on Graviton, GPU and specialized instances
- Powerful commitment stack for active buyers (EDP + Savings Plans + RIs)
- Egress expensive above a 100 GB free tier
- Inter-AZ and inter-region transfer charges surprise resilient designs
- Support priced at 3–10% of spend; costlier Oracle Database license terms
- Egress up to ~90% cheaper (10 TB free, then ~$0.0085/GB)
- Most favorable Oracle Database license-included and BYOL terms
- Fully flexible OCPU/memory shapes; simple Universal Credits model
- Narrower service catalogue and fewer managed services
- Smaller partner and tooling ecosystem
- Less price-performance advantage on specialized / custom-silicon compute
Confirm license conversion before you commit. Oracle Database on OCI is a licensing decision before it is an infrastructure one, and it interacts directly with any Oracle audit exposure. The BYOL and core-factor terms are the single biggest reason Oracle estates land on OCI — but do not let an aggressive Universal Credits discount lock you onto the wrong cloud for the rest of the estate. A discount on the wrong cloud rarely beats list on the right one.
06 Database licensing & BYOL
Database licensing is the reason many Oracle-heavy estates land on OCI regardless of compute price. Oracle license-included rates and bring-your-own-license terms are structured to favor running Oracle Database on Oracle's own cloud, where the core factor and the conversion of on-premise licenses are most generous. Running Oracle Database on AWS is fully supported, but the licensing terms are less favorable and the core-counting rules raise the effective cost.
This is a licensing decision before it is an infrastructure decision, and it interacts directly with any Oracle audit exposure. Before committing an Oracle workload to either cloud, confirm how existing licenses convert and what the support position is — a question our OCI pricing reference and the Oracle practice address. For non-Oracle databases the calculus flips, and AWS managed database services often win on operational depth.
Storage list rates are competitive on both clouds, with the difference hiding in performance tiers and request charges rather than the headline per-gigabyte price. Treat high-IOPS database storage and heavy-request object stores as workload-specific calculations, not a headline rate.
07 Commitment programs
Both clouds discount in exchange for spend commitment, and the structures differ sharply. AWS layers an account-wide Enterprise Discount Program over Savings Plans and Reserved Instances; OCI applies a single discount across services through Annual Universal Credits, a simpler model that is often easier to forecast.
| Program element | AWS | Oracle Cloud (OCI) |
|---|---|---|
| Account-wide commit | Enterprise Discount Program | Annual Universal Credits |
| Compute reservation | Savings Plans, Reserved Instances | Capacity reservations |
| Typical commit discount | ~10–25% on committed spend | ~10–30% on annual commit |
| Forecasting difficulty | Higher, multiple overlapping levers | Lower, single credit pool |
| Overage handling | On-demand list above commit | On-demand list above commit |
The AWS model rewards sophisticated buyers who actively manage reservations; the OCI model rewards predictability. Our AWS EDP negotiation guide and the AWS enterprise agreement pillar cover the AWS side in full.
08 Decision matrix
Where each cloud wins across the dimensions that decide a two-cloud pricing choice. The right answer for a large estate is often both clouds, each holding the workloads it prices best.
| Factor | AWS | Oracle Cloud (OCI) |
|---|---|---|
| General-purpose compute | Competitive, strong on custom silicon | 10–30% cheaper at list |
| Egress | Expensive above free tier | Up to 90% cheaper |
| Service breadth | Widest in the market | Narrower, focused |
| Oracle Database | Supported, costlier license terms | Most favorable license terms |
| Managed services | Deepest ecosystem | Fewer, improving |
| Commitment model | Complex, powerful for active buyers | Simple, predictable |
| Best for | Broad, service-rich, non-Oracle estates | Oracle workloads and egress-heavy loads |
Beyond the rate card: AWS support runs 3–10% of spend; both clouds charge inter-region transfer and AWS additionally charges inter-AZ transfer; managed-service lock-in carries real option cost; and migration is a one-time charge that a cheaper destination must clear before it wins. Model all four alongside compute and egress.
09 The verdict
The workload is Oracle Database-centric, monthly egress runs into the tens of terabytes or more, or predictable, simple commitment pricing matters more than breadth. The egress and Oracle-license advantages are large enough to overcome AWS depth for these profiles — here OCI is not merely competitive but clearly cheaper.
The workload needs the widest range of managed services, depends on a deep ecosystem, runs on custom silicon like Graviton, or spans many non-Oracle databases and analytics tools. AWS breadth and price-performance on specialized compute outweigh the egress premium for most general enterprise estates.
Place each workload on the cheaper cloud
Our Cloud & FinOps practice models your estate on both platforms, sizes the Universal Credits or EDP commit, and negotiates from the buyer side. Most multi-cloud reviews cut 15–30%.
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