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Azure Functions vs Consul

Azure Functions logo

Azure Functions

Cloud

Event-driven serverless compute on Azure

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Consul logo

Consul

Networking

Service discovery, networking, and security

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Azure Functions consumption plan free grant is capped at 1 million executions and 400,000 GB-seconds of resource consumption per month per subscription, billed per GB-second beyond that; Consul namespaces, admin partitions and other multi tenancy controls are Consul Enterprise only

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Azure Functions and Consul actually diverge.

Attributes where Azure Functions and Consul differ
AttributeAzure FunctionsConsul
Pricing modelusage-basedopen-source
PlatformsWebLinux, Windows, Mac, Cloud
CategoryCloudNetworking
FoundedUnknown2014

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Azure Functions

Nothing recorded that Consul does not also cover.

Only in Consul

  • Service discovery
  • Health checking
  • Key/value store
  • Multi-datacenter
  • DNS interface
  • Service mesh
  • Load balancing
  • Configuration management

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Azure Functions

  • Event-driven computingnot Consul
  • Serverless application backendnot Consul
  • Scalable API endpointsnot Consul

Consul

  • Service discovery and health checking across dynamic infrastructurenot Azure Functions
  • Running a service mesh with mutual TLS between servicesnot Azure Functions
  • Distributed key value configuration storage for applicationsnot Azure Functions

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Azure Functions

  • Consumption plan free grant is capped at 1 million executions and 400,000 GB-seconds of resource consumption per month per subscription, billed per GB-second beyond that
  • The newer Flex Consumption plan's free grant is smaller still, at 250,000 executions and 100,000 GB-seconds per month
  • Premium plan avoids per-execution charges but bills continuously for allocated core seconds and memory regardless of invocation volume
  • Memory is rounded up to the nearest 128 MB and execution time to the nearest 1 ms for billing, so small overages round upward

Consul

  • Namespaces, admin partitions and other multi tenancy controls are Consul Enterprise only
  • Audit logging, OIDC authentication and FIPS 140-2 builds require Consul Enterprise, so compliance driven deployments cannot use the free edition
  • Automated backups, redundancy zones, read replicas and automated server upgrades are Enterprise only
  • Long Term Support releases are Enterprise only, so community users must upgrade to stay supported
  • Service mesh and advanced traffic management sit in the Premium Enterprise tier above Standard Enterprise
  • HashiCorp does not publish a Consul rate on its pricing page, which lists per resource prices for Terraform instead

Pricing, plan by plan

Azure Functions

Free
  • Consumption Plan$null/month
    • 1 million requests free monthly
    • 400,000 GB-seconds free monthly
    • Billed per second and executions
  • Flex Consumption Plan$null/month
    • 250,000 executions free monthly
    • 100,000 GB-seconds free monthly
    • Event-driven scaling
  • Premium Plan$null/month
    • No execution charges
    • At least one instance required
    • Includes automatic scaling and VNET access

Consul

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Service discovery
    • Health checking
    • KV store

Which should you pick?

Choose Azure Functions if

  • You want to start without paying.
Azure Functions review

Choose Consul if

  • You need service discovery.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud.
  • You also want health checking.
Consul review

Questions people ask

Is Azure Functions or Consul better?
Neither clearly leads. Azure Functions starts at Free and Consul at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Azure Functions or Consul?
Azure Functions starts at Free and Consul at Free.
Does Azure Functions or Consul run on more platforms?
Azure Functions runs on Web. Consul runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud.
Can I use Azure Functions for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Azure Functions best used for?
Azure Functions is most often used for event-driven computing, serverless application backend, scalable api endpoints. Of those, event-driven computing and serverless application backend are not what Consul is typically brought in for.
What can Azure Functions do that Consul cannot?
Consul covers Service discovery, Health checking, Key/value store, Multi-datacenter.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Azure Functions: Does Azure Functions have a free tier?

Yes, Azure Functions includes a monthly free grant of 1 million requests and 400,000 GB-seconds on the Consumption Plan, or 250,000 executions and 100,000 GB-seconds on Flex Consumption.

Source
Consul: How much does Consul cost?

Consul does not publish specific pricing. The open source Community edition is free. HashiCorp also offers a Consul Enterprise edition, but pricing details are not disclosed publicly and must be obtained by contacting HashiCorp sales.

Source
Azure Functions: What is Azure Functions' pricing model?

Azure Functions uses usage-based pricing. Consumption plans charge per second of resource consumption and per execution, measured in gigabyte-seconds and rounded to the nearest 128 MB.

Source
Consul: Is Consul open source?

Consul includes a free, open source Community edition. HashiCorp also offers a proprietary Enterprise edition for organizations requiring advanced features, but no public pricing is available for the Enterprise version.

Source
Azure Functions: What is the minimum execution time for Azure Functions?

The minimum execution time is 100 milliseconds on Consumption plans. Premium plans charge based on core seconds and allocated memory.

Source
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