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Cloud · head to head

Azure Functions vs Northflank

Azure Functions logo

Azure Functions

Cloud

Event-driven serverless compute on Azure

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Northflank logo

Northflank

Cloud

The runtime platform for AI-native companies

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; Northflank pricing complexity with multiple rate dimensions

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Azure Functions and Northflank differ
AttributeAzure FunctionsNorthflank
Pricing modelusage-basedUnknown
PlatformsWebAWS, GCP, Azure, On-premises

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

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 Northflank does not also cover.

Only in Northflank

  • Application deployments
  • GPU support
  • Preview environments
  • Database management
  • Multi-cloud support
  • GitOps integration

What people use each for

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

Azure Functions

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

Northflank

  • Deploying AI inference models with GPU accelerationnot Azure Functions
  • Running training workloads on distributed GPUsnot Azure Functions
  • Building microservices with multi-cloud reliabilitynot 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

Northflank

  • Pricing complexity with multiple rate dimensions
  • GPU costs can be expensive for large-scale deployments
  • Learning curve for Kubernetes concepts

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

Northflank

Free
  • Sandbox (Free)Free
    • Always-on compute with no sleeping
    • 2 free services
    • 1 free database
  • Pay-as-you-go$undefined/usage
    • CPU: $0.01667 per vCPU per hour
    • Memory: $0.00833 per GB per hour
    • Network egress: $0.06 per GB
  • Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • Custom pricing with volume discounts
    • Invoice-based billing
    • Annual commitments

Which should you pick?

Choose Azure Functions if

  • You want to start without paying.
Azure Functions review

Choose Northflank if

  • You need application deployments.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on AWS, GCP, Azure, On-premises.
  • You also want gpu support.
Northflank review

Questions people ask

Is Azure Functions or Northflank better?
Neither clearly leads. Azure Functions starts at Free and Northflank at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Azure Functions or Northflank?
Azure Functions starts at Free and Northflank at Free.
Does Azure Functions or Northflank run on more platforms?
Azure Functions runs on Web. Northflank runs on AWS, GCP, Azure, On-premises.
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 Northflank is typically brought in for.
What can Azure Functions do that Northflank cannot?
Northflank covers Application deployments, GPU support, Preview environments, Database management.

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
Northflank: What is included in the free Sandbox tier?

The Sandbox includes always-on compute, 2 free services, 1 free database, 2 free cron jobs, and is perfect for testing applications.

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
Northflank: How much does CPU cost on Northflank?

CPU costs $0.01667 per vCPU per hour on pay-as-you-go pricing.

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
Northflank: What GPUs are available?

GPU options include NVIDIA L4 at $0.80/hr through H100 at $2.74/hr.

Source
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