Price tier comparison of Cloud Function providers

This comparison evaluates the pricing models and costs of eight major cloud function platforms suitable for deploying serverless execution environments that support WebAssembly (WASM) or containerized applications.

The comparison used these resources, accessed on February 25, 2026, and pricing may be subject to change:

Overview of most common cloud providers with links to their developer documentation.

Provider	Service	Free Tier	Pricing Model	Best For
Cloudflare	Workers	100,000 requests/day	Pay-per-request	Global edge deployment
Netlify	Functions	125,000 requests/month	Credit-based system	JAMstack applications
AWS	Step Functions	4,000 state transitions/month	Per state transition	Complex workflows
Azure	Functions	1M executions/month	Consumption-based	Microsoft ecosystem
Google Cloud	Cloud Run	2M requests/month	Pay-per-use with free tier	Container-based functions
Oracle	Cloud Functions	2M invocations/month	Per invocation + compute	Enterprise integration
Alibaba	Function Compute	1M invocations/month	Per invocation + compute	Asia-Pacific focus
IBM	Code Engine	100k vCPU-seconds/month	vCPU + memory + requests	Hybrid cloud solutions

1. Cloudflare Workers

Overview

Service: Cloudflare Workers
Deployment Model: Edge computing with global distribution
WASM Support: Native WebAssembly support
Runtime: V8 JavaScript engine with WASM support

Pricing Structure

Free Plan: 100,000 requests per day (≈3M requests/month)
Paid Plan: $5/month + $0.30 per million requests
CPU Time: 10ms per request (free), 30 seconds default (paid), up to 5 minutes maximum
Included Resources (Paid): 10M requests/month + 30M CPU milliseconds/month
Additional CPU: $0.02 per million CPU milliseconds
Memory: 128MB per isolate
Geographic Distribution: 280+ edge locations globally

Cost Analysis for Fibonacci Service

Scenario: 1 million requests/month

Free tier covers 3M requests/month → $0/month
Over free tier: $5 base + $0.30 per additional million → $5.30/month for 2M requests

Advantages

Excellent global performance with edge deployment
Native WASM support perfect for our Rust implementation
No cold starts due to V8 isolate architecture
Generous free tier

Disadvantages

Limited execution time (10ms free tier, 30 seconds paid default)
CPU time billing can add costs for longer-running functions
Restricted runtime environment
Limited to 128MB memory

Documentation

Cloudflare Workers Developer Documentation

2. Netlify Functions

Overview

Service: Netlify Functions (AWS Lambda backend)
Deployment Model: Serverless functions integrated with CDN
WASM Support: Limited (requires bundling with JavaScript)
Runtime: Node.js with potential WASM integration

Pricing Structure (Credit-Based System)

Free Plan: 300 credits/month
Personal Plan: $9/month + 1,000 credits
Pro Plan: $20/month + 3,000 credits/month

Credit Usage

Serverless Functions: 5 credits per GB-hour
Web Requests: 3 credits per 10k requests
Production Deploys: 15 credits each

Cost Analysis for Fibonacci Service

Scenario: 1 million requests/month with 50ms average execution

Requests: 1M/10k × 3 = 300 credits
Compute (assuming 128MB): 1M × 0.05s × 0.125GB / 3600 ≈ 1.74 GB-hours × 5 = 9 credits
Total: 309 credits → Requires Personal Plan ($9/month)

Advantages

Integrated with modern JAMstack workflow
Automatic scaling and deployment
Good developer experience
Built-in CDN integration

Disadvantages

Complex credit-based pricing model
Limited WASM support
Higher costs for compute-intensive workloads
Tied to Netlify ecosystem

Documentation

Netlify Functions Developer Documentation

3. AWS Step Functions

Overview

Service: AWS Step Functions (for workflow orchestration)
Deployment Model: State machine-based serverless workflows
WASM Support: No direct support (requires Lambda integration)
Runtime: Orchestrates other AWS services like Lambda

Pricing Structure

Standard Workflows

Free Tier: 4,000 state transitions/month
Cost: $0.000025 per state transition
Express Workflows: $1.00 per million requests + duration charges

Express Workflows (Better for high-volume)

Requests: $1.00 per million requests
Duration: $0.00001667 per GB-second
Memory: Minimum 64MB chunks

Cost Analysis for Fibonacci Service

Standard Workflow (4 state transitions per execution)

1M executions × 4 transitions = 4M transitions
Billable: 4M - 4k = 3.996M transitions
Cost: 3.996M × $0.000025 = $99.90/month

Express Workflow (more suitable)

Requests: 1M × $1.00/M = $1.00
Duration: 1M × 0.1s × 64MB/1024 / 3600 × $0.00001667 ≈ $0.003
Total: ≈$1.00/month

Advantages

Powerful workflow orchestration
Integration with entire AWS ecosystem
Express workflows suitable for high-volume APIs
Built-in error handling and retries

Disadvantages

Overkill for simple function deployment
No direct WASM support
Requires additional AWS services (Lambda) for actual computation
Complex pricing model

Documentation

AWS Step Functions Developer Documentation

4. Azure Functions

Overview

Service: Azure Functions
Deployment Model: Event-driven serverless compute
WASM Support: Limited (experimental through custom handlers)
Runtime: Multiple language support with custom handlers

Pricing Structure

Consumption Plan

Free Tier: 1 million executions + 400,000 GB-s/month
Execution Cost: $0.20 per million executions
Compute Cost: $0.000016 per GB-second

Flex Consumption Plan (New)

Free Tier: 250,000 executions + 100,000 GB-s/month
On-Demand Execution: $0.000026 per GB-second
Executions: $0.40 per million executions

Cost Analysis for Fibonacci Service

Consumption Plan - 1M requests/month, 100ms execution, 128MB

Executions: (1M - 1M free) = 0 → $0
Compute: 1M × 0.1s × 0.125GB = 12,500 GB-s
Billable: 12,500 - 400,000 free = 0 (within free tier) → $0
Total: $0/month (within free tier)

For 5M executions/month:

Executions: 4M × $0.20/M = $0.80
Compute: 62,500 GB-s - 400,000 free = 0 (still within free tier)
Total: $0.80/month

Advantages

Very generous free tier for compute
Good integration with Microsoft ecosystem
Support for custom handlers (potential WASM integration)
Flexible scaling options

Disadvantages

Limited native WASM support
Windows-centric development experience
Cold start latency issues
Complex pricing tiers

Documentation

Azure Functions Developer Documentation

5. Google Cloud Run

Overview

Service: Google Cloud Run
Deployment Model: Containerized serverless applications
WASM Support: Excellent (via container with WASM runtime)
Runtime: Any containerized application including WASM/WASI

Pricing Structure

Request-based Billing

Free Tier: 2 million requests + 180,000 vCPU-seconds + 360,000 GiB-seconds/month
CPU: $0.000024 per vCPU-second (active time)
Memory: $0.0000025 per GiB-second
Requests: $0.40 per million requests

Cost Analysis for Fibonacci Service

Scenario: 1M requests/month, 100ms execution, 256MB memory, 0.1 vCPU

Requests: 1M - 2M free = 0 → $0
CPU: 1M × 0.1s × 0.1 vCPU = 10,000 vCPU-seconds - 180,000 free = 0 → $0
Memory: 1M × 0.1s × 0.25 GiB = 25,000 GiB-seconds - 360,000 free = 0 → $0
Total: $0/month (completely within free tier)

For 10M requests/month:

Requests: 8M × $0.40/M = $3.20
CPU: 100,000 vCPU-seconds - 180,000 free = 0 → $0
Memory: 250,000 GiB-seconds - 360,000 free = 0 → $0
Total: $3.20/month

Advantages

Best WASM/WASI support through containerization
Very generous free tier
True serverless containers
Excellent scaling performance
No cold start issues with proper configuration

Disadvantages

Requires containerization knowledge
More complex deployment process
Container image storage costs (minimal)
Potential over-engineering for simple functions

Documentation

Google Cloud Run Developer Documentation

6. Oracle Cloud Functions

Overview

Service: Oracle Cloud Functions
Deployment Model: Event-driven serverless compute based on Fn Project
WASM Support: Limited (via custom Docker containers)
Runtime: Docker-based functions with multiple language support

Pricing Structure

Pay-per-use Model

Free Tier: 2 million function invocations + 400,000 GB-seconds/month
Invocation Cost: $0.0000002 per invocation
Compute Cost: $0.00001417 per GB-second
Memory: 128MB to 3008MB in 64MB increments

Cost Analysis for Fibonacci Service

Scenario: 1M requests/month, 100ms execution, 128MB memory

Invocations: 1M - 2M free = 0 → $0
Compute: 1M × 0.1s × 0.125GB = 12,500 GB-seconds - 400,000 free = 0 → $0
Total: $0/month (completely within free tier)

For 5M requests/month:

Invocations: 3M × $0.0000002 = $0.60
Compute: 62,500 GB-seconds - 400,000 free = 0 → $0
Total: $0.60/month

For 10M requests/month:

Invocations: 8M × $0.0000002 = $1.60
Compute: 125,000 GB-seconds - 400,000 free = 0 → $0
Total: $1.60/month

Advantages

Extremely low invocation costs
Generous compute free tier (400k GB-seconds)
Based on open-source Fn Project
Good integration with Oracle Cloud ecosystem
Docker-based deployment flexibility

Disadvantages

Limited WASM support without containerization
Less global presence compared to major providers
Smaller community and ecosystem
Oracle ecosystem lock-in concerns

Documentation

Oracle Cloud Functions Developer Documentation

7. Alibaba Cloud Function Compute

Overview

Service: Alibaba Cloud Function Compute
Deployment Model: Event-driven serverless compute platform
WASM Support: No direct support (requires custom runtime via containers)
Runtime: Multiple languages with custom runtime support

Pricing Structure

Pay-per-use Model

Free Tier: 1 million invocations + 400,000 GB-seconds/month
Invocation Cost: $0.2 per 1 million invocations
Compute Cost: $0.00001668 per GB-second
Memory: 128MB to 32GB with flexible allocation

Cost Analysis for Fibonacci Service

Scenario: 1M requests/month, 100ms execution, 128MB memory

Invocations: 1M - 1M free = 0 → $0
Compute: 1M × 0.1s × 0.125GB = 12,500 GB-seconds - 400,000 free = 0 → $0
Total: $0/month (completely within free tier)

For 5M requests/month:

Invocations: 4M × $0.2/M = $0.80
Compute: 62,500 GB-seconds - 400,000 free = 0 → $0
Total: $0.80/month

For 10M requests/month:

Invocations: 9M × $0.2/M = $1.80
Compute: 125,000 GB-seconds - 400,000 free = 0 → $0
Total: $1.80/month

Advantages

Very competitive pricing for invocations
Excellent compute free tier
Strong presence in Asia-Pacific region
Good performance in Chinese market
Flexible memory allocation up to 32GB

Disadvantages

No native WASM support
Limited global presence outside Asia
Language barrier for documentation
Less familiar ecosystem for Western developers
Regulatory considerations for data sovereignty

Documentation

Alibaba Cloud Function Compute Developer Documentation

8. IBM Code Engine

Overview

Service: IBM Code Engine (Serverless platform)
Deployment Model: Containerized serverless applications and batch jobs
WASM Support: Good (via container with WASM runtime)
Runtime: Any containerized application including WASM/WASI

Pricing Structure

Resource-based Billing

Free Tier: 100,000 vCPU-seconds + 200,000 GB-seconds + 100,000 HTTP requests/month
vCPU Cost: $0.00003431 per vCPU-second
Memory Cost: $0.00000356 per GB-second
Request Cost: $0.538 per 1 million requests

Cost Analysis for Fibonacci Service

Scenario: 1M requests/month, 100ms execution, 0.25 vCPU, 256MB memory

Requests: 1M - 100k free = 900k × $0.538/M = $0.48
vCPU: 1M × 0.1s × 0.25 = 25,000 vCPU-seconds - 100,000 free = 0 → $0
Memory: 1M × 0.1s × 0.25GB = 25,000 GB-seconds - 200,000 free = 0 → $0
Total: $0.48/month

For 10M requests/month:

Requests: 9.9M × $0.538/M = $5.33
vCPU: 250,000 vCPU-seconds - 100,000 free = 150,000 × $0.00003431 = $5.15
Memory: 250,000 GB-seconds - 200,000 free = 50,000 × $0.00000356 = $0.18
Total: $10.66/month

Advantages

Excellent WASM support via containerization
Comprehensive free tier across all metrics
Enterprise-grade security and compliance
Good hybrid cloud integration
Flexible resource allocation

Disadvantages

Higher request costs compared to competitors
Complex pricing model with multiple components
Less global edge presence
IBM ecosystem learning curve
Higher costs at scale due to request pricing
Pricing rates not publicly displayed (requires account login to verify current rates)

Documentation

IBM Code Engine Developer Documentation

Cost comparison

Cost Comparison Summary (1M requests/month)

Provider	Monthly Cost	Notes
Google Cloud Run	$0.00	Within free tier limits
Cloudflare Workers	$0.00	Within free tier limits
Azure Functions	$0.00	Within free tier limits
Oracle Functions	$0.00	Within free tier limits
Alibaba Compute	$0.00	Within free tier limits
IBM Code Engine	$0.48	Only request charges
AWS Step Functions	$1.00	Express workflow model
Netlify Functions	$9.00	Requires Personal plan

Cost Comparison Summary (10M requests/month)

Provider	Monthly Cost	Notes
Oracle Functions	$1.60	Only invocation charges
Alibaba Compute	$1.80	Only invocation charges
Google Cloud Run	$3.20	Only request charges
Cloudflare Workers	$6.40	Base fee + CPU time
Azure Functions	$1.60	Execution charges only
AWS Step Functions	$10.00	Express workflow model
IBM Code Engine	$10.66	vCPU + memory + requests
Netlify Functions	$20.00	Pro plan required

Deployment Suitability for WebAssembly

Google Cloud Run emerges as the best choice for deploying our Assignment 3 Fibonacci WASM function due to its excellent WASM support, generous free tier, and scalable container-based architecture. The ability to deploy our assignment-fibonacci-api.wasm binary directly in a WASI-compatible container makes it the most technically appropriate solution while remaining highly cost-effective.

Best Fit: Google Cloud Run

Why it’s the most optimal:

Native WASM Support: Can directly deploy a WebAssembly binary with a WASM runtime container
Cost Effective: Massive free tier covers most development and moderate production usage
Performance: Excellent cold start performance and scaling
Simplicity: Single container deployment model
No Runtime Limitations: Full control over the execution environment

Alternative: Cloudflare Workers

Good secondary option because:

Native WASM Support: Direct WebAssembly execution
Global Edge Performance: Excellent for geographic distribution
Simple Deployment: Easy integration with existing tooling
Cost Effective: Good free tier and reasonable paid pricing