Short answer
As of October 23, 2026, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute wins more of the head-to-head checks (4 vs 2), while Amazon Lightsail ranks higher overall. Amazon Lightsail is cheaper to start ($5.00 vs $16.06 a month) and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute has more locations (25 vs 19).
Verdict
Amazon Lightsail is cheaper to start: Linux 512 MB costs $5.00 per month against $16.06 at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute, but Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute gives more RAM for the money ($3.38 vs $7.00 per GB, median).
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute has the wider footprint with 25 locations in 21 countries, against 19 in 17 at Amazon Lightsail; both offer Ashburn, Frankfurt, London, Montreal, Mumbai, Paris and 5 more.
On features, only Amazon Lightsail offers dedicated-CPU plans.
Customers rate Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute higher on Trustpilot: 1.3 from 180 reviews versus 1.3 from 429.
Overall Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute ranks #85 and Amazon Lightsail #73 of 160 providers we track. Choose Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute if you need a wider choice of locations; choose Amazon Lightsail if price matters most.
Oracle Cloud and Lightsail side by side
| Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute | Amazon Lightsail | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | VM.Standard.A1.Flex 1 OCPU / 8 GB: $16.06/mo | Linux 512 MB: $5.00/mo |
| Entry plan specs | 1 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 50 GB NVMe, 10 TB traffic | 2 vCPU, 512 MB RAM, 20 GB SSD, 1 TB traffic |
| Cheapest Windows plan | VM.Standard.A1.Flex 1 OCPU / 8 GB: $16.06/mo | Windows 512 MB: $9.50/mo |
| Median price per GB RAM | $3.38 | $7.00 |
| Data-center locations | 25 in 21 countries | 19 in 17 countries |
| Regions | Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America, Oceania, South America | Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America |
| Virtualisation | KVM-based (OCI hypervisor) | KVM (AWS Nitro) |
| Hourly billing | Yes | Yes |
| NVMe storage | Yes | No |
| DDoS protection | Yes | Yes |
| Backups | Paid | Paid |
| Managed option | No | No |
| Payment methods | card, wire | card, sepa, other |
| Money-back | Not published | Not published |
| Uptime SLA | 99.9% monthly uptime for Compute (service credits require deployment across multiple fault/availability domains) | 99.99% region-level (multi-AZ deployment); 99.5% per single instance |
| Trustpilot | 1.3 (180 reviews) | 1.3 (429 reviews) |
| Founded / HQ | 1977, Austin US | 2006, Seattle US |
Highlighted cells mark the better value where the comparison is objective (lower price, more locations, higher rating).
Plans at the same size
The closest matching plans by RAM from each provider.
| RAM | Oracle Cloud | $/month | Lightsail | $/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | no plan | — | Linux 1 GB (2 vCPU, 40 GB) | $7.00 |
| 2 GB | no plan | — | Linux 2 GB (2 vCPU, 60 GB) | $12.00 |
| 4 GB | no plan | — | Linux 4 GB (2 vCPU, 80 GB) | $24.00 |
| 8 GB | VM.Standard.A1.Flex 1 OCPU / 8 GB (1 vCPU, 50 GB) | $16.06 | Linux 8 GB (2 vCPU, 160 GB) | $44.00 |
| 16 GB | VM.Standard.A1.Flex 2 OCPU / 16 GB (2 vCPU, 50 GB) | $32.12 | Linux 16 GB (4 vCPU, 320 GB) | $84.00 |
Locations
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute operates 25 locations (Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America, Oceania, South America); Amazon Lightsail operates 19 (Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America).
Cities both offer: Ashburn, Frankfurt, London, Montreal, Mumbai, Paris, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney and Tokyo.
Only Oracle Cloud: Amsterdam, Bogota, Chicago, Dubai, Jeddah, Johannesburg, Madrid, Milan, Phoenix, Queretaro and 4 more.
Only Lightsail: Columbus, Dublin, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Portland, Seoul and Zaragoza.
Frequently asked questions
Is Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute or Amazon Lightsail better?
As of October 23, 2026, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute wins more of the head-to-head checks (4 vs 2), while Amazon Lightsail ranks higher overall. Amazon Lightsail is cheaper to start ($5.00 vs $16.06 a month) and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute has more locations (25 vs 19).
Is Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute cheaper than Amazon Lightsail?
Amazon Lightsail has the lower entry price: $5.00 against $16.06 per month. The plans-at-equal-RAM table compares them size by size.
Which has more data centers, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute or Amazon Lightsail?
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute, with 25 locations in 21 countries versus 19 at Amazon Lightsail. Both operate in Ashburn, Frankfurt, London, Montreal, Mumbai and 6 more.
Do Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute and Amazon Lightsail offer Windows VPS?
Both offer Windows Server.
Sources
Prices, plans and locations were read from these pages; last checked October 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm on the provider's site before you buy.