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Azure Lab Services is retiring Azure Lab Services is retiring. CloudLabs is the Microsoft-recommended alternative Move your labs
Azure Lab Services retires June 28, 2027
“Thanks to CloudLabs, we have successfully delivered Azure-related courses to a substantial number of students in various programs.”
David Trinh, Academic Program Manager, Seneca Polytechnic Lab launches
1,284 +12.4%
Active learners
642 +8.1%
Avg. session
1h 42m +3.0%
Launches and active learners, last 6 days
4 courses this week
| Course | Learners | Cloud | Progress | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Azure Administrator (AZ-104) | 128 | Azure | 72% | Live |
 Kubernetes Fundamentals | 96 | GCP | 58% | Live |
 Cyber Range: Blue Team | 42 | AWS | 0% | Scheduled |
| Data Science with Jupyter | 64 | Azure | 91% | Live |
CloudLabs Redefining Success Trusted by leading institutions worldwide!
Retiring June 28, 2027 · New sign-ups closed
Get up to $2,000 in Azure credits. Evaluate CloudLabs VM Labs under guided support before committing to a full plan.
Claim Azure creditsCovers both platform and infrastructure usage.
No feature gating, no demo or trial limitations.
Experience a hassle-free transition with our expert guidance.
Available only to organizations transitioning from Azure Lab Services.
Live pilot
AZ-104 · Azure VM labs
Pilot feedback
4.8 / 5
Managed setup
2h SLA
Your migration engineer
Priority queue · replies in hours
Transition plan
6 weeksLMS compatibility
2 of 4 checks passed
Host controlled lab sessions, run live pilot tests, and collect direct actionable feedback.
Lab setup, configuration management, automation scripting, and priority issue resolution included.
Our experts will analyze your present lab setup and share detailed transition timelines.
Verify integration between CloudLabs VM Labs and your existing learning ecosystem.
Side by side
Compare Azure Lab Services and CloudLabs VM Labs across nine critical capabilities. CloudLabs carries forward every ALS feature and adds the ones that matter.
| Feature | Azure Lab Services Retiring June 2027 | Recommended for training teams CloudLabs VM Labs The next-generation alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Lab creation time | Up to 20 min | Instant |
| Lab publishing required | Publish required Admins must publish labs before users can access them, a process that can take up to 1 hour. | Instant No publishing step. Labs are live immediately upon creation. |
| Lab type | Limited Persistent only. | Flexible Persistent and non-persistent labs. |
| VMs per lab | 1 only | Up to 5 Each with unique configurations. |
| VM SKU flexibility | Restricted Curated list only. | Customizable Custom vCPU, RAM, GPU, and disk. |
| User identity | Limited Azure AD / Microsoft accounts only. | Any identity Azure AD, Google, LinkedIn, and more. |
| Instructor monitoring | Not supported | VM Shadow Real-time session overview. |
| Lab lifecycle tracking | Not supported | Full control Filter by Active, Expired, or Deleted. |
| Cost reporting | Basic Azure Billing only. | Detailed Power BI reports per user and lab. |
| Feature score | 2 / 9 supported | 9 / 9 supported |
Pricing
Choose between Bring Your Own Azure Subscription or a fully-managed CloudLabs subscription.
| Instance size Azure rate per hour, by plan | Bring Your Own Subscription $12per user / month Platform fee. Azure usage billed to your subscription. | CloudLabs Managed Subscription $6per user / month Platform fee. Azure usage billed through CloudLabs. |
|---|---|---|
| General purpose Small 2 core(s), 4 GB RAM, 128GB SSD | $0.181/ hr | $0.181/ hr |
| Medium / Standard Medium 4 vCPUs, 8 GB RAM, 256GB SSD | $0.357/ hr | $0.357/ hr |
| Large / Standard Large 8 vCPUs, 16 GB RAM, 256GB Standard SSD | $0.682/ hr | $0.682/ hr |
| Nested virtualization Medium 4 vCPUs, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD | $0.433/ hr | $0.433/ hr |
| Large 8 vCPUs, 32 GB RAM, 256GB Premium SSD | $0.809/ hr | $0.809/ hr |
| GPU Small GPU – Compute 6 vCPUs, 56 GB RAM, 256GB SSD | $1.151/ hr | $1.151/ hr |
| Small GPU – Visualization 8 vCPUs, 28 GB RAM, 256GB SSD | $0.865/ hr | $0.865/ hr |
| Alternative Small GPU – Visualization 6 vCPUs, 55 GB RAM, 256GB SSD | $0.761/ hr | $0.761/ hr |
| Medium GPU – Visualization 12 vCPUs, 112 GB RAM, 256GB SSD | $1.723/ hr | $1.723/ hr |
| Medium GPU – Accelerated Visualization 6 vCPUs, 55 GB RAM, 256GB SSD | $0.761/ hr | $0.761/ hr |
| Large GPU – Accelerated Visualization 12 vCPUs, 110 GB RAM, 256GB SSD | $1.491/ hr | $1.491/ hr |
*With CloudLabs, you can create custom VM SKUs with different VM size and disk configuration combinations as per your lab requirement and optimize Cloud cost for your needs. Above example pricing uses the same lab SKUs as used by Azure Lab Services.
Lab features
We set the industry benchmark with our premier, best-in-class solution for cloud-based learning environments.
Deploy Windows and Linux labs in minutes with exact vCPU, RAM, GPU and disk specs, and reuse saved templates across labs, semesters and cohorts.
Deploy Lab VMs in the Azure region of your choice and scale to hundreds of machines in minutes while the platform manages the infrastructure.
Learners open virtual machines in the browser with nothing to install, with step-by-step lab manuals alongside the machine.
LTI 1.1 and LTI 1.3 support for integration with a wide range of LMS platforms across diverse learning ecosystems.
Give each user a dedicated VM, or share one machine among several users with multi-session capabilities.
VM Shadow lets instructors view any learner's active session in real time to guide, intervene and track progress.
Invited users get immediate access with a unique per-user password, with no shared reset links, Azure subscription sharing or portal permissions.
VMs deploy only when requested, with automatic start and stop schedules, per-user usage quotas and cleanup so labs stay within budget.
Use cases
From academic classrooms to enterprise sandboxes — one platform built for every hands-on learning scenario.
Set up virtual lab environments for courses, assignments, and semester-long programs. Give every student access to the tools and resources they need to complete their courses.
Prepare virtual machines with the required software and content for workshops, bootcamps, and certification training. Give learners a consistent environment from day one.
Run hands-on events with virtual machines that scale to support hundreds of participants. Provide attendees with immediate access to the environments they need.
Share invitation-only lab environments with prospects and customers. Let users explore your product through guided, hands-on experiences before deployment.
Provide partners with dedicated environments for training, solution validation, and technical readiness. Help them build confidence through practical experience.
Provision Windows or Linux virtual machines for experimentation, testing, and proof-of-concept projects. Explore new ideas without affecting production systems.
10+
Years of industry expertise
5M+
Labs provisioned worldwide
1M+
Participants upskilled
50K+
Events supported
Start fresh with a new lab program or migrate from your existing Azure Lab Services setup. Both paths are fully supported.
Create your CloudLabs account and get started.
Use the CloudLabs portal to create and test your VM images.
Configure your labs with new resources and settings.
Deploy your newly created labs, ready for immediate use and distribution.
Create your CloudLabs account to start your migration journey.
Use the CloudLabs migration script to migrate or replicate your VM images.
Migrate labs from your existing Lab Account and Lab Plan using the migration tool.
Migrated labs are ready for deployment and distribution.
Planning your move from Azure Lab Services? Our migration playbook walks you through it. Azure Lab Services Migration Playbook
Support
Enhance your support experience by selecting from a range of customizable tier options tailored to your business requirements.
Standard support is available to all customers at no additional cost.
Included for all customers
Standard Edition Support+
Premium Edition Support+
24×7 Globally
Regional data residency and multilingual support built for global teams.
Regional delivery
Select your preferred region for compliance and control over VM location.
Multilingual support
Support coverage
Access support in English, Español, Français, Deutsch, Italiano, 日本語 and 한국어 for a truly inclusive and seamless global experience.
“We are incredibly pleased with our experience using CloudLabs by Spektra Systems. Their responsiveness and support have been nothing short of outstanding, and they demonstrated remarkable flexibility in accommodating our unique processes.”
“Our company has been working with CloudLabs for three years. The service allowed us to train our teams and partners over different products and cloud platforms, by provisioning timely labs with the smoothest student experience.”
“CloudLabs has been our go-to platform for any hands-on lab experiences for customer and partner technical trainings. It eliminates the time and complexity of setting up labs and enables a smooth experience for all participants.”
“Thank you for your exceptional support and service for the numerous workshops and hackathons we planned together. You are knowledgeable, reliable, and really great to work with.”
“I partnered with Spektra Systems to host a large-scale virtual hackathon with an aggressive timeline and nothing more than an idea. They structured the event and exceeded my expectations by going above and beyond what was asked.”
“The lab environments provided by Spektra Systems are critical to our events. Spektra makes it easy for our participants and coaches to get access to Azure and Power Platform capabilities.”
“Your team has been crucial in providing in-time support during the hackathon, solving and assisting participants. We recommend this model for every engagement where the labs are just a day long.”
FAQ
CloudLabs VM Labs, the Microsoft-recommended Azure Lab Services alternative, delivers all the most-valued ALS features and adds more. Sign up for a free trial to explore the platform in depth. Qualified users can receive up to $2,000 in Azure credits during the trial period, available exclusively when opting for a CloudLabs-managed Azure subscription for the trial. Azure credits apply only to the trial tenure and do not extend to the full migration.
Migration timelines depend on the number of labs, VM configurations, and course complexity. Our experts offer real-time support throughout the migration process to ensure a seamless experience.
Yes. Organizations currently using Azure Lab Services can migrate their existing lab plans, lab accounts, and VM configurations to CloudLabs VM Labs using our migration scripts and tools under expert guidance. CloudLabs is offering $2,000 in Azure credits to qualified Azure Lab Services users to get started.
CloudLabs VM Labs is listed in the Microsoft Azure Lab Services retirement guide as a recommended partner solution, helping organizations transition from Azure Lab Services to a fully managed hands-on lab platform.
Yes. The free Azure Lab Services Migration Playbook includes a 10-question readiness check, both migration paths, an evaluation scorecard, example pricing and a 9-phase migration plan, written to drop straight into a leadership update.
Set up CloudLabs VM Labs and run your first labs before Azure Lab Services retires.
Access enabled within 24 hours
Your trial is set up for you: create up to 5 labs with 3 deployments per lab.
Up to $2,000 in Azure credits
Available for qualified Azure Lab Services migrations.
Migration tooling and expert guidance
Move your lab plans, lab accounts, and VM images with help from our team.
LMS compatibility checks
Verify integration between CloudLabs VM Labs and your existing learning ecosystem.
Submit the form and your access will be enabled within 24 hours.
