Is Azure Lab Services really retiring?

Yes — Microsoft has published the retirement guide on learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/lab-services/retirement-guide. The guide directs customers to recommended successor platforms.

Is CloudLabs the only recommended successor?

Microsoft Learn lists three recommended successors: Apporto, CloudLabs (by Spektra Systems), and Skillable. CloudLabs differentiates on multi-cloud + ISV SaaS access + LMS integration depth + end-to-end events.

How long does migration take?

Most institutions migrate in 4-8 weeks. We provide a discovery checklist, content-audit template, and free pilot with $150 Azure credit. See the ALS migration hub for the full playbook.

Comparison — Microsoft-recommended successor

CloudLabs vs Azure Lab Services

Azure Lab Services is retiring. CloudLabs is the Microsoft-recommended successor. Side-by-side on the things that matter when migrating.

CloudLabs

Microsoft-recommended successor

Azure Lab Services

Retiring service

Book a demo Read the comparison

Azure Lab Services vs CloudLabs

Feature	Azure Lab Services	CloudLabs
Cost predictability ^[1]	Pay-per-VM-hour, no built-in budget caps¹	Per-user budget caps + idle detection + auto-shutdown²
Multi-cloud ^[1]	Azure only¹	Azure + AWS + GCP + Oracle²
Native LMS LTI integration ^[1]	Limited¹	LTI 1.1 + 1.3 across 5 LMSes²
White-label end-user portal ^[1]	Microsoft-branded only¹	Branded on your domain²
ISV SaaS integrations ^[1]	Not supported¹	Custom integrations built per ISV — already shipped for Check Point, Databricks, Wiz, Sophos²
Microsoft-recommended successor ^[3]	—	Listed in retirement guide³

Azure Lab Services

CloudLabs

Cost predictability ^[1]

Pay-per-VM-hour, no built-in budget caps¹

Per-user budget caps + idle detection + auto-shutdown²

Multi-cloud ^[1]

Azure only¹

Azure + AWS + GCP + Oracle²

Native LMS LTI integration ^[1]

Limited¹

LTI 1.1 + 1.3 across 5 LMSes²

White-label end-user portal ^[1]

Microsoft-branded only¹

Branded on your domain²

ISV SaaS integrations ^[1]

Not supported¹

Custom integrations built per ISV — already shipped for Check Point, Databricks, Wiz, Sophos²

Microsoft-recommended successor ^[3]

—

Listed in retirement guide³

Bringing students from Azure Lab Services to CloudLabs? Walk through the migration step-by-step.

Plan your migration

High-level status

High-level status
	Microsoft	CloudLabs
Status	Service retiring¹	Active + growing²
Pricing transparency	Public list per VM/hour¹	Public per-user/month²
Migration support	Self-service docs¹	Migration team + free pilot²

FAQ's

ALS comparison FAQ

Migrate from Azure Lab Services

Free pilot for accredited institutions. Migration team support. $150 Azure credit included.

Start a free pilot Read the migration playbook