Let’s say you have a boatload of websites that are currently running on a variety of platforms. Some are based on Drupal, while others are WordPress or static HTML. There are also some E-commerce web applications as well, and perhaps some that are custom-coded.

Of course, Azure App Service is by far the most powerful and flexible platform for your web endeavors, but if you want to keep the technology you currently have and save money, the two most likely hosting platforms for these types applications: Azure App Service and Azure Static Web Apps.

High-Level Considerations When Choosing an Azure Hosting Platform

	Azure App Service	Azure Static Web Apps
Type of Web Application	Best for: CMS apps (Drupal, WordPress, etc.), E-commerce applications, custom web apps, APIs, Mobile backends	Best for: Custom small to medium-sized websites or web applications with limited number of pages and require no server-side functionality.
Provisioning	Deploy apps with templates – Azure App Service | Microsoft Learn	Tutorial: Publish Azure Static Web Apps using an ARM template | Microsoft Learn
Deployment	Various forms of deployment approaches	Directly from GitHub or Azure DevOps
Security/Authentication	Authentication and authorization – Azure App Service | Microsoft Learn	Authenticate and authorize Static Web Apps | Microsoft Learn
Monitoring	Monitor App Service with Azure Monitor – Azure App Service | Microsoft Learn	Monitor Azure Static Web Apps | Microsoft Learn
Custom Domains	Map existing custom DNS name – Azure App Service | Microsoft Learn	Custom domains with Azure Static Web Apps | Microsoft Learn
Pricing	Windows | Linux	Static Web Apps pricing – Microsoft Azure
Quotas/Limits	Azure subscription limits and quotas – Azure Resource Manager | Microsoft Learn	Quotas in Azure Static Web Apps | Microsoft Learn

Azure App Service

The most flexible of the two options is Azure App Service, in that it allows for virtually all kinds of web applications to be hosted. This includes CMS sites, custom web applications, static applications, APIs, mobile backends, and containers. The underlying operating system can be either Windows or Linux, depending on the requirements of the application.

The Azure Marketplace provides out-of-the-box support for CMS solutions like Drupal, WordPress, Umbraco, and more – all built on top of Azure App Service.

Learn more:

• Overview – Azure App Service | Microsoft Learn
  • Quickstart: Create a WordPress site – Azure App Service | Microsoft Learn
  • usri/drupal-on-app-service: Guidance and assets to deploy and run Drupal on App Service (github.com)
  • QuickStart: Create a static HTML web app – Azure App Service | Microsoft Learn
• Videos
  • Azure App Service (Web Apps) Tutorial – YouTube
  • How To Create WordPress on Azure App Service – YouTube

Azure Static Web Apps

Static web apps are commonly built using libraries and web frameworks like Angular, React, Svelte, Vue, or Blazor where server-side rendering isn’t required. These apps include HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and image assets that make up the application. With a traditional web server, these assets are served from a single server alongside any required API endpoints.

With Static Web Apps, static assets are separated from a traditional web server and are instead served from points geographically distributed around the world. This distribution makes serving files much faster as files are physically closer to end users. In addition, API endpoints are hosted using a serverless architecture, which avoids the need for a full back-end server altogether.

Learn more:

• What is Azure Static Web Apps? | Microsoft Learn
  • Publish an Angular, React, Svelte, or Vue JavaScript app with Azure Static Web Apps – Training | Microsoft Learn
• Videos
  • Azure Tips and Tricks: Static Web Apps | Microsoft Learn

Basic Decision Tree

Below is a basic decision tree which can help teams decide which of the two platforms in Azure to use for a given use case.

Static Web Apps and App Service both have common traits:

• Scale globally as needed
• Host static content
• Support continuous deployment
• Custom domains
• SSL certs
• SSO authentication
• Template, CLI, and automation
• Monitoring

Hope this helps!