Azure AD for small business.

It’s been over 10 years since I last worked with Active Directory or any other Microsoft server products, therefore I’m here seeking advice on the best solution for the following setup:

A friend owns a small business with about 20 on-prem computers. They’re looking to set up a domain to better control their devices and manage user accounts, while keeping costs as low as possible.

In the past, I would have deployed an on-prem server and configure Active Directory Domain Controller, DNS, DHCP, file server, group policies, etc.

I was doing some research and found that many small businesses are now adopting Azure AD. Would Azure AD be the best solution for this scenario? Would it meet most of their requirements?