AWS vs Azure vs GCP: Complete Cloud Comparison Guide
Choosing the right cloud provider is one of the most important infrastructure decisions you'll make. This guide provides an objective comparison of the three major cloud platforms.
Useful Resources
Market Share Overview
| Provider |
Market Share |
Founded |
Parent Company |
| AWS |
32% |
2006 |
Amazon |
| Azure |
23% |
2010 |
Microsoft |
| GCP |
11% |
2008 |
Alphabet (Google) |
Global Infrastructure
| Metric |
AWS |
Azure |
GCP |
| Regions |
33 |
60+ |
37 |
| Availability Zones |
105 |
300+ |
112 |
| Edge Locations |
600+ |
190+ |
200+ |
Pricing Comparison
Compute Costs (2 vCPU, 8GB RAM)
| Pricing Model |
AWS (m5.large) |
Azure (D2s v3) |
GCP (n1-standard-2) |
| On-Demand (hourly) |
$0.096 |
$0.096 |
$0.095 |
| 1-Year Reserved |
$0.060 |
$0.059 |
$0.060 |
| 3-Year Reserved |
$0.040 |
$0.038 |
$0.043 |
| Spot/Preemptible |
Up to 90% off |
Up to 90% off |
Up to 91% off |
Cost Features
| Feature |
AWS |
Azure |
GCP |
| Spot Instances |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes (Preemptible) |
| Reserved Pricing |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes (Committed Use) |
| Auto Discounts |
No |
No |
Yes (Sustained Use) |
| Free Tier |
12 months |
12 months |
Always Free + $300 |
GCP offers automatic sustained use discounts of up to 30% for workloads running more than 25% of the month.
Compute Services
Virtual Machines
| Feature |
AWS EC2 |
Azure VMs |
GCP Compute Engine |
| Instance Types |
750+ |
700+ |
130+ |
| Custom Sizing |
No |
Limited |
Yes |
| Live Migration |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| Max vCPUs |
448 |
416 |
416 |
| Max Memory |
24 TB |
12 TB |
12 TB |
Container and Kubernetes
| Service Type |
AWS |
Azure |
GCP |
| Managed Kubernetes |
EKS |
AKS |
GKE |
| Serverless Containers |
Fargate |
Container Instances |
Cloud Run |
| Container Registry |
ECR |
ACR |
Artifact Registry |
GKE is widely considered the best managed Kubernetes service since Google created Kubernetes.
Serverless Functions
| Feature |
AWS Lambda |
Azure Functions |
GCP Cloud Functions |
| Max Timeout |
15 min |
10 min |
60 min (Gen 2) |
| Max Memory |
10 GB |
14 GB |
32 GB |
| Concurrent Limit |
1000 |
200/instance |
1000/function |
Database Services
Relational Databases
| Database |
AWS |
Azure |
GCP |
| MySQL |
RDS, Aurora |
Database for MySQL |
Cloud SQL |
| PostgreSQL |
RDS, Aurora |
Database for PostgreSQL |
Cloud SQL, AlloyDB |
| SQL Server |
RDS |
SQL Database |
Cloud SQL |
| Distributed SQL |
Aurora |
Cosmos DB |
Spanner |
NoSQL Databases
| Type |
AWS |
Azure |
GCP |
| Document |
DynamoDB |
Cosmos DB |
Firestore |
| Key-Value |
DynamoDB, ElastiCache |
Cosmos DB |
Memorystore |
| Wide-Column |
Keyspaces |
Cosmos DB |
Bigtable |
| Graph |
Neptune |
Cosmos DB |
Partner solutions |
Data Warehousing
| Feature |
AWS Redshift |
Azure Synapse |
GCP BigQuery |
| Architecture |
Cluster-based |
Hybrid |
Serverless |
| Pricing Model |
Per node |
Compute + Storage |
Per query |
| Built-in ML |
Redshift ML |
Synapse ML |
BigQuery ML |
| Real-time |
Limited |
Yes |
Yes |
BigQuery's serverless, pay-per-query model makes it cost-effective for variable workloads.
AI and Machine Learning
ML Platforms
| Feature |
AWS SageMaker |
Azure ML |
GCP Vertex AI |
| AutoML |
Autopilot |
Yes |
Yes |
| Pre-built Models |
JumpStart |
Yes |
Model Garden |
| Custom Training |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| MLOps Pipelines |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Feature Store |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Generative AI
| Feature |
AWS |
Azure |
GCP |
| Foundation Models |
Bedrock (multi-provider) |
Azure OpenAI (GPT-4) |
Gemini |
| Code Assistant |
CodeWhisperer |
GitHub Copilot |
Gemini Code Assist |
Azure has exclusive access to OpenAI models (GPT-4, ChatGPT). GCP offers Gemini and has deep ML research heritage with TensorFlow and TPUs.
Storage Services
Object Storage
| Feature |
AWS S3 |
Azure Blob |
GCP Cloud Storage |
| Storage Classes |
7 |
4 |
4 |
| Durability |
11 nines |
11 nines |
11 nines |
| Max Object Size |
5 TB |
4.75 TB |
5 TB |
Block and File Storage
| Type |
AWS |
Azure |
GCP |
| Block Storage |
EBS (64 TB max) |
Managed Disks |
Persistent Disks |
| File Storage |
EFS (NFS) |
Azure Files (SMB/NFS) |
Filestore (NFS) |
| Max IOPS |
256,000 |
160,000 |
120,000 |
Networking
| Feature |
AWS |
Azure |
GCP |
| Virtual Network |
VPC |
Virtual Network |
VPC |
| Load Balancer |
ELB/ALB/NLB |
Azure LB |
Cloud LB |
| CDN |
CloudFront |
Azure CDN |
Cloud CDN |
| DNS |
Route 53 |
Azure DNS |
Cloud DNS |
| Direct Connect |
Direct Connect |
ExpressRoute |
Interconnect |
GCP's premium tier uses Google's private fiber network for lower latency routing.
Security and Compliance
Identity Management
| Feature |
AWS IAM |
Azure AD |
GCP IAM |
| SSO |
AWS SSO |
Native |
Cloud Identity |
| MFA |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Conditional Access |
Limited |
Advanced |
Yes |
Security Services
| Service |
AWS |
Azure |
GCP |
| Secrets |
Secrets Manager |
Key Vault |
Secret Manager |
| WAF |
AWS WAF |
Azure WAF |
Cloud Armor |
| DDoS |
Shield |
DDoS Protection |
Cloud Armor |
| SIEM |
GuardDuty |
Sentinel |
Security Command Center |
All three maintain SOC 1/2/3, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, FedRAMP, and GDPR compliance.
Developer Experience
| Aspect |
AWS |
Azure |
GCP |
| Console Usability |
Moderate |
Good |
Excellent |
| Learning Curve |
Steep |
Moderate |
Gentle |
| CLI Consistency |
Good |
Good |
Excellent |
| IaC Tools |
CloudFormation, CDK |
ARM, Bicep |
Deployment Manager |
| Terraform Support |
Excellent |
Good |
Excellent |
Hybrid and Multi-Cloud
| Feature |
AWS |
Azure |
GCP |
| On-premises Extension |
Outposts |
Azure Arc, Stack |
Anthos |
| VMware Support |
VMware Cloud |
Azure VMware |
VMware Engine |
| Edge Computing |
Wavelength |
Stack Edge |
Distributed Cloud |
When to Choose Each Provider
Choose AWS When:
- You need the broadest service catalog
- You want the most mature platform
- You're a startup (AWS Activate program)
- Your team has existing AWS expertise
Best for: Startups, SaaS, media/entertainment, e-commerce
Choose Azure When:
- You use Microsoft 365 or Active Directory
- You run Windows Server or SQL Server workloads
- You want GPT-4/OpenAI access
- You have a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement
Best for: Enterprises, healthcare, finance, government
Choose GCP When:
- You prioritize data analytics and BigQuery
- You need the best Kubernetes experience
- You want automatic sustained use discounts
- You're building ML/AI workloads with TensorFlow
Best for: Data companies, AI/ML startups, analytics, gaming
Decision Matrix
| Requirement |
Recommended Provider |
| Broadest services |
AWS |
| Microsoft stack |
Azure |
| Best Kubernetes |
GCP |
| Cheapest compute |
GCP |
| GPT-4 / OpenAI |
Azure |
| Enterprise compliance |
Azure |
| Developer experience |
GCP |
| Data warehousing |
GCP (BigQuery) |
Certifications
| Level |
AWS |
Azure |
GCP |
| Foundational |
Cloud Practitioner |
AZ-900 |
Cloud Digital Leader |
| Associate |
Solutions Architect |
AZ-104, AZ-204 |
Cloud Engineer |
| Professional |
SA Professional |
AZ-305, AZ-400 |
Cloud Architect |
Free Learning Resources
Pricing Calculators
Conclusion
There is no universal best cloud provider. The right choice depends on your existing technology stack, team expertise, workload requirements, and budget. Many organizations successfully use multiple providers for different use cases.
