Comparing AWS, Azure, GCP

The cloud computing market continues to grow, and is projected to reach $2432.87 billion by 2030. In this massive market, three cloud providers—Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft Azure—make up a combined 64% of the cloud market share, and when choosing a cloud provider to host their website or application, many users will choose between these three hyperscale providers. While they may seem interchangeable at first, these three providers each have unique strengths and challenges which can have a large impact on your cloud costs, ease of use, and overall experience. In this article we’ll outline key differences between AWS, GCP, and Microsoft Azure, and demonstrate why you may want to consider other clouds such as DigitalOcean, so you can make a more informed decision on what cloud provider to use.

Overview of AWS vs Azure vs GCP

AWS, Azure, and GCP are the largest cloud providers in the market today, but each has their own nuances and background. Here’s some basic information about each provider before we dive into the specifics around how they differ:

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the cloud infrastructure provider from Amazon. AWS was founded in 2006 and is now the leading cloud provider in the world, with a market share of 32% in Q1 2023. AWS offers a wide range of services, including compute, storage, networking, databases, analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. AWS is used by a wide range of businesses, from small businesses to large enterprises.

Microsoft Azure, which was first launched in 2010 from the Microsoft Corporation, is the second-largest cloud provider in the global cloud market, with a market share of 23% in Q1 2023. Azure offers a wide range of services, similar to AWS, but specializes in Windows-based compute and works well with other Microsoft services.

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) was started by Google in 2011 and is the third-largest cloud provider in the world, with a market share of 9% in Q1 2023. GCP offers a wide range of services, similar to AWS and Azure, however has fewer data centers than AWS and Azure and has solutions that are considered friendly for DevOps.

Difference between AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud

AWS, Azure, and GCP provide comparable computing resources, including virtual machines and serverless computing options. However, each cloud provider offers unique features and services that cater to different use cases, allowing businesses to choose the platform that aligns best with their specific computing requirements and preferences. Many businesses may also choose a mult-cloud solution, which incorporates more than one of the three cloud providers, or utilizes AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud in combination with another more cost-effective cloud solution like DigitalOcean.

Product offerings

AWS (Amazon Web Services)

• AWS provides a vast array of computing resources, including Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud), which offers scalable virtual private cloud for a wide range of use cases.

• EC2 provides various instance types, each optimized for specific workloads such as general-purpose, memory-intensive, and GPU-powered instances.

• AWS also offers serverless computing with AWS Lambda, enabling developers to run code without provisioning or managing servers.

Azure (Microsoft Azure)

• Azure offers similar computing resources with its Virtual Machines (VMs) service, providing scalable and flexible virtualized computing environments.

• Azure Virtual Machines offer a variety of instance sizes to accommodate different workload requirements, including memory, compute, and storage optimized instances.

• Additionally, Azure provides Azure Functions for serverless computing, allowing developers to run event-driven functions without worrying about underlying infrastructure.

GCP (Google Cloud Platform)

• GCP’s computing resources are available through Google Compute Engine, offering customizable VM instances.

• Google Compute Engine provides predefined machine types and custom machine types, allowing users to tailor resources precisely to their needs.

• For serverless computing, Google Cloud Platform offers Google Cloud Functions, enabling developers to execute event-driven functions without managing servers.

Data centers

Another key difference between AWS, Azure, and GCP is their data center infrastructure. Understanding the geographical distribution and performance capabilities of their data centers is crucial for businesses and developers seeking the ideal cloud solution for them, as data center needs will vary based on where an application or website’s users are located. Here are some more details about how AWS, GCP, and Azure compare in terms of number and geographical location of their data centers:

AWS (Amazon Web Services)

• AWS operates a vast global network of over 200 data centers spread across multiple geographic regions, covering North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America.

• They have the largest number of data centers among the three hyperscaler cloud providers, with a significant presence in regions like Northern Virginia, Oregon, and Frankfurt.

• AWS’s extensive data center infrastructure enables businesses to deploy resources closer to end-users, reducing latency and improving performance.

Azure (Microsoft Azure)

• Azure cloud has an extensive network of data centers worldwide, offering services in more regions compared to AWS and GCP.

• Microsoft continues to expand its data center footprint, with a strong presence in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

• Azure’s data centers are integrated with Microsoft’s extensive network backbone, ensuring high-speed data transfer and low-latency connectivity.

GCP (Google Cloud Platform)

• GCP’s data centers are strategically located across multiple regions globally, covering North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America.

• While GCP has a smaller number of data centers compared to AWS and Azure, they are known for their high-performance global network infrastructure.

• Google’s expertise in network optimization ensures fast data transfer and low-latency connections, making GCP a preferred choice for latency-sensitive applications.

When comparing AWS vs Azure vs GCP, it’s useful to remember that AWS boasts the largest number of data centers, Azure has the most widespread regional coverage, and GCP focuses on high-performance networking and low-latency connections. Businesses should consider the geographical distribution of data centers when choosing a cloud provider to ensure optimal performance and data accessibility for their target audience.

Pricing

When it comes to choosing a cloud provider, pricing is one of the most important elements to consider, as you will likely be locked-in to the pricing of your chosen provider for several years. Comparing the pricing models of major cloud providers, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP), is crucial for businesses seeking the best fit for their specific needs and budget. Each cloud platforms’ adopts a pay-as-you-go model with varying instance types, storage costs, data transfer fees, and discounts. Understanding these nuances is vital to optimize cloud spending and resource allocation, ensuring efficient and cost-effective cloud operations. It’s important to look not only at the pricing of your cloud provider with your current usage, but also think about how pricing will scale as you grow your application or business. Here’s a look at how pricing differs between these cloud providers as of August 2023—make sure to check on their websites for the most up-to-date pricing information before making a decision.

AWS (Amazon Web Services)

• AWS offers a pay-as-you-go model with flexibility and cost control.

• Offers various instance types with different pricing based on performance and capacity.

• Storage costs are based on capacity and access patterns for services like Amazon S3 and Amazon EBS.

• Ingress (data received) is typically free, while egress (data sent) costs vary based on volume and region, but is usually $0.05 to $0.09 per GB across the varying network interfaces and pricing plans.

• Discounts available through Reserved Instances and AWS Savings Plans with upfront payments.

Azure (Microsoft Azure)

• Utilizes a pay-as-you-go model and offers Reserved VM Instances for cost savings.

• Instance families optimized for different workloads.

• Storage costs based on capacity and usage for Azure Blob Storage and Azure Disk Storage.

• Generally offers free ingress, egress costs applied based on data volume and region.

• Volume discounts through Azure Hybrid Benefit for customers with existing licenses.

GCP (Google Cloud Platform)

• Pay-as-you-go model with predefined and custom machine types.

• Storage costs based on capacity and access frequency for Google Cloud Storage and Google Persistent Disk.

• Data transfer costs vary based on the amount of data sent and received.

• Discounts available through Committed Use Contracts with upfront commitments for one or three years.

• Three support tiers available - Basic, Development, and Production, with varying levels of support coverage and response times.

The pricing differences among AWS, Azure, and GCP stem from their unique approaches to pay-as-you-go models, instance types, storage, data transfer costs, and discounts. Careful evaluation will help businesses select the most cost-effective cloud provider aligned with their specific requirements.

Use cases for AWS vs Azure vs GCP

While all three hyperscalers (AWS vs Azure vs GCP) offer powerful cloud services, each caters to specific use cases. AWS boasts global reach and a wide service offering, ideal for diverse applications. Azure excels in seamless integration with the Microsoft ecosystem and strong security features, making it a top choice for enterprises. GCP’s expertise in data analytics, Kubernetes, and high-performance networking makes it attractive for data-driven and containerized applications. Below is some more information on the use cases that each of these cloud providers caters to:

AWS (Amazon Web Services)

Global reach and scalability: AWS is an excellent choice for businesses requiring a large global presence and scalability, thanks to its extensive network of data centers worldwide.

Wide service offering: With a very broad range of services, AWS caters to diverse use cases, including web hosting, AI, analytics, IoT, and more.

Mature ecosystem: Its established customer base and extensive community support make AWS a suitable fit for many users, especially enterprises.

Azure (Microsoft Azure)

Integration with the Microsoft ecosystem: For organizations invested in Microsoft products, Azure offers seamless integration, enabling hybrid cloud deployments and smooth migration. Azure also offers Windows-based virtual machines, which not all cloud providers offer.

Hybrid cloud solutions: Azure is a preferred choice for businesses with on-premises infrastructure, offering robust hybrid cloud computing services capabilities.

Strong emphasis on security: With a focus on compliance and security features, Azure is suitable for industries with strict data regulations.

GCP (Google Cloud platform)

Data and analytics expertise: Google Cloud Platform excels in data management and analytics, making it a good fit for businesses reliant on big data processing and machine learning.

Kubernetes prowess: Google’s expertise in Kubernetes and containerization appeals to enterprises looking to deploy container-based applications.

Performance and networking: Google cloud platform’s high-performance global network helps ensure low latency and fast data transfer, making it suitable for applications requiring rapid response times.

DigitalOcean: An excellent alternative to the big three for SMBs and startups

DigitalOcean is a public cloud provider that was founded as a more developer-friendly alternative to the big three cloud providers, and now caters to a wide range of developers, startups, and SMBs. DigitalOcean offers many of the same products as the hyperscalers, including a range of highly performant Linux-based virtual machines, managed databases, managed Kubernetes, a Platform as a Service solution, a serverless/cloud functions solution, storage, and much more. Here are some reasons you may want to consider DigitalOcean as an alternative to Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure:

• Simple yet comprehensive product suite: DigitalOcean doesn’t offer the hundreds of products found in AWS, Azure, and GCP, but does offer the core products that most businesses need, including VPS hosting, managed databases, managed Kubernetes, and more. All of DigitalOcean’s products are built with simplicity in mind, unlike the complexity that often comes with using a hyperscale cloud provider.

• Cost-effectiveness and transparent pricing: DigitalOcean offers clear and predictable pricing, ideal for budget planning, avoiding upfront costs, and accommodating fluctuating workloads. In addition, DigitalOcean’s prices are often lower than hyperscalers, especially its bandwidth pricing—DigitalOcean offers generous included bandwidth with all virtual machines, and overages are charged at just $0.01/GB.

• Developer-centric features: DigitalOcean has an intuitive UI, API, and CLI that simplifies cloud resource management and enables developers to spend less time managing their cloud infrastructure. Additionally, DigitalOcean has strong product documentation and community tutorials so that developers can learn not only how to use DigitalOcean products, but also enhance their overall backend skills.

• Global data centers and fast network performance: While DigitalOcean does not have the same vast data center network as the big three cloud providers, DigitalOcean’s 15 globally distributed data centers help ensure high-performance cloud services, minimizing latency and supporting data residency requirements.

Conclusion

AWS, Azure, and GCP are well-known hyperscale cloud providers, each with unique strengths. AWS offers global reach and scalability, Azure excels in integration and security, and GCP shines in data management and machine learning.

Choosing the right provider hinges on understanding specific needs, like performance and cost. For small businesses and startups, DigitalOcean is a compelling alternative, boasting cost-effectiveness and developer-friendly features, with a range of products suited to the needs of growing businesses. To see for yourself how DigitalOcean differs from AWS, GCP, and Azure, sign up today!