Compare Amazon AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure

When it comes to Public Cloud hosting, there are many different avenues to success. There are various companies and providers that you can use in order to achieve your goals. Amazon AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure are all ways you can employ public cloud hosting. But which one is better? Is one even objectively better or is it just personal preference? This article will compare three cloud services in some detail and compare their strengths and weaknesses.

Amazon AWS

Amazon is the one who via AWS, pioneered public cloud computing and hosting, which gave them a serious lead in the amount of services they offer. This is a lead they still have; they offer a massive array of services that neither Azure nor Google can match right now, and they also have a worldwide data center infrastructure, for global availability. However, Amazon AWS is also the most expensive of the three by far, and it has a very complicated cost structure. What this means is that Amazon AWS is very well suited to enterprises that can afford their services, but it isn’t the best choice for people just starting out with cloud hosting. After all, if you are just starting out, it is unlikely that you even need the huge suite of services that AWS offers or the complex level of AWS Support that is sometimes needed.

Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure did not come onto the cloud hosting scene until a bit later than AWS. However, it quickly established its own niche in cloud hosting thanks to the way Microsoft geared many of their existing software, such as Office, Sharepoint, and Dynamics Active Directory for it. Most of Microsoft’s major software has been optimized or geared for cloud hosting with Azure, and that gives them one major advantage that Google Cloud and AWS don’t have; Azure is the best choice for those that are using Windows and Microsoft Products.

Azure is well-integrated with Windows and their many applications, which makes it the best choice for enterprises or individuals that are using Windows. It is at the moment cheaper than AWS, which is something to take into consideration.

Google Cloud

Google Cloud is in third on the list in cloud hosting as far as market shares are concerned. Google Cloud came onto the scene last. But while it may be lastest contender right now, it is growing very rapidly, and it certainly has its strengths. Machine learning and analytics are unmatched with Google, and it also has the best load balancing and scale; neither Azure nor AWS have the response time and speedy data transfer that Google Cloud does.

Google Cloud is also the cheapest option of the three services listed here; they charge you by the minute in compute time, meaning you only pay for what you use and need. This is different from Azure and AWS, which charge you for plans that you have to pay for regardless of whether or not you use them. 

On the other hand, Google Cloud doesn’t have as many data centers worldwide as Amazon, but they are rapidly closing the gap. With fiber optic cables transferring data across oceans and continents, Google is constantly building new data centers around the globe. But while they are striving to build more, they aren’t built yet, which means you have a little less versatility with Google than you do with Amazon or Azure at this exact moment. 

Conclusion and final thoughts on public cloud AWS, Azure and Google

The truth is, none of these three services are that different from each other. They all offer the same core services an enterprise would need for cloud hosting. You can use any of them and reach the same basic level of hosting ability. And yet, the cost of each varies greatly. Amazon costs the most, and it does offer the widest array of cloud services, but many of those services aren’t absolutely mandatory to do the job. Azure is a great choice for those who use Windows and Microsoft Products, but doesn’t work as well with other OS. And Google is slightly more limited in services for now, but is by far the most affordable. The chart below covers the differences in a bit more detail.

The most important thing to remember is that this article has only covered the basic differences in these three services, and it is no substitute for your own personal research. If you want to determine which of these services will be the best for you, you shouldn’t rely on this article by itself.