Cloud Providers Overview
A quick reference guide to major cloud providers and their strengths.
🏆 The Big Three
☁️ Amazon Web Services (AWS)
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Market Share | #1 (~32%) |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Best For | Startups, enterprises, widest service range |
Highlights:
- 🥇 Most mature and feature-rich platform
- 🌍 Largest global infrastructure (30+ regions)
- 📦 200+ services available
- 🔧 Best for: EC2, S3, Lambda, RDS
🏪 Analogy: AWS is like a massive supermarket - they have everything, but can be overwhelming to navigate.
Popular Services:
- EC2 (Compute), S3 (Storage), RDS (Database)
- Lambda (Serverless), EKS (Kubernetes)
- CloudFront (CDN), Route 53 (DNS)
🔷 Microsoft Azure
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Market Share | #2 (~23%) |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Best For | Enterprises, Microsoft shops, hybrid cloud |
Highlights:
- 🏢 Best enterprise integration (Active Directory, Office 365)
- 🔗 Seamless hybrid cloud with Azure Arc
- 🪟 Natural choice for Windows/.NET workloads
- 🤝 Strong partner ecosystem
🏢 Analogy: Azure is like the office supply store next to your workplace - integrates perfectly if you're already in the Microsoft ecosystem.
Popular Services:
- Virtual Machines, Blob Storage, Azure SQL
- Azure Functions, AKS (Kubernetes)
- Azure DevOps, Active Directory
🔵 Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Market Share | #3 (~10%) |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Best For | Data/ML workloads, Kubernetes, analytics |
Highlights:
- 🧠 Best-in-class AI/ML tools (Vertex AI, BigQuery)
- ☸️ Created Kubernetes - best K8s experience (GKE)
- 🌐 Premium global network (same as Google Search/YouTube)
- 💰 Often most cost-effective
🔬 Analogy: GCP is like a specialized tech lab - fewer products but cutting-edge in data and AI.
Popular Services:
- Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, Cloud SQL
- BigQuery (Analytics), Vertex AI (ML)
- GKE (Kubernetes), Cloud Functions
🌐 Other Notable Providers
🔶 Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)
| Best For | Highlights |
|---|---|
| Oracle workloads, databases | Aggressive pricing, strong Oracle DB integration |
🔷 IBM Cloud
| Best For | Highlights |
|---|---|
| Enterprise AI, mainframes | Watson AI, hybrid cloud with Red Hat |
🟣 Alibaba Cloud
| Best For | Highlights |
|---|---|
| Asia-Pacific market, China | #1 in Asia, compliance with Chinese regulations |
🟠 DigitalOcean
| Best For | Highlights |
|---|---|
| Developers, startups, SMBs | Simple pricing, easy to use, affordable |
🟢 Linode (Akamai)
| Best For | Highlights |
|---|---|
| Developers, simple VPS | Straightforward, predictable pricing |
⚫ Vultr
| Best For | Highlights |
|---|---|
| High-performance compute | Bare metal, global presence, affordable |
🔵 Cloudflare
| Best For | Highlights |
|---|---|
| Edge computing, CDN, security | Workers (serverless), R2 (S3-compatible), DDoS protection |
🔄 Common Features Across All Providers
💻 Compute
| Service Type | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Machines | EC2 | Virtual Machines | Compute Engine |
| Containers | ECS, EKS | ACI, AKS | Cloud Run, GKE |
| Serverless | Lambda | Functions | Cloud Functions |
| Kubernetes | EKS | AKS | GKE |
💾 Storage
| Service Type | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Object Storage | S3 | Blob Storage | Cloud Storage |
| Block Storage | EBS | Managed Disks | Persistent Disk |
| File Storage | EFS | Azure Files | Filestore |
| Archive | Glacier | Archive Storage | Archive Storage |
🗄️ Database
| Service Type | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relational | RDS, Aurora | Azure SQL | Cloud SQL |
| NoSQL | DynamoDB | CosmosDB | Firestore, Bigtable |
| In-Memory Cache | ElastiCache | Azure Cache | Memorystore |
| Data Warehouse | Redshift | Synapse | BigQuery |
🌐 Networking
| Service Type | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Network | VPC | VNet | VPC |
| Load Balancer | ELB/ALB | Load Balancer | Cloud Load Balancing |
| CDN | CloudFront | Azure CDN | Cloud CDN |
| DNS | Route 53 | Azure DNS | Cloud DNS |
🔐 Security & Identity
| Service Type | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity | IAM | Azure AD / Entra | Cloud IAM |
| Secrets | Secrets Manager | Key Vault | Secret Manager |
| Certificates | ACM | App Service Certs | Certificate Manager |
📊 Monitoring & Logging
| Service Type | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monitoring | CloudWatch | Monitor | Cloud Monitoring |
| Logging | CloudWatch Logs | Log Analytics | Cloud Logging |
| Tracing | X-Ray | Application Insights | Cloud Trace |
📊 Quick Comparison Matrix
| Criteria | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market Leader | ✅ | ||
| Enterprise Integration | ✅ | ||
| AI/ML | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Kubernetes | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Hybrid Cloud | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Pricing Simplicity | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Free Tier | Good | Good | Best |
| Global Regions | 30+ | 60+ | 35+ |
💡 Choosing Tips
Choose AWS if: → You need the widest service selection
Choose Azure if: → You're a Microsoft shop or need hybrid cloud
Choose GCP if: → You're focused on data, AI, or Kubernetes
Choose Others if: → You want simplicity or specific regional needs
📚 Resources
| Provider | Free Tier | Documentation |
|---|---|---|
| AWS | aws.amazon.com/free | docs.aws.amazon.com |
| Azure | azure.microsoft.com/free | docs.microsoft.com/azure |
| GCP | cloud.google.com/free | cloud.google.com/docs |
Last updated: February 2026