The sky is getting cloudier. Each time there are more and bigger clouds, full of services. All of them are good, and they want to be your all-in-one solution. Which cloud giant should you try? Check this cloud giants comparison and see if AWS is still the undisputed king, or Google, Azure, and Alibaba Cloud have enough to offer to compete.
Amazon Web Services AWS
AWS is the market leader for a long time. What you get with AWS is an excellent compilation of services (200+), easy to deploy instances, working with the databases you want. Amazon has great availability, thanks to the 77 available zones (24 geographical regions).
Choosing the largest cloud could be a good idea if you want to have everything under one umbrella, but it could be more expensive than other options.
Google Cloud Platform
Google is a few steps behind AWS and Azure. They have a less prominent network, but they are competing with lower prices and machine learning. AI, Machine learning, and tech solutions, together with well-known Google tools, make it an interesting option.
The great plus that Google offers is live migration from one virtual machine to another. It can happen without stopping the work nor rebooting the system.
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft is a well-known tech giant. It has combined its popular online tools with the power of Windows Server.
What’s new is the opportunity to be one of the first using Quantum computing with Azure Quantum. Microsoft is also eager to show its capabilities with mission-critical AI solutions and machine learning.
Alibaba Cloud
China’s number 1 cloud. It was late to the party, but it is growing rapidly. Its local market, China, is huge. If you are interested in positioning in China, it could be a great choice.
Just like Google, they are still smaller, and they offer more competitive prices.
| Features | AWS | Google Cloud | Microsoft Azure | Alibaba Cloud |
| OS | Windows, CentOS, CloudLinux, Ubuntu, Oracle Linux | Windows, CentOS, Ubuntu, | Windows, CentOS, CloudLinux, Ubuntu | Windows, CentOS, Ubuntu, Oracle Linux |
| Purhcasing model | 1-year contract, 3-year contract or on demand | 1-year contract, 3-year contract or on demand | 1-year contract, 3-year contract or on demand | 1-year contract, 3-year contract or on demand, reserved instances |
| Regions: Asia Pacific, Australia, Europe, The Middle East, and Africa, North America. South America | All | All except Middle East and Africa | All | All |
| Certifications: CSA, ISO 9001, ISO 27001, EU Model Clauses, PCI DDS Level 1 | All | All exept the ISO 9001 | All | All |
| Object storage | Simple Storage Services (S3) | Google Cloud Storage | Azure Blob Storage | Object Storage Services |
| Shared file storage | Elastic Block Store (EBS) | Google Cloud Storage FUSE | Azure Files | Network Attached Storage |
| Archiving – cold storage | S3 Glacier | Google Cloud Storage Coldline | X | Object Storage Service |
| Backup | AWS Cloud Backup | x | Azure Backup | Cloud Backup and Recovery, Database Backup |
| Database | RDS for MariaDB, SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle DB, Postgre SQL | SQL Server, Google Cloud SQL, Postgre SQL, Google Cloud Spanner | SQL, Azure Database for MySQL, Postgre SQL, MariaDB | ApsaraDB for MySQL, MariaDB TX, SQL Server, PPAS, Postgre SQL, POLARDB |
| Content Delivery Network | CloudFront | Google Cloud CDN | Azure CDN | Alibaba CDN |
| Media transcoding / encoding | Elastic Transcoder, Elemental MediaLive | X | Media Services, Azure encoding | ApsaraVideo Live, ApsaraVideo Media Processing |
| App customer payment services | Amazon Flexible Payment Service, Amazon Dev Pay | X | X | x |
| Game development | GameLift, Lumberyard | Firebase, Compute Engine | Visual Studio | Gaming Solutions |
| AR/VR | Sumerian | Daydream, Cardboard, ARCore | Mixed Reality | x |
| Cloud Content Management | X | Google Sites, Google Docs | SharePoint Online | x |
| Enterprise app integration | AWS Application integration services | Google App Engine | Logic Apps | X |
Conclusion
Comparing cloud providers of these sizes is not an easy task. You can’t simply say, “this is the best cloud”. It is always “it depends”. Check this table, go to each individual of these vendors and check their plans based on your needs. Try before you commit for the long term.