Choosing a cloud provider is like choosing a religion. Once you convert, it's hard to switch. Here is the objective breakdown.
AWS (Amazon Web Services)
- The Behemoth: AWS created the industry. It has the most services (over 200) and the largest market share (32%).
- Best For: Everyone. From startups to Fortune 500s. If you need a specific, niche tool (like Ground Station for satellites), AWS is the only one that has it.
- The Gotcha: Complexity. The IAM (permission) system is notoriously difficult, and billing is opaque. You need a PhD to understand your invoice.
Azure (Microsoft)
- The Corporate Choice: Market share #2 (23%).
- Best For: Enterprises already using Windows, Active Directory, and Office 365. The integration is seamless. You can login to your servers with the same credentials you use for email.
- The Gotcha: The UI is slower than AWS, and Linux support, while good, is clearly secondary to Windows.
GCP (Google Cloud Platform)
- The Innovator: Market share #3 (10%).
- Best For: Data, AI, and Kubernetes. Google invented Kubernetes, and their GKE (Google Kubernetes Engine) is arguably the best managed K8s service. Their data tools (BigQuery) are best-in-class for analytics.
- The Gotcha: Smaller community and support ecosystem compared to AWS.
Recommendation
- Startups: AWS (for the credits and community).
- Enterprise: Azure (for the integration).
- AI/Data: GCP (for the performance).
AWSAzureGCPCloud
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