AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud: The Ultimate 2025 Comparison Guide
By Pilotcore
Choosing the Right Cloud Provider for Your Business
Main Takeaway: AWS remains the market leader with ~30% share, Azure holds 23%, and Google Cloud commands 13%. Each excels in distinct areas—AWS for breadth, Azure for hybrid and enterprise integration, and GCP for analytics/AI—so align your choice with your primary workloads, ecosystem dependencies, and long-term strategy.
1. Market Overview and Adoption
2025 Global Market Share
| Provider | Market Share | YoY Growth |
|---|---|---|
| AWS | ~30% [1][2] | 17.5% [1] |
| Microsoft Azure | 23% [3] | 33% [3] |
| Google Cloud | 13% [1] | 32% [1] |
| All Others | ~34% | N/A |
AWS leads but Azure and GCP continue rapid expansion in enterprise and AI/ML segments.
2. Detailed Provider Comparison
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Best For: Broad service requirements, startups, SMBs, mature third-party ecosystem
- Service Catalog: 200+ services across compute, storage, databases, networking, AI/ML, IoT, edge
- Ecosystem: Largest partner and open-source support; custom chips (Graviton, Trainium, Inferentia) for optimized performance
- Billing: Per-second compute billing; Savings Plans, Reserved Instances (up to 72% savings), Spot Instances (up to 90% savings)
- Migration Tools: Application Migration Service, Database Migration Service, Migration Hub
- Hybrid/Edge: AWS Outposts, Local Zones, Wavelength for low-latency and on-premises workloads
- Sustainability: 100% renewable energy targets by 2025; publishes carbon footprint data
- Notable Services: EC2, S3, Lambda, RDS/Aurora, SageMaker
Microsoft Azure
Best For: Microsoft-centric enterprises, hybrid deployments, compliance-heavy industries
- Integration: Native connectors to Office 365, Teams, Active Directory; Azure AI Studio with OpenAI models
- Billing: Per-second billing for both Linux and Windows VMs; Azure Hybrid Benefit leverages existing Windows Server/SQL Server licenses
- Migration Tools: Azure Migrate, Database Migration Service, Site Recovery
- Hybrid/Edge: Azure Arc, Azure Stack HCI, Azure Stack Edge for unified management across cloud and on-premises
- Compliance & Security: 100+ compliance certifications including FedRAMP, HIPAA, GDPR
- Sustainability: Carbon-negative by 2030; publishes real-time data on data-center emissions
- Notable Services: Virtual Machines, Cosmos DB, Synapse Analytics, AKS, Azure DevOps
Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
Best For: Data analytics, AI/ML workloads, container-native applications
- Analytics & AI: BigQuery for petabyte-scale analytics; Vertex AI with integrated Gemini models
- Billing: Per-second billing; sustained-use discounts (up to 30%), committed-use discounts (up to 70%)
- Migration Tools: Migrate for Compute Engine, Database Migration Service
- Hybrid/Edge: Anthos for multi-cloud Kubernetes; Distributed Cloud Edge for telco and IoT use cases
- Open Source Leadership: Kubernetes originator; strong support for TensorFlow, Istio, Knative
- Sustainability: Carbon-neutral since 2007; 100% renewable energy match since 2017
- Notable Services: Compute Engine, GKE, BigQuery, Cloud Spanner, Cloud Functions
3. Head-to-Head Feature Comparison
Compute, Storage, and Database
| Category | AWS | Azure | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compute | EC2, Lambda, ECS/EKS, Outposts | Virtual Machines, Functions, AKS | Compute Engine, Cloud Functions, GKE |
| Storage | S3, EBS, EFS, Glacier | Blob Storage, Managed Disks, Files | Cloud Storage, Persistent Disk, Filestore |
| Relational DB | RDS, Aurora | SQL Database | Cloud SQL |
| NoSQL | DynamoDB | Cosmos DB | Firestore |
| Data Warehouse | Redshift | Synapse Analytics | BigQuery |
4. Decision Framework
4.1 Assess Requirements
Evaluate compute, storage, database, AI/ML, hybrid needs, compliance, budget, and team expertise.
4.2 Scoring Model (Example)
Assign weights to key categories (e.g., Compute 30%, Storage 20%, AI/ML 25%, Hybrid 15%, Cost 10%) and score each provider against use-case criteria.
4.3 Total Cost of Ownership
Include egress fees, premium support, compliance tooling, third-party licenses, and training costs.
4.4 Proof of Concept
Run representative workloads (web serving, analytics queries, ML training) across all three to benchmark performance, cost, and manageability.
5. Migration and Hybrid Strategies
| Scenario | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-Premises Migration | Application Migration Service, DMS, Migration Hub | Azure Migrate, Database Migration Service, Site Recovery | Migrate for Compute Engine, Database Migration Service |
| Hybrid Management | Outposts, Local Zones | Azure Arc, Stack HCI, Stack Edge | Anthos, Distributed Cloud Edge |
Considerations: data egress costs, service compatibility, vendor lock-in risks, operational complexity.
6. Vendor Lock-In & Ecosystem Fragmentation
- Open-Source Solutions: Anthos, Crossplane, HashiCorp Terraform, VMware Tanzu for multi-cloud management.
- Partner Networks: AWS Partner Network, Microsoft Partner Program, Google Cloud Partner Advantage.
- All-Others Segment: ~34% market share includes Oracle Cloud, IBM Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, etc., reflecting ecosystem diversification.
7. Sustainability and Compliance
| Provider | Renewable Commitment | Carbon Initiative |
|---|---|---|
| AWS | 100% renewable by 2025 | Publishes carbon footprint data |
| Azure | Carbon-negative by 2030 | Real-time emissions dashboard |
| Google Cloud | Carbon-neutral since 2007 | 100% renewable energy match |
8. Industry Recommendations
| Industry | Primary Recommendation | Secondary Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Startups/SMBs | AWS | Google Cloud |
| Enterprises | Azure | AWS |
| Media & Gaming | AWS | Google Cloud |
| Data Analytics & AI | Google Cloud | AWS |
| Government & Healthcare | Azure | AWS GovCloud |
Conclusion: No single “best” cloud; select based on aligned strengths. AWS excels in breadth and ecosystem; Azure dominates hybrid and enterprise integration; GCP leads in analytics, AI, and containerization. Architect for flexibility, assess via POC, and plan for sustainability and total cost of ownership.
Sources
- [1] https://www.carbon6.io/blog/amazon-q2-earnings-2025-seller-updates-2025-08-08/ 🔗
- [2] https://hginsights.com/blog/aws-market-report-buyer-landscape 🔗
- [3] https://canalys.com/newsroom/global-cloud-q1-2025 🔗
Turn Technology Challenges Into Business Advantages
Transform technology from a cost center into a growth driver. Schedule a consultation to explore what's possible when your systems work for your business goals.
