Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Microsoft Azure VS Amazon AWS

Compare Microsoft Azure VS Amazon AWS and see what are their differences

Microsoft Azure logo Microsoft Azure

Windows Azure and SQL Azure enable you to build, host and scale applications in Microsoft datacenters.

Amazon AWS logo Amazon AWS

Amazon Web Services offers reliable, scalable, and inexpensive cloud computing services. Free to join, pay only for what you use.
  • Microsoft Azure Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-10
  • Amazon AWS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-29

Microsoft Azure features and specs

  • Scalability
    Azure offers a highly scalable environment where you can easily adjust compute resources to match your needs.
  • Global Reach
    Azure has multiple data centers around the globe, providing extensive global coverage for applications and services.
  • Integration with Microsoft Products
    Azure integrates seamlessly with existing Microsoft software like Office 365, Active Directory, and Windows Server.
  • Compliance
    Azure adheres to a broad set of international standards and compliance certifications, including GDPR, ISO, and many others.
  • Service Offerings
    Azure provides a wide variety of services, from virtual machines to databases and AI-powered functionalities.
  • Hybrid Solutions
    Azure supports hybrid cloud configurations, allowing businesses to run some resources on-premises and some in the cloud.
  • Security
    Azure employs advanced security protocols and has multiple layers of security, including data encryption and secure access controls.

Possible disadvantages of Microsoft Azure

  • Cost Management
    The pricing structure can be complex and may lead to unexpected costs if not carefully managed.
  • Learning Curve
    New users may find Azure challenging to learn due to its extensive range of services and configurations.
  • Service Limits
    Some Azure services have limitations and quotas, which can hinder performance or scalability if reached.
  • Support Costs
    While Azure offers robust support, advanced support plans can be expensive.
  • Complexity in Hybrid Setup
    Setting up and managing a hybrid environment can be technically challenging and may require specialized skills.
  • Downtime Risks
    Although rare, Azure is not immune to outages and downtime, which can impact service availability.
  • Data Migration
    Migrating data and services into Azure can be complicated and may require significant planning and resources.

Amazon AWS features and specs

  • Scalability
    AWS offers highly scalable services, allowing businesses to easily adjust resources based on demand without significant upfront investment.
  • Comprehensive Service Offering
    AWS provides a wide range of services, from compute and storage to machine learning and analytics, catering to diverse business needs.
  • Global Reach
    With data centers located worldwide, AWS enables low-latency access and redundancy, supporting global operations.
  • Strong Security
    AWS has robust security measures, including compliance certifications, encryption, and physical security, ensuring data and infrastructure protection.
  • Pay-as-You-Go Pricing
    AWS offers a flexible pricing model, where users only pay for what they use, helping manage costs effectively.
  • Extensive Integration Options
    AWS integrates with a wide variety of third-party services and APIs, providing seamless integration capabilities for various applications.
  • Innovation
    AWS frequently releases new services and features, staying at the forefront of technology and providing users with cutting-edge tools.

Possible disadvantages of Amazon AWS

  • Cost Management Complexity
    While the pay-as-you-go model offers flexibility, it can be challenging to track and predict costs, especially for large-scale operations.
  • Learning Curve
    AWS has a comprehensive set of services and features, which can be overwhelming for new users to learn and manage effectively.
  • Potential Vendor Lock-In
    Relying heavily on AWS services may result in vendor lock-in, making it difficult to switch providers or migrate workloads in the future.
  • Service Limitations
    Certain AWS services might have limitations or restrictions, which could hinder specific use cases or require workarounds.
  • Support Costs
    AWS offers different support tiers, and premium support options can be expensive for businesses needing immediate and advanced technical assistance.
  • Performance Variability
    Performance can vary based on server load and geographic location, which may affect the consistency and reliability of certain services.
  • Complex Pricing Structure
    AWS's pricing structure can be complicated, with various pricing models and options making it hard to determine the most cost-efficient choice.

Microsoft Azure videos

Building your first Azure Blockchain Workbench application

More videos:

  • Review - How does Microsoft Azure work?
  • Review - Introduction to Azure Blockchain Workbench
  • Review - Microsoft Azure Overview
  • Tutorial - What Is Azure? | Microsoft Azure Tutorial For Beginners | Microsoft Azure Training | Simplilearn
  • Review - Bots and Azure Blockchain Workbench

Amazon AWS videos

Amazon Web Services vs Google Cloud Platform - AWS vs GCP | Difference Between GCP and AWS

More videos:

  • Review - Are AWS Certifications worth it?
  • Review - AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Certification Will Get You Paid!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS)
Cloud Computing
39 39%
61% 61
Cloud Infrastructure
42 42%
58% 58
VPS
100 100%
0% 0
Web Hosting
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS

Microsoft Azure Reviews

Top 15 MuleSoft Competitors and Alternatives
The Azure API Management platform has over a million APIs for modernizing legacy apps to adopting API-first strategies from on-premises to multi-cloud. Thousands of the world’s largest enterprises use the solution to build, secure, and scale API initiatives.
20 Best Free Website Hosting (July 2023)
New users can usually receive a free site credit at the largest cloud services like Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform to get started. However, when these free credits expire, cloud products can be quite expensive and out of the price range of many projects.
AWS vs Azure Which is best for your career?
This course provides the key knowledge required to prepare for Exam AZ-204: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure. You will learn how to develop and deploy cloud applications on Azure using various Azure services.
Top 10 Best Container Software in 2022
Tool Cost/Plan Details: There is no upfront cost. Azure does not charge for cluster management. It charges only for what you use. It has Pricing for nodes model. Based on your container needs, you can get the price estimator through Container Services calculator.
Top 50 Cheapest Cloud Services Providers | Affordable Cloud Hosting
With direct competitors like AWS, Microsoft Azure has been one of the most preferred and also cheapest cloud services providers. The plan that Azure submit depends on the services a business seeks to access. Azure cloud platform includes over 200 products and cloud services to assist businesses in bringing new solutions to life—to solve today’s challenges and create the...

Amazon AWS Reviews

  1. macloughlin
    · AV engineer ·
    The best cloud platform out there

    You could say a lot of things about AWS, but among the cloud platforms (and I've used quite a few) AWS takes the cake. It is logically structured, you can get through its documentation relatively easily, you have a great variety of tools and services to choose from [from AWS itself and from third-party developers in their marketplace]. There is a learning curve, there is quite a lot of it, but it is still way easier than some other platforms. I've used and abused AWS and EC2 specifically and for me it is the best.

    👍 Pros:    Great documentation|Website structure visualization|You have control over everything|Flexibility
    👎 Cons:    Learning curve|A lot of dashboards for different things

Top 15 MuleSoft Competitors and Alternatives
API Gateway private endpoints allow AWS customers to use API endpoints inside their VPC. They can leverage Route 53 resolver endpoints and hybrid connectivity to access APIs and integrated backend services from on-premises clients.
Best Dedicated Server Providers in India: A Comparative Analysis
Dedicated hosts on Amazon EC2 are physical servers that are completely dedicated to meeting corporate compliance standards. With AWS, you can create EC2 instances on a dedicated server. The flexibility offered by Amazon EC2 is definitely one of its biggest advantages, along with high scalability. Apart from that, it isn’t much better than dedicated servers.
Source: moralstory.org
Best Dedicated Server Providers for E-commerce Businesses in India
The dedicated server options from Amazon Web Services (AWS), a well-known brand in the tech industry, are equally excellent. AWS’s elastic infrastructure can smoothly adjust to your demands whether your e-commerce business encounters variable traffic or you expect quick development. AWS guarantees that the speed and performance of your website will always be unmatched thanks...
The Best Dedicated Server Operating System for UK-Based Business
Cloud computing behemoth AWS is renowned for its extensive infrastructure and scalability choices. You can make use of AWS’s numerous data centers, which are positioned strategically to offer low-latency services all across the UK.
Source: featurestic.com
The Best Dedicated Servers for Enterprise Businesses in India: Scalable and Reliable
The extensive selection of cloud-based solutions offered by AWS is one of its main advantages. AWS provides a wide range of cloud services, including computing power, storage choices, databases, machine learning, analytics tools, and dedicated servers. This adaptability enables businesses to create scalable, flexible, and affordable solutions customized to their needs.
Source: india07.in

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Amazon AWS should be more popular than Microsoft Azure. It has been mentiond 443 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Microsoft Azure mentions (66)

  • How to Develop a Voice Chatbot
    Microsoft Azure offers a Bot Framework with built-in support for voice interactions via the Speech SDK. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Setting Up a Windows 11 Virtual Machine with Azure on a MacOs
    The first step in creating a virtual machine is getting a Microsoft account. Once you have a Microsoft account click this link to create an Azure free trial account. Click on the "Try Azure for free" button. This takes you to the page below. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • How To Create Windows 11 Virtual Machine in Azure
    Before you start, ensure you have an active Azure subscription, if you don't have one, Click here to create a free account. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • The 2024 Web Hosting Report
    A VM is the original “hosting” product of the cloud era. Over the last 20 years, VM providers have come and gone, as have enterprise virtualization solutions such as VMware. Today you can do this somewhere like OVHcloud, Hetzner or DigitalOcean, which took over the “server” market from the early 2000’s. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft's Azure also offer VMs, at a less... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Deploying flask app to Kubernetes using Minikube
    Before deploying the application with Kubernetes, you need to containerize the application using docker. This article shows how to deploy a Flask application on Ubuntu 22.04 using Minikube; a Kubernetes tool for local deployment for testing and free offering. Alternatively, you can deploy your container apps using Cloud providers such as GCP(Google Cloud), Azure(Microsoft) or AWS(Amazon). - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

Amazon AWS mentions (443)

  • How to Host an Express App on AWS EC2 with NGINX (Free Tier Guide)
    Sign in to your AWS account. If you’re new to AWS, you can sign up for the free tier to get started without any upfront cost. - Source: dev.to / 25 days ago
  • Understanding AWS Regions and Availability Zones: A Guide for Beginners
    Amazon Web Services (AWS) has completely changed the game for how we build and manage infrastructure. Gone are the days when spinning up a new service meant begging your sys team for hardware, waiting weeks, and spending hours in a cold data center plugging in cables. Now? A few clicks (or API calls), and yes — you've got an entire data center at your fingertips. - Source: dev.to / 19 days ago
  • AWS S3 Storage Classes Explained: Choosing the Right One
    Choosing the right AWS S3 storage class depends on how frequently you access your data and your cost constraints. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Deploy a Django Rest Api on AWS EC2 using Docker, NGINX, Gunicorn and GitHub Action.
    Let’s start by setting up an EC2 instance to deploy our application. To do this, and you’ll need to open an AWS account (if you don’t already have one). - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • AWS Solution Architect Job Description: Roles, Skills & Responsibilities (2025)
    The demand for cloud computing expertise continues to soar, and at the heart of many successful cloud implementations is the AWS Solution Architect. Amazon Web Services (AWS) dominates the cloud market, making professionals who can design, build, and manage solutions on its platform highly sought after. But what exactly does this role entail? Understanding the typical AWS Solution Architect job description is... - Source: dev.to / 23 days ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS, you can also consider the following products

DigitalOcean - Simplifying cloud hosting. Deploy an SSD cloud server in 55 seconds.

Linode - We make it simple to develop, deploy, and scale cloud infrastructure at the best price-to-performance ratio in the market.

Google Cloud Platform - Google Cloud provides flexible infrastructure, end-to-security, modern productivity, and intelligent insights engineered to help your business thrive.

Heroku - Agile deployment platform for Ruby, Node.js, Clojure, Java, Python, and Scala. Setup takes only minutes and deploys are instant through git. Leave tedious server maintenance to Heroku and focus on your code.

GoDaddy - GoDaddy makes registering Domain Names fast, simple, and affordable. Find out why so many business owners chose GoDaddy to be their Domain Name Registrar.

Vultr - VULTR Global Cloud Hosting - Brilliantly Fast SSD VPS Cloud Servers. 100% KVM Virtualization