AWS vs Azure vs GCP
Introduction
Cloud provider select pannradhu oru big decision. AWS, Azure, GCP ā moonu um powerful, moonu um different strengths vachirukaanga. š¤
"Best cloud evadhu?" nu direct ah answer panna mudiyaadhu ā unga use case, budget, team skills ā ellam matter pannum.
Indha article la detailed comparison paapom ā especially AI/ML perspective la. Tables, real examples, pricing ā ellam cover pannrom. Let's go! ā”
Cloud Market Overview (2026)
Current cloud market scenario:
| Provider | Market Share | Revenue (Yearly) | Strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS | ~32% | $100B+ | Most services, mature |
| Azure | ~23% | $75B+ | Enterprise, Microsoft |
| GCP | ~11% | $40B+ | AI/ML, Data analytics |
| Others | ~34% | - | Alibaba, Oracle, IBM |
Key insight: AWS dominant dhaan, but GCP fastest growing ā especially AI space la. Azure enterprise customers la strong. š
Fun fact: Netflix runs on AWS, LinkedIn runs on Azure, Spotify runs on GCP! š¬š¼šµ
AI/ML Services Comparison
AI/ML services ā idhudhaan namma ku most important:
| AI Service | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| ML Platform | SageMaker | Azure ML | Vertex AI |
| Pre-trained Models | Bedrock | Azure OpenAI | Model Garden |
| AutoML | SageMaker Autopilot | AutoML | AutoML |
| GPU Options | P5, G5 instances | NC, ND series | A2, G2 (TPUs!) |
| LLM Access | Claude, Llama | GPT-4, GPT-4o | Gemini, PaLM |
| Vision AI | Rekognition | Computer Vision | Vision AI |
| Speech AI | Transcribe/Polly | Speech Service | Speech-to-Text |
| NLP | Comprehend | Language Service | Natural Language |
Winner for AI: GCP š ā TPU access, Vertex AI platform, and Google's AI research directly integrate aagudhu.
Runner up: Azure ā OpenAI partnership, GPT-4 direct access.
Pricing Deep Dive
Pricing compare pannrom ā small AI app scenario:
Scenario: AI chatbot, 10K users/day, 1 GPU for inference
| Resource | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compute (2 vCPU, 8GB) | $60/mo | $58/mo | $52/mo |
| GPU (T4, 100hrs) | $350/mo | $365/mo | $330/mo |
| Storage (100GB) | $2.30/mo | $2.40/mo | $2.00/mo |
| Database (Small) | $15/mo | $15/mo | $12/mo |
| Load Balancer | $18/mo | $18/mo | $18/mo |
| **Total** | **~$445** | **~$458** | **~$414** |
GCP slightly cheaper for AI workloads! Plus TPU access extra advantage.
ā ļø Note: Prices change frequently. Always check official pricing pages. Spot instances use pannina 60-70% save pannalam! š°
Cloud Provider AI Stack Comparison
āāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāā ā CLOUD AI STACK COMPARISON ā āāāāāāāāāāāāāā¬āāāāāāāāāāāāā¬āāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāā⤠ā AWS ā AZURE ā GCP ā āāāāāāāāāāāāāā¼āāāāāāāāāāāāā¼āāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāā⤠ā ā ā ā ā Bedrock ā Azure ā Vertex AI ā ā (LLM Hub) ā OpenAI ā (ML Platform) ā ā ā Service ā ā ā SageMaker ā Azure ML ā AI Platform ā ā (Train) ā Studio ā + TPUs ā ā ā ā ā ā Lambda ā Functions ā Cloud Functions ā ā (Serverless)ā(Serverless)ā(Serverless) ā ā ā ā ā ā EC2+GPU ā NC/ND VMs ā Compute+GPU/TPU ā ā (Compute) ā (Compute) ā (Compute) ā ā ā ā ā ā S3 ā Blob ā Cloud Storage ā ā (Storage) ā Storage ā (Storage) ā ā ā ā ā āāāāāāāāāāāāāā“āāāāāāāāāāāāā“āāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāā
AWS ā The Market Leader
Amazon Web Services (AWS) ā largest cloud provider š„
Strengths ā :
- 200+ services ā anything you need, irukku
- Most mature, most documentation
- Largest community, most tutorials
- Best marketplace (AMIs, SageMaker models)
- Global ā 33 regions, 105 availability zones
Weaknesses ā:
- Complex pricing ā bill predict panna kashtam
- UI/Console old feeling ā Azure, GCP better
- AI services not as cutting-edge as GCP
Best AI Services:
- SageMaker ā End-to-end ML platform
- Bedrock ā Multiple LLMs (Claude, Llama, Titan) oru place la
- Lambda ā Serverless AI inference (cheap!)
Best for: Large teams, enterprise, job market value š¼
Azure ā The Enterprise King
Microsoft Azure ā enterprise favorite š„
Strengths ā :
- OpenAI exclusive partnership ā GPT-4 direct access!
- Microsoft ecosystem (Office 365, Teams, GitHub) integration
- Enterprise compliance ā HIPAA, SOC2, etc. ready
- Hybrid cloud best ā on-premises + cloud seamless
- GitHub Copilot backend runs on Azure
Weaknesses ā:
- Smaller service catalog than AWS
- Documentation sometimes confusing
- Portal can be slow
Best AI Services:
- Azure OpenAI Service ā GPT-4, GPT-4o, DALL-E 3 directly use pannalam
- Azure ML Studio ā Drag-and-drop ML training
- Cognitive Services ā Pre-built AI APIs (vision, speech, language)
Best for: Companies already using Microsoft, enterprise AI, GPT-4 apps š¢
GCP ā The AI Powerhouse
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) ā AI/ML king š„ (market share la, but AI la š„)
Strengths ā :
- TPUs ā Google's custom AI chips, training 2-5x faster
- Vertex AI ā Best integrated ML platform
- Google's AI research directly ā TensorFlow, JAX, Gemini
- BigQuery ā Best data analytics
- Kubernetes originated from Google (GKE is the best)
Weaknesses ā:
- Smaller market share ā fewer jobs compared to AWS
- Less services overall
- Enterprise features still catching up
- Smaller community
Best AI Services:
- Vertex AI ā Train, deploy, manage ML models
- TPU v5 ā Custom AI accelerators (cheaper than GPUs for large models)
- Gemini API ā Google's latest LLM
- BigQuery ML ā ML directly in SQL queries!
Best for: AI/ML focused teams, data-heavy apps, researchers š¬
How to Choose? Decision Framework
Quick decision guide:
š¤ "I want to build AI apps with GPT-4" ā Azure (OpenAI partnership)
š§ "I want to train custom ML models" ā GCP (TPUs + Vertex AI)
š¢ "I want most job opportunities" ā AWS (highest demand)
š° "I have limited budget" ā GCP ($300 free credits)
š§ "I use Microsoft tools already" ā Azure
š "I need big data + AI" ā GCP (BigQuery + Vertex AI)
š "I need maximum services" ā AWS (200+ services)
Pro tip: Learn at least 2 cloud providers. AWS + GCP is a powerful combo for AI developers! šÆ
Real-World AI Company Choices
Famous companies enna cloud use pannraanga:
| Company | Cloud | AI Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Netflix | AWS | Recommendation engine |
| OpenAI | Azure | GPT-4 training & serving |
| DeepMind | GCP | AlphaFold, Gemini |
| Uber | GCP + AWS | Demand prediction |
| Airbnb | AWS | Image classification |
| Spotify | GCP | Music recommendations |
| Samsung | Azure | Bixby AI assistant |
| AWS | Visual search AI | |
| Twitter/X | GCP | Content moderation |
| Azure | Job recommendations |
Notice: Many large companies use multi-cloud ā one provider la dependent aagaama irukkaanga! š
Certification Roadmap
Cloud certifications ā career boost ku:
AWS Path š:
- Cloud Practitioner (Beginner) ā ā¹8,000
- Solutions Architect Associate ā ā¹12,000
- ML Specialty ā ā¹25,000
Azure Path š:
- AZ-900 Fundamentals (Beginner) ā ā¹5,000
- AI-900 AI Fundamentals ā ā¹5,000
- AI-102 AI Engineer ā ā¹12,000
GCP Path š:
- Cloud Digital Leader (Beginner) ā ā¹8,000
- Associate Cloud Engineer ā ā¹15,000
- Professional ML Engineer ā ā¹15,000
Recommendation: Start with one cloud Fundamentals cert ā then go for AI/ML specialty. 3-6 months preparation podhum. Free courses available on Coursera, YouTube! š
Prompt: Cloud Selection Helper
ā Key Takeaways
ā AWS Market Leader ā 32% share, 200+ services, most documentation, largest community. Jobs highest demand dhaan. UI complex, pricing predict hard
ā Azure Enterprise King ā 23% share, OpenAI exclusive partnership, GPT-4 direct access. Microsoft ecosystem integration seamless. Hybrid cloud best
ā GCP AI Powerhouse ā 11% share, TPU custom chips (2-5x faster training), Vertex AI integrated platform, BigQuery + ML combination powerful. Cost slightly lower
ā AI Services ā GCP: Vertex AI + TPUs. Azure: OpenAI Service + Cognitive APIs. AWS: SageMaker + Bedrock. Each different strengths
ā Free Credits Comparison ā AWS 12 months free tier, Azure $200 credits + 12 months free, GCP $300 credits 90 days. All try-before-buy options
ā Pricing Similar ā Small AI apps: ā¹400-500/month cost same all three. GCP slightly cheaper, negligible difference. Pricing optimization per workload
ā Job Market Reality ā AWS jobs most postings, highest salaries. Azure growing enterprise. GCP specialized ML roles. AWS + one more provider = strong resume
ā Recommendation Pragmatic ā Learn AWS (career value). Start GCP (best AI tools, free credits). Add Azure (completeness). Multi-cloud engineers premium
š š® Mini Challenge
Challenge: Deploy Same AI App on All 3 Clouds
Theory mattum illa ā hands-on practice! Simple chatbot app deploy pannunga AWS, Azure, GCP la and compare!
Step 1: Simple Flask Chatbot Create Pannunga š¤
Step 2: AWS la Deploy Pannunga āļø
Step 3: Azure la Deploy Pannunga šµ
Step 4: GCP la Deploy Pannunga š”
Step 5: Performance & Cost Compare Pannunga š
- Latency check pannunga (which is fastest?)
- Deployment time compare
- Monthly cost estimate compare
- Ease of deployment compare
Deliverable: Simple spreadsheet with comparison + screenshots from all 3 clouds
Time: 2-3 hours (if accounts already ready)
Skill Gain: Hands-on experience with all 3 cloud providers ā
š¼ Interview Questions
Q1: AWS vs GCP ā AI model training ku which better? Why?
A: GCP better ā TPUs available, Vertex AI platform specifically designed for ML. AWS SageMaker also powerful but GCP TPUs training time 2-5x faster and cost-effective for large models. Depends on model size ā small models: both same, large models: GCP.
Q2: OpenAI API use pannanum na which cloud choose pannu?
A: Azure ā official OpenAI partnership, GPT-4o access guaranteed, same pricing as OpenAI, enterprise support. AWS also supports via Bedrock but Azure is direct and official.
Q3: Cloud cost optimization ā top 3 tips?
A: (1) Spot/Preemptible instances use pannunga ā 60-70% discount. (2) Reserved instances ā 1 year commitment, 30% discount. (3) Auto-scaling setup ā peak hours only scale up, off-peak scale down. Monitoring + billing alerts essential.
Q4: Multi-cloud strategy ā when needed? Risks?
A: When needed: vendor lock-in avoid, best services from each cloud, disaster recovery. Risks: operational complexity, team training, cost management difficult, data transfer costs between clouds. Start single-cloud, then expand if needed.
Q5: Azure Hybrid Cloud ā what is? When use pannudhu?
A: On-premises servers + Azure cloud combine. When needed: compliance (data must stay local), legacy apps modernization, disaster recovery, burst capacity. Azure best (Azure Stack, ExpressRoute). Expensive ā large enterprise use only.
Frequently Asked Questions
AI model training ku best hardware acceleration evadhu GCP la?