AWS and Azure together command 62% of the global cloud market. Choosing between them is one of the most consequential architectural decisions an enterprise makes. Here's a data-driven comparison.
Market Position (2025)
| Metric | AWS | Azure |
|---|---|---|
| Market share | 31% | 25% |
| Services available | 200+ | 200+ |
| Global regions | 33 | 60+ |
| Revenue (2024) | $100B+ | $65B+ |
Service Comparison
Compute
| Use Case | AWS | Azure |
|---|---|---|
| VMs | EC2 | Virtual Machines |
| Containers | ECS/EKS | AKS |
| Serverless | Lambda | Azure Functions |
| Edge | Lambda@Edge | Azure CDN |
Database
| Use Case | AWS | Azure |
|---|---|---|
| Relational | RDS/Aurora | Azure SQL |
| NoSQL | DynamoDB | Cosmos DB |
| Caching | ElastiCache | Azure Cache |
| Data warehouse | Redshift | Synapse |
AI/ML
| Use Case | AWS | Azure |
|---|---|---|
| ML Platform | SageMaker | Azure ML |
| NLP | Comprehend | Cognitive Services |
| Vision | Rekognition | Computer Vision |
| Pre-built AI | Bedrock | Azure OpenAI Service |
Cost Comparison
For a typical enterprise workload (10 VMs, managed DB, 1TB storage):
- AWS: $8,500-$12,000/month
- Azure: $8,000-$11,500/month
Azure offers slight discounts for organisations with Microsoft Enterprise Agreements.
When to Choose AWS
- Startup or cloud-native company
- Need the broadest service selection
- Strongest DevOps services/infrastructure engineering
- Advanced networking requirements
When to Choose Azure
- Existing Microsoft ecosystem (Office 365, Active Directory)
- Enterprise with Windows Server workloads
- Hybrid cloud requirements
- AI/ML with OpenAI integration
Multi-Cloud Strategy
42% of enterprises now run multi-cloud. Benefits:
- Avoid vendor lock-in
- Best-of-breed service selection
- Geographic redundancy
- Negotiating leverage on pricing
Need cloud architecture guidance? Book a consultation to choose the right platform.