Small API
2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 24/7
AWS 72% lower
As AI technology advances, choosing the right platform is crucial for your team's speed, governance, and long-term success. Both AWS and Azure have their strengths. The sections below compare them across developer experience, scalability, and total cost of ownership.
As AI technologies evolve, delivering and scaling applications has become essential for powering modern businesses, from AI startups to large-scale enterprises. There are various solutions available, including comprehensive cloud operating systems, managed Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and traditional IaaS. Selecting the right platform is crucial for your team's velocity, governance, and long-term success.
AWS and Azure both bring unique strengths to application delivery, each with its own capabilities and limitations. The best choice depends on your specific use case and requirements. In the following sections, we'll compare both platforms regarding developer experience, scalability, and total cost of ownership, helping you determine the most suitable option for your needs—even if it's not us.
| Infrastructure | AWS-managed PaaS | Azure-managed PaaS |
| Source Available | ||
| Deployment Options | AWS cloud only | Azure cloud only |
| Free Trial | AWS free tier (limited) | Azure free tier (limited) |
| Max vCPU per Service | Plan-based (EC2 instance types) | Plan-based (App Service Plan) |
| Max RAM per Service | Plan-based (EC2 instance types) | Plan-based (App Service Plan) |
| Custom Domains | (Route 53 / ALB) | |
| Replicas per Service | Plan-based (Auto Scaling) | Plan-based (scale out) |
| Cron Jobs | CloudWatch/EventBridge | WebJobs/Functions |
| Log Retention | Configurable (CloudWatch) | Configurable (Azure Monitor) |
| Scale-to-Zero | ||
| App Marketplace |
Cost evidence
Estimates use the listed average CPU and RAM for a 30-day month. Storage and egress are excluded unless a platform note says otherwise.
Small API
2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 24/7
Medium App
8 vCPU, 16GB RAM, 24/7
Production Stack
16 vCPU, 32GB RAM, 24/7
2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 24/7
AWS 72% lower
8 vCPU, 16GB RAM, 24/7
AWS 60% lower
16 vCPU, 32GB RAM, 24/7
AWS 15% lower
AWS calculation: EC2 + ELB + CloudWatch over 720 hours/month
Azure calculation: App Service Plan tiers + monitoring over 720 hours/month
Sources:AWS Elastic Beanstalk Pricing·Azure App Service Pricing
AWS Elastic Beanstalk is a mature AWS-native PaaS that automates deployment and scaling on top of EC2, ELB, Auto Scaling, and CloudWatch. It supports multiple runtimes, integrates deeply with AWS services, and lets teams deploy via the EB CLI or console. Beanstalk simplifies infrastructure management while keeping you inside the AWS ecosystem and cost model.
Azure App Service is Microsoft managed PaaS for hosting web apps, APIs, and containerized services. It integrates with Azure DevOps/GitHub, supports deployment slots, and scales within App Service Plans. It a strong fit for teams already on Azure who want a managed runtime with deep Azure integrations and enterprise compliance support.
Need deep integration with AWS services (RDS, S3, Lambda, etc.)
Require enterprise compliance (SOC, HIPAA, PCI)
Want deployment in multiple AWS regions worldwide
Need advanced Auto Scaling with custom metrics
Already invested in AWS infrastructure and expertise
Require VPC isolation and networking control
Building .NET applications with Microsoft tooling
Need Azure service integration (Cosmos DB, Blob Storage, etc.)
Require enterprise compliance with Azure certifications
Want deployment slots for zero-downtime staging
Using Azure AD for identity and access management
Need global Azure regions for worldwide deployment
Everything you need to know about AWS and Azure.