The alternatives to Azure are endless, and businesses have various choices when it comes to cloud computing. One of the leading competitors of Azure is Amazon Web Services (AWS), which has become increasingly popular in recent years. When we talk about cloud computing, cloud hosting, or cloud servers, the three top cloud providers available are Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google.
Azure offers a variety of development tools, platform support, and free trials. However, it can be a little complex for beginners. Though Microsoft Azure offers tough competition to other cloud providers, it also comes with a few downsides. For instance, the technical support provided by Azure is not free, which can impact monthly expenses drastically. That’s why many people are looking for the best Microsoft Azure alternatives in 2023.
In this cloud platform guide, we will walk you through the top alternatives to Microsoft Azure services in 2023.
What Is Microsoft Azure?
We all are aware of Microsoft Windows, a well-known operating system in the world, and Azure is one of the Microsoft products. The cloud computing service is used for deploying, testing, creating, and maintaining cloud-based services through Azure data centers. The unique feature of Azure is that it offers multiple platforms like IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS.
Currently, Microsoft Azure is the hub of up to 600 services that have been launched in 54 regions. Amazon AWS, Azure, and GCP are the three biggest cloud computing companies growing exceptionally. These three have the largest market share in the cloud computing industry.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, Amazon Web Services (AWS) controlled 32% of the cloud market. In addition, Microsoft Azure takes second place with a 23% market share, followed by GCP with a 10% market share. Together, these three cloud vendors account for 65% of total spending, states the Statista report.
Best Microsoft Azure Alternatives And Competitors
Now that you know about Microsoft Azure, below are the best alternatives to Azure.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) – Paid
Amazon is one of the best competitors to Azure as both provide a wide range of services and quick AWS support. Many giant brands, like Samsung, Adobe, NASA, Netflix, Nokia, etc., use AWS cloud service. The cloud platform is highly scalable. However, the scalability comes at a cost, making it a little expensive compared to other standard cloud platforms.
Like Azure, AWS offers services such as Amazon EC2, RDS, VNC, CDN, CloudFront, and S3 cloud storage. However, an important thing to remember is that you require deep experience and knowledge to manage your AWS server.
RackSpace – Paid
Another top-of-the-line alternative to Azure is RackSpace. They claim that RackSpace is the number one managed cloud provider that serves public, private, multi-cloud, and hybrid cloud computing solutions.
You can use the public cloud for a number of purposes, like CMS, Joomla, WordPress, disaster recovery, network appliances, in-memory analytics, etc. Some important features of RackSpace include enhanced security, top-notch performance, and better control.
Google Cloud Platform – Paid
Google is counted among the four most prominent companies in the world. It is built with state-of-the-art technologies and cutting-edge hardware to deliver lightning-fast speed across the globe. It is known for its cost-effectiveness and efficiency.
Some important services of Google Cloud include GPU servers, hybrid multi-cloud machines, serverless computing solutions, and compute engines. However, Google Cloud might not be suitable if you are looking for a wide range of services like Azure or AWS.
IBM Cloud – Paid
IBM Cloud, formerly called SoftLayers, was founded by Lane Crosby in 2005. In 2013, it was acquired by IBM. The cloud service platform offers 170 products for executing IoT, AI, blockchain, and data management tasks.
Enterprises often use the platform to deploy high-performance Bare metal servers. In addition, developers can launch a cloud polyglot Function as a Service (FaaS) server based on Apache OpenWhisk. The virtual private cloud aims to provide a wide range of services for managing data, making it highly suitable for large enterprises.
MediaTemple – Paid
Handling unmanaged cloud services is not as easy as it seems. As Azure is a little complex to deal with, many users prefer MediaTemple. The cloud service platform is where you don’t have to spend hours maintaining your server.
MediaTemple offers fully managed cloud hosting via an AWS server. From optimization to monitoring, deploying, and building, MediaTemple can do everything for you. When you choose the platform, you can expect a fast response time of under 15 minutes.
GitHub – Free
GitHub is one of the best alternatives to Azure for companies and individual developers. It helps them to build, ship, and maintain their software for free. Using GitHub, developers can discover the best community-based projects for their work. If you are looking for a free Azure alternative, consider using GitHub.
OpenStack – Free
OpenStack is an open-source cloud platform and free Azure alternative that helps manage distributed compute, network, and storage resources. It can then aggregate resources into pools, allowing on-demand provisioning using a self-service tool. The tools called “projects” handle all the core computing services.
OpenShift – Free
Developed by Red Hat, OpenShift comprises containerization software products. The OpenShift Container Platform is the hybrid cloud platform as a service orchestrated and managed by Kubernetes and built around Linux containers. The best part about OpenShift is that it provides a lot of flexibility to run applications in the container platform.
Linode – Paid
Thanks to the Linux virtual machines and tools, Linode helps users to streamline and simplify the cloud infrastructure. They can develop, deploy, and scale the applications with a few simple steps. The core aim of Linode is to make virtual computing simple, accessible, and affordable.
Scaleway – Paid
One of the key benefits of Scaleway is that the platform is best for websites and small businesses. Cloud computing services help you save the invested money. However, the platform falls short when it comes to providing dedicated support.
Switching from one cloud platform to another or transferring your data from on-premise to the cloud isn’t easy. It’s best to call experts for help to avoid any unanticipated consequences. If you plan to choose a popular alternative to Azure, contact Inferenz experts. The cloud data professionals will help you choose the platform and make migration easy.
Switch To Azure Alternative With Inferenz Experts
Azure is an open and flexible cloud computing platform that helps you quickly build, deploy, and manage applications. Using a tool, framework, or language, you can build applications across a global network of Microsoft-managed data centers.
Some other alternatives to Azure include Hadoop, OneDrive, etc. While Hadoop is an open-source platform known for scalable, reliable, and distributed computing. Alternatively, OneDrive is a free Azure alternative that helps save your files and photos in one place.
Schedule a call with Inferenz experts if you want to choose alternatives to Azure, such as AWS or Google, in 2023!
FAQs About Alternatives To Azure Cloud
Is Azure better than Amazon Web Services?
Both cloud platforms are popular options for storing your data in the cloud environment. You can choose the one depending on your setup and needs. For instance, users could use AWS if they want to choose a platform with a wide range of services. On the other hand, they can opt for Azure if they want a simple and easy-to-use solution.
What are the benefits of cloud computing?
Some of the best reasons to adopt cloud solutions are high scalability, a pay-as-you-go pricing model, high speed and agility, global reach, and outsourcing. AWS, Azure, and GCP are the most secure, affordable, and feature-rich cloud computing platforms you can consider in 2023.
Which cloud service platform is the cheapest?
Based on the monthly cost, Alibaba Cloud Platform is an affordable solution, followed by Google Cloud Platform and Azure.
