The honest answer to "which cloud should I use?" is: it depends. But that's not helpful. Here's the more useful version — based on the projects we've actually built and the trade-offs we've actually faced.
We work across all three major clouds. We don't have a favourite. What we have is an informed opinion on when each one is the right choice.
AWS: Still the Default for Good Reason
Amazon Web Services is the largest cloud by market share, and that breadth is its biggest advantage. If you need a managed service for something, AWS probably has it. The ecosystem of tooling, documentation, community resources, and third-party integrations is unmatched.
When to choose AWS:
- You need the widest range of managed services
- Your team already has AWS experience
- You need strong global edge presence (CloudFront, Lambda@Edge)
- You're building in fintech or healthcare where AWS compliance certifications matter
- You want the most mature serverless ecosystem (Lambda, API Gateway, SQS, SNS)
When AWS frustrates: The console is famously complex. IAM is powerful but notoriously difficult to reason about. Pricing is opaque — a fully-serverless architecture can surprise you at scale.
GCP: The AI-First Cloud
Google Cloud Platform has historically struggled to compete with AWS on breadth. But it has a clear and defensible advantage: AI and data infrastructure. BigQuery is arguably the best managed data warehouse available. Vertex AI gives you access to Google's model infrastructure. And the networking fabric that runs GCP is the same one that powers Google Search.
When to choose GCP:
- Your workload is data-heavy and you want BigQuery
- You're building AI features and want tight Vertex AI / Gemini integration
- You need Kubernetes at scale — GKE is where Kubernetes was born
- Network performance is critical — GCP's private backbone is excellent
- You're working with Google Workspace data (Drive, Gmail, Sheets) via APIs
When GCP frustrates: Smaller managed service catalogue than AWS. Some products have been sunset without warning (Google's reputation for killing products is real). Enterprise sales support is thinner in some regions.
Azure: The Enterprise and Microsoft Play
Microsoft Azure is the cloud of choice when your organisation already runs on Microsoft. Active Directory, Office 365, Teams, SQL Server — if those are in your stack, Azure integrates with all of them seamlessly. It's also the strongest cloud for .NET workloads.
When to choose Azure:
- Your organisation is Microsoft-first (AD, M365, Teams)
- You're running .NET or Windows Server workloads
- You need OpenAI models via Azure OpenAI Service (enterprise compliance)
- You have an existing Microsoft Enterprise Agreement
- You're in a regulated industry and need Microsoft's compliance portfolio
When Azure frustrates: The portal UX lags behind AWS and GCP. Resource naming conventions are inconsistent. Some services feel bolted on rather than native.
Multi-Cloud: Usually Not Worth It Early
Multi-cloud architectures sound resilient. In practice, they double your operational complexity without proportionate benefit for most teams. We recommend choosing one cloud and going deep on it. Multi-cloud makes sense at scale — when you're negotiating provider contracts, or when a specific workload genuinely requires a unique service on a different cloud.
Pick the cloud that best matches your team's skills and your primary workload type. Migrate later if you need to — but don't prematurely optimise for portability.
Our Decision Framework
When advising clients, we ask three questions:
- What does your team already know? The best cloud is the one your team can operate confidently. Reskilling has a real cost.
- What's your primary workload type? Data/AI → GCP. Broad enterprise → AWS. Microsoft stack → Azure.
- What are your compliance requirements? All three clouds have strong compliance portfolios — but the specifics vary by industry and region.
If you're starting a greenfield project with no existing preferences, we'd lean toward AWS for most web applications and GCP for AI-heavy or data-intensive products in 2025.
Need help with your cloud architecture? Talk to us — we design and implement cloud infrastructure across all three platforms.