Compare · Cloud platforms
AWS vs Microsoft Azure:which should you choose?
The two largest clouds in India, both with multiple regions. The usual question is not “which is better” but “which fits our existing stack, our team and our compliance needs”.
| AWS | Microsoft Azure | |
|---|---|---|
| Indian regions | Mumbai, Hyderabad (+ edge locations). | Central India (Pune), South India (Chennai), West India (Mumbai); more availability-zone options. |
| Strengths | Broadest service catalogue, maturity, startup credits, largest talent pool. | Microsoft 365/AD integration, hybrid (Arc, Azure Local), enterprise agreements, Windows licensing benefits. |
| Pricing feel | Pay-as-you-go with savings plans/reserved; egress adds up. | Similar; Hybrid Benefit cuts Windows/SQL costs; EA discounts for large enterprises. |
| Compliance (India) | MeitY empanelled; RBI/SEBI data-residency achievable in Indian regions. | MeitY empanelled; strong in BFSI/government due to Microsoft relationships. |
| Developer experience | Very large ecosystem, most tutorials and tooling default to AWS. | Excellent for .NET and Microsoft stacks; portal can be sprawling. |
| Best fit | Startups, SaaS, Linux-heavy engineering teams. | Microsoft-centric enterprises, hybrid estates, Windows/SQL workloads. |
Choose AWS if…
- You are a startup or SaaS on Linux/containers
- You want the largest hiring pool and tooling ecosystem
- You use AWS-native services (Lambda, DynamoDB, S3 ecosystem)
Choose Microsoft Azure if…
- You run Microsoft 365, AD and Windows servers
- You have an Enterprise Agreement and Hybrid Benefit
- You want hybrid with Arc/Azure Local
Our verdict
What we tell clients
Choose the cloud your team already knows and your licences already favour. For Microsoft shops, Azure usually wins on cost (Hybrid Benefit) and identity integration; for everyone else AWS remains the default. Either way, steady-state workloads cost 40–70% more than a well-run private cloud over three years — the right answer is often hybrid.
Written by engineers who run both in production. No vendor paid for this page.
FAQ
Questions we get on calls
Which is cheaper in India?
For like-for-like Linux VMs they are within ~10%; Windows/SQL workloads are cheaper on Azure with Hybrid Benefit; egress and managed services decide the rest.
Which has better India data residency?
Both offer Indian regions and are MeitY empanelled; Azure has more regions, AWS has Hyderabad as a second full region.
Can we use both?
Yes, but keep data gravity in one; multi-cloud mostly adds cost and complexity for SMEs.
Want a recommendation for your estate?
Send us your VM/host list or cloud bill; we return a written recommendation with a 3-year cost comparison within 48 hours — free.