Here’s a comprehensive cheat sheet for Cloud Comparison Cheat Sheet – core services across Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud Platform (GCP), organized by major category, plus brief descriptions and links to official docs for deeper dives.
Compute Services
Cloud compute lets you provision virtual servers, deploy containers, or run serverless functions.
| Category | Azure Service | AWS Service | GCP Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Machines | Azure Virtual Machines | Amazon EC2 | Google Compute Engine |
| App Hosting | Azure App Service | Elastic Beanstalk | App Engine |
| Serverless Functions | Azure Functions | Lambda | Cloud Functions |
| Kubernetes | AKS | EKS | GKE |
Azure Virtual Machines provides on-demand, scalable virtual servers with both Linux and Windows support (Microsoft Azure).
Amazon EC2 delivers resizable compute capacity in the cloud, with hundreds of instance types and fine-grained billing (Amazon Web Services, Inc.).
Google Compute Engine offers high-performance VMs built on Google’s global infrastructure, designed for large compute clusters (Google Cloud).
App hosting and managed Kubernetes services similarly map across platforms via App Service/Beanstalk/App Engine and AKS/EKS/GKE
Storage Services
Persistent and object storage services are critical for data durability and performance.
| Category | Azure Service | AWS Service | GCP Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Object Storage | Blob Storage | S3 | Cloud Storage |
| File Shares | Files | EFS | Filestore |
| Block Storage | Disk Storage | EBS | Persistent Disks |
| Queues & Messaging | Queue Storage | SQS | Pub/Sub |
Each platform’s object store (Blob/S3/GCS) provides virtually unlimited, pay-as-you-go storage. File share and block store offerings (Azure Files/EFS/Disk vs. EBS/Persistent Disks) suit lift-and-shift workloads.
Database & Cache
Managed relational, NoSQL, and in-memory cache services speed development.
| Category | Azure Service | AWS Service | GCP Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relational DB | SQL Database | RDS | Cloud SQL |
| NoSQL DB | Cosmos DB | DynamoDB | Firestore / Bigtable |
| MySQL / PostgreSQL | DB for MySQL, PostgreSQL | RDS MySQL, PostgreSQL | Cloud SQL MySQL, PostgreSQL |
| In-Memory Cache | Cache for Redis | ElastiCache | Memorystore |
| Data Warehousing | Synapse Analytics | Redshift | BigQuery |
Azure SQL, RDS, and Cloud SQL offer fully managed MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server engines. Cosmos DB, DynamoDB, and Firestore/Bigtable cover document and wide-column NoSQL needs, while Synapse/Redshift/BigQuery support petabyte-scale analytics.
Networking & CDN
These services handle private networking, load balancing, and content delivery.
| Category | Azure Service | AWS Service | GCP Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Network | Virtual Network | VPC | VPC |
| Load Balancing | Load Balancer, App Gateway | ELB, ALB | Cloud Load Balancing |
| VPN & Direct Links | VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute | VPN, Direct Connect | Cloud VPN, Interconnect |
| CDN | Azure CDN | CloudFront | Cloud CDN |
All three platforms offer VPCs for isolated networks, multiple tiers of load balancers, and global CDNs to cache content at edge locations.
Analytics & Big Data
Batch, real-time processing, and ETL services for large-scale data workloads.
| Category | Azure Service | AWS Service | GCP Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hadoop / Spark | HDInsight, Databricks | EMR | Dataproc |
| Streaming | Stream Analytics | Kinesis | Dataflow |
| ETL / Pipelines | Data Factory | Glue | Data Fusion |
| SQL-on-S3 | Data Lake Analytics | Athena | BigQuery |
Synapse/EMR/Dataproc run large-scale Spark and Hadoop jobs; Stream Analytics/Kinesis/Dataflow handle real-time streams; Data Factory/Glue/Data Fusion orchestrate ETL pipelines.
Machine Learning & AI
Managed model training, inference, and pre-built AI APIs.
| Category | Azure Service | AWS Service | GCP Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| ML Platform | Machine Learning | SageMaker | Vertex AI |
| Vision & Speech | Cognitive Services (Vision/Speech) | Rekognition / Polly | Vision API / Text-to-Speech |
| NLP | Text Analytics | Comprehend | Natural Language API |
All three offer end-to-end ML platforms plus pre-trained AI APIs for common tasks like vision, speech, and text analysis.
Development & Deployment Tools
CI/CD, IaC, and API management to streamline DevOps.
| Category | Azure Service | AWS Service | GCP Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| CI/CD | DevOps (Pipelines) | CodePipeline / Build / Deploy | Cloud Build / Deployment Manager |
| Infrastructure as Code | Resource Manager | CloudFormation | Deployment Manager |
| API Management | API Management | API Gateway | Apigee |
Azure DevOps, AWS Code* suite, and Cloud Build/Deployment Manager cover the full development lifecycle.
Management, Monitoring & Security
Tools for observability, policy, and governance.
| Category | Azure Service | AWS Service | GCP Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monitoring | Monitor | CloudWatch | Operations (Stackdriver) |
| Security | Security Center / Sentinel | Security Hub / GuardDuty | Security Command Center |
| Secrets & Keys | Key Vault | Secrets Manager / KMS | Cloud KMS |
Each offers unified dashboards for logs/metrics, threat detection, and secure secret management.
Cost Management & Backup
Services to control spend and protect data.
| Category | Azure Service | AWS Service | GCP Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost Analysis | Cost Management | Cost Explorer | Cloud Billing |
| Backup & DR | Backup | AWS Backup | Cloud Storage Transfer Service |
Cost tools help you visualize and optimize spend; backup services automate snapshots and cross-region restores.
Whether you’re architecting a new system or migrating existing workloads, this cheat sheet will help you quickly identify equivalent services across the three major cloud providers—Azure, AWS, and GCP—so you can choose the best tools for your needs.
Summary:
| Category | Microsoft Azure | Amazon Web Services | Google Cloud Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compute | Azure Virtual Machines Azure App Service Azure Functions Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) | EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) Elastic Beanstalk Lambda EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) | Compute Engine App Engine Cloud Functions GKE (Kubernetes Engine) |
| Storage | Blob Storage File Storage Disk Storage Data Lake Storage Queue Storage | S3 (Simple Storage Service) EFS (Elastic File System) EBS (Elastic Block Store) Data Lake on S3 SQS (Simple Queue Service) | Cloud Storage Filestore Persistent Disks Cloud Storage (Data Lake) Pub/Sub |
| Database & Cache | SQL Database Cosmos DB Azure Database for MySQL Azure Database for PostgreSQL Azure Cache for Redis Synapse Analytics | RDS (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server) DynamoDB ElastiCache (Redis) Redshift | Cloud SQL (MySQL, PostgreSQL) Firestore Bigtable Memorystore (Redis) BigQuery |
| Networking & CDN | Virtual Network Load Balancer / Application Gateway VPN Gateway / ExpressRoute Azure CDN | VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) ELB / ALB (Elastic/Application Load Balancer) VPN / Direct Connect CloudFront | VPC Cloud Load Balancing Cloud VPN / Interconnect Cloud CDN |
| Analytics & Big Data | HDInsight Azure Databricks Stream Analytics Data Factory Data Lake Analytics | EMR (Elastic MapReduce) Kinesis Glue Athena | Dataproc Dataflow Data Fusion BigQuery |
| Machine Learning & AI | Azure Machine Learning Cognitive Services (Vision, Speech, Text Analytics) | SageMaker Rekognition Polly Comprehend | Vertex AI Vision API Text-to-Speech Natural Language API |
| Dev & Deployment | Azure DevOps (Pipelines, Repos, Artifacts) ARM (Resource Manager) API Management Logic Apps | CodePipeline CodeBuild CodeDeploy CloudFormation API Gateway Step Functions | Cloud Build Deployment Manager Apigee Cloud Workflows |
| Security & IAM | Entra ID (AAD) Key Vault Azure AD B2C | IAM Directory Service Secrets Manager KMS Cognito | Cloud IAM Cloud Identity Cloud KMS |
| Management & Monitoring | Azure Monitor Security Center Sentinel | CloudWatch Security Hub GuardDuty | Operations (formerly Stackdriver) Security Command Center |
| Cost & Backup | Cost Management + Billing Azure Backup Site Recovery | Cost Explorer + Billing AWS Backup | Cloud Billing Backup & DR (via Storage Transfer Service) |