AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud: Cost Comparison 2025

Cloud costs can go up fast if you're not watchful. Here's what you should know about AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud in 2025 to pick wisely:

• AWS: Top choice with varied pay plans like Reserved Instances and Savings Plans, giving up to 72% off. Yet, hidden fees, like data move fees, can grow fast.
• Azure: Big in the UK, great for Microsoft folks, with cuts for Windows and SQL Server. Has a good local feel, but moving data between spots can hike up costs.
• Google Cloud: Tops for data study, AI, and big jobs. Has auto Sustained Use Cuts and good Committed Use Cuts but not as bendy as AWS.

Fast Look At Each

Key Tip: Save money by using deals (like Spot or Reserved Instances). Use tools for managing resources well, such as autoscaling. Watch out for extra costs, like data move fees or stuff you don't use.

For firms in the UK, think about rules on local data (like GDPR) and the high cost of power when picking a provider. Azure is often good for those using Microsoft tools, AWS fits many different needs, and Google Cloud is great for AI and data work.

Begin cutting down your cloud spending now to stop losing as much as 32% of your cloud money.

I choose Azure in 2025, why not AWS or GCP? (The Logic behind)

How AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Price Their Services

Cloud companies bill you in different ways, and knowing these differences can help you keep lots of money. AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud all let you pay as you use, but things like how often you get billed, deals you can get, and ways to tie in your use can change your total cost a lot.

Paying as You Use vs. Booking in Advance

Paying as you use is easy and lets you change things anytime, but can waste money if you're not always using what you pay for. AWS bills by the hour or even by the second, while Azure might bill per minute or second for some things [3]. Google Cloud gives price cuts that start on their own if you keep using it without needing a promise from you.

Booking some services in advance is where you can save big. AWS Reserved Instances are of two kinds: Standard RIs, which give big price cuts but lock you to certain types, and Convertible RIs, which let you change types but with smaller cuts. AWS also has Savings Plans that let you agree to spend a certain amount every hour on things like EC2, Fargate, and Lambda [5].

Azure offers Reservations for jobs you know will stay the same with one- or three-year deals, and Savings Plans for Compute for needs that change a lot [5].

Google Cloud does it a bit different. It has Committed Use Discounts (CUDs), needing one- or three-year deals, and Sustained Use Discounts (SUDs), which give you price cuts based on how much you use every month [5].

Here's a simple look at how these three big names can help you save money:

Payment plans can change. AWS lets you pick no pay now, some pay now, or all pay now with Reserved Instances. You can also sell unused RIs on the AWS Market. But, Azure and Google Cloud want all money at the start for their plans and you can't stop once you start [5].

The way they set prices is also shaped by where you are, mainly in the UK and Europe.

UK and European Region Pricing Differences

Where you are adds more to cloud costs. In the UK and Europe, Azure is big, mainly with the public due to its strong ties and local data hubs [1]. This means better prices for those who use Microsoft stuff.

Rules on data staying in a region, like GDPR and data rules, matter too. UK firms often have to keep data in certain areas, which can cut off cheaper options and push up costs in the UK .

For example, it costs more in the London area than other places in Europe. Recent info shows that prices in European data centers are going up, with London getting the highest rises [6]. This makes careful cost plans even more key.

Price changes in money also add to the mess. Even though all three providers bill in many currencies, changes in rates can change costs when prices are in US dollars. Azure's big role in Europe often makes costs in pounds more stable.

For UK firms, Azure usually is the best pick, especially if you use Microsoft ways of working. Discounts for Windows, SQL Server, and other Microsoft stuff make Azure look good. AWS might cost more at first but has discounts if you get how it works. Google Cloud is strong in areas like AI, data stuff, and tasks that go long [2].

Getting how these area things work is key to handle cloud costs well in the UK.

Main Cost Spots: Compute, Storage, and Networking

When we talk about the costs of the cloud, compute, storage, and networking are the big parts that set your final cost. How each provider sets their prices can change what you pay a lot.

Compute Costs: Check Between Types

Compute units often use the most money. Things like the type of processor, how much memory, and how you pay all affect the cost. It's very important to pick well here to manage your cloud costs right.

ARM vs x86 Power and Prices

AWS Graviton chips are known for giving good value against the usual Intel or AMD chips. For instance, AWS Graviton3 units can do up to 25% better work than the older Graviton2 for normal jobs. Even Graviton2 gave up to 40% better cost-to-work ratio than x86 units [9].

This means ARM-based units often give more power for your cash, mainly for jobs that fit their strength.

Real Prices for Units

Here’s a quick look at what unit prices are like for UK businesses:

Azure's ARM-based units start cheap, but AWS Graviton leads in how well they work. Google Cloud's prices are in between, which makes it key to plan well.

Stay away from old CPUs as they work less well, costing more and doing less. For example, old Intel Emerald Rapids may not work well with old drivers [8]. New CPUs can save cash and boost how they work.

Costs of Storing: Block and Archive Types

Costs to store depend on how often you get to your data and how fast you need it.

Block Storage for Busy Work

Azure has low prices for block storage, starting at about £0.014 per GB each month [7]. Google Cloud is next at about £0.016 per GB per month, with AWS much higher at about £0.12 per GB per month [7].

Over time, this adds up. For storing a 1TB database you use every day, it would be about £14/month on Azure, £16/month on Google, but about £120/month on AWS.

Archive Storage for Long Hold Data

For data you don't need often, all three have cheap archive choices:

• AWS S3 Glacier Deep Archive: £0.00079 per GB per month [10]
• Azure Archive Access Tier: £0.00079 per GB per month [11]
• Google Cloud Archive Storage: £0.00032 per GB per month [11]

AWS and Azure give the best costs for long hold storage. Google Cloud's archive is more costly.

Smart Storage Handling

Most files (93%) stay in the normal class on S3 [10], showing many don't use the cheaper tiers. Having auto rules to move old data to cheap storage can cut costs without you having to do it manually.

Networking Costs: Data Moving and Top Tiers

Networking fees can show up fast, especially when shifting data around or out to the web.

Internet Data Moving Costs

Putting data up in the cloud is free all around, but taking it down costs:

• AWS: £0.072 per GB for the first 10TB, then £0.04 per GB after 150TB [12]
• Azure: First 100GB is free, then £0.064 per GB for the next 10TB [12]
• Google Cloud: First 200GB is free, then £0.068 per GB for up to 10TB [12]

Azure has a bit lower prices for big moves compared to others.

Costs for Moving Data Between Places

Moving data between spots adds extra costs:

• AWS: £0.008 to £0.072 per GB, based on the places
• Azure: £0.016 to £0.128 per GB
• Google Cloud: £0.016 to £0.112 per GB

To keep costs down, keep compute and storage in the same place. This cuts costs and works better. For work across the globe, plan well to avoid needless data moves.

Top Network Tiers

Google Cloud has two network levels: standard and premium. The premium level uses Google’s private network and often gives the lowest delay across the world - this is key for apps that need to be very fast.

A study by StormForge shows that near half of cloud money is lost due to too much supply and hard setups [7]. By knowing these cost spots, you can make wiser choices and use your cloud money well.

Discounts, Hidden Costs, and Cost Reduction Methods

First, we went over basic prices. Now, let's look at cuts, sneaky extra costs, and ways to lower costs. To handle money well, use discount plans, see hidden fees, and try saving methods. Each cloud firm has different ways to cut your costs, so it's key to know these paths.

Big Cuts and Promise Plans

Big groups often get special cut plans, but these vary by firm.

AWS Private Price Deal (PPA)

For those who buy a lot, AWS has the Private Price Deal (used to be called the Enterprise Cut Plan). You need to pay at least £80,000 each month, with real cuts starting when you spend over £800,000 a year [12]. Cuts begin at 6% for this least promise and go up more with more spend, up to the top level for yearly promises close to £40 million [12]. But know, this comes with a need for AWS Enterprise Help, and PPA cuts don’t add to your yearly promise [13]. AWS Market buys, though, may cover up to 25% of your yearly promise [13].

Google Cloud Promised Use Cuts

Google Cloud gives two main cut choices. Resource-based promises can cut up to 70% on memory-boosted machine types and up to 55% on other kinds, with more cuts of up to 79% on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server images [14]. Compute Flexible CUDs cut 28% for 1-year promises and 46% for 3-year promises on things like Compute Engine, GKE, and Cloud Run [14]. For example, if your costs for 100 vCPUs are about £2,307 each month, a 1-year promise with a 37% cut could drop it to £1,453, and you save about £854. A 3-year promise with a 55% cut could bring it down to £1,038, saving about £1,269 [15].

Azure Enterprise Deal

Azure’s Enterprise Deal helps big groups by giving cuts based on funds and deal times. It also locks in prices and puts all bills in one place for easy handling.

These plans give cuts, but sneaky charges can still slip into your cloud bills.

Sneaky Cost Bits

Surprise fees can push up your cloud costs. Knowing these sneaky costs helps dodge bad shocks.

Data Move Costs

Moving data, either between areas or spots, often brings added fees. For bit, Azure charges about £0.010 per GB for moves in the same area and around £0.046 per GB for cross-continent moves. Moves from places like Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, and Africa to other bits of the world can cost up to £0.073 per GB [16].

AWS Sneaky Fees

AWS users may see extra costs from running AWS Market spots, store fees for not-used bits, saved snaps, and not-used Elastic IP addresses. Cross-Region Copying might also lead to surprise data move fees [17].

Wasted Bits

A big part of cloud costs - up to 30% - comes from wasted bits [16]. This may be not-used virtual machines, extra data, or bits left on in times they're not needed.

Ways to Cut Costs

Let's dive into ways to lower costs, but first, let's look at these sneaky costs and how we can dodge or cut them. Getting these down can drop the price of running in the cloud.

Apart from cutting prices, using smart steps early can truly drop your cloud costs. Wise money handling can slash prices by up to 30%.

Spot and Preemptible Instances

Cut-price computer uses can save a lot of cash. Google Cloud's cheap VMs can cut prices by up to 80% [19], while Azure Spot VMs can trim costs by as much as 90% next to normal use [18]. Groups using Spot piece auto have told of huge savings, with a few cutting main cluster costs by 65% and Kubernetes costs by 40–70%, all with no breaks [18].

Sustained Use and Auto Discounts

Google Cloud gives up to 30% off for non-stop apps. With Committed Use Discounts, firms can get up to 57% off over normal rates [19].

Right-Sizing and Auto

Often checking and fixing how much you use can save money fast. Autoscaling makes sure uses match needs, while ending runs in less important setups stops waste. For instance, PlayPlay used auto to tune Kubernetes jobs, swapping 13 parts for better ones, saving around £1,430 each month with no stops [4].

Storage Life Management

Making auto rules to move old data to less costly spots can really trim costs. Life rules, for one, can move stuff from normal to keep spots, cutting hands-on work and costs [19].

Resource Tags and Checks

Tagging items well helps you see costs by team, piece, or spot. This clear view lets you spot how money flows, set cash plans, and look for jumps in costs.

UK Rules and Local Cost Issues

In the UK, rules and power plans are key in setting the real cost of cloud services. These local points can bring extra costs for firms, yet knowing them can aid you in planning your money better.

GDPR and Data Home Costs

Following GDPR costs UK companies a lot. A 2024 ICO study found old tech caused 42% of GDPR fines, with the mean fine for small and mid-size firms at £56,000 [20].

Old tech not only ups the risk of not following rules but also makes it tough to meet GDPR needs. Moving to new cloud tech can cut these risks a lot. Things like full encryption, access based on role, auto track keeping, and solid backup plans with right keep rules make a big change. In fact, a 2025 Gartner report said firms using managed cloud help cut their GDPR-linked IT rule costs by up to 35%, and also made data safety and report rightness better [20].

Data rule has also turned key for firms. In a European pool, 21% saw data rule as a top three pick in choosing a cloud store firm. This grew to 29% among IT heads in Germany [22].

The big cloud firms - AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud - have UK data sites, letting firms keep data local and follow GDPR and stay rules. Microsoft, for one, cut prices by 5% to 6% for cloud help in the UK, starting 1st February 2025 [21].

To keep GDPR costs low, firms should check their current setup for old gear, no-support software, and hand-run steps. Making data storage better and working with IT help known with GDPR and UK rules can also cut risks and costs [20]. More than data rules, UK power plans add more cost layers to cloud services.

Power and Weather-linked Bills

Power costs in the UK are big in cloud pricing, and new weather-linked rules add to the bills. UK power plans focus on making, which puts data sites at a loss [23]. As data centers are not seen as Energy High Firms (EII), they take all charges for sending, network, and rules [23]. These high power costs are, in the end, given to cloud service users.

From 2025, the UK’s Green Hosting Rules will need SMEs to watch and tell on carbon drops tied to their hosting tasks. To help with costs, the state has started steps like tax cuts and grants [24]. Cloud firms are getting used to these changes. For example, Google UK aims to run on or near 90% carbon-free power each hour by 2025. This is a big jump from the guessed 67%, helped by a new deal with ENGIE for 100 MW of carbon-free power from the Moray West sea wind farm in Scotland [26].

To cut down on costs tied to energy and climate, firms can team up with hosts that focus on green energy and low-energy setups. Using tools to watch carbon can aid in tracking gas output in real-time and make needed reports, while making digital work more efficient can cut down on extra energy use [24].

Laws will keep changing. By 2024, big data places (1MW or bigger, or 10MW if just for one firm) may be seen as Key National Works and face new rules [25]. With 78% of UK firms using cloud tech [23], it's key to think about these local costs when picking providers.

Conclusion: Smart Money Choices for Clouds in 2025

To make good cloud money choices in 2025, you need to look deep into how each service sets its cost. AWS stands out by giving lots of choices, but it might cost more at first. Yet, you can cut these costs with some discount plans. Azure works well for groups that already use Microsoft tools, as it fits right in. Google Cloud can be less costly for jobs tied to AI, data work, and tasks that take a long time [2].

Discount plans can change the game. Choices like Spot Instances can drop prices by up to 90%, and Savings Plans or Reserved Instances can save up to 72% [4][28]. To use these discounts well, you must be active in managing your costs.

Cloud Cost Optimization ensures that the most suitable cloud resources are allocated to each workload, optimizing for performance, cost, scalability, and security. The goal is to maximize return on investment and overall business value from cloud expenditures. – nOps [27]

Keeping costs low means always checking and using tools that do the job for us. Without this, up to 70% of cloud money could be wasted [29]. Programs that watch costs live, fix sizes, and stop unused resources are key. AI and learning tools are also growing in use for these tasks, making keeping track of money easier [27].

For UK businesses, local issues make it more complex. With 78% of UK firms using cloud services [23], knowing local energy costs and rules is key. The UK's energy rules, hard on data places, plus GDPR needs and the coming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, all shape cloud budgets.

More and more, hybrid and multi-cloud ways are used, letting businesses pick the cheapest provider for certain services [2]. Also, good tagging, clear cost sharing, and strong FinOps ways make sure cloud money is well spent and meets rules.

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