Cloud computing providers can look identical from a distance, a gray skyline of logos and jargon. Step closer, and the differences suddenly matter. Prices shift by workload, security promises live or die on configuration, and one wrong choice can leave a growing business trapped in a contract it no longer loves.
In 2024, cloud computing providers are not just utilities. They are business partners, force multipliers, and sometimes the only thing standing between an ambitious idea and a stalled launch. This guide walks through why specific providers stand out this year, and how beginners, freelancers, startups, and small businesses can choose and use them with confidence.
Understand what cloud computing providers actually do
Before picking providers, it helps to anchor what they really provide. Under the marketing language, most big-name cloud computing providers sell three building blocks.
First, there is infrastructure. This is virtualized compute, storage, and networking that replaces or supplements physical servers and hard drives. These are often called cloud computing services and, at the base layer, are known as IaaS cloud computing.
Second, there are platforms. These are higher level tools that sit on top of infrastructure. They give developers ready-made environments to build, test, and run applications without managing the underlying servers. These are typically grouped as cloud computing platforms.
Third, there are fully managed applications. Think file sync, document editing, CRM systems, and email, all delivered through the browser. This is usually called Software as a Service and feels less like infrastructure and more like everyday business software.
For a freelancer running a one person studio, the story might start with simple cloud data storage. For a startup launching an API, it might begin with containers and serverless functions. Either way, these layers are what every major provider is really selling, just packaged and priced differently.
See why the “big three” dominate in 2024
In 2024 and into early 2025, three cloud computing providers dominate the global market: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Together they control roughly 63 percent of the worldwide cloud infrastructure market, with AWS at about 29 percent, Azure at 22 percent, and GCP at 12 percent (CloudZero).
For IT beginners and small businesses, that dominance has practical consequences. Documentation is richer, tutorials are everywhere, and most third party tools support at least one of these three by default. They also compete fiercely on features, performance, security certifications, and pricing models.
AWS offers over 200 services and more than 114 availability zones across 36 regions, and it is best known for its IaaS workhorses like EC2 for virtual servers, S3 for object storage, and RDS for managed databases (CloudZero). Azure matches that breadth with its own 200 plus services, spread across 60 regions and 126 availability zones, and leans heavily into hybrid cloud and tight integration with existing Microsoft tools (CloudZero). GCP covers 42 regions and 127 availability zones and specializes in AI, machine learning, Kubernetes, and advanced analytics, often attracting younger or more data centric companies already using Gmail and Google Workspace (CloudZero).
For a small team, this means the big three are often a safe default. The real question becomes not “are they reliable” but “which one matches this particular business, tech stack, and budget”.
Compare AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud in plain language
The easiest way to see why these cloud computing providers stand out in 2024 is to line up what they are good at.
| Provider | What they are best known for | Who tends to benefit most |
|---|---|---|
| AWS | Deep catalog of services, mature IaaS, global scale | Startups that want maximum flexibility, fast growing SaaS businesses, technically confident teams |
| Microsoft Azure | Integration with Windows, Office, and on premises systems, strong hybrid cloud | Small and medium businesses already using Microsoft 365, enterprises with existing Microsoft licensing |
| Google Cloud Platform (GCP) | AI, ML, Kubernetes, analytics, BigQuery | Data focused startups, app developers, and teams that live in Google Workspace |
According to multiple independent analyses, AWS continues to be the largest and most mature provider, with more than 200 services and a 37 percent annual growth rate that made up over half of Amazon’s operating income in 2023 (BMC). Azure is the second largest, growing even faster at 46 percent annually and used by over 95 percent of the Fortune 500 (BMC). GCP remains smaller but is the fastest growing of the three, with its market share growth rate hitting about 54 percent and further growth expected in 2024 (BMC).
Varonis highlights a similar pattern. AWS leads in range of services and global data centers, from compute and storage to analytics and IoT, with a focus on high availability and low latency (Varonis). Azure competes closely with deep integration into the Microsoft ecosystem and strong hybrid cloud support, while GCP stands out for data analytics, Kubernetes, high performance networking, and advanced AI tooling (Varonis).
For a small business choosing a first provider, this table is not abstract. It points to a specific kind of fit: existing Microsoft shop, go looking at Azure first. Building data heavy products, give GCP a close look. Want the broadest menu and a massive community, AWS is likely the front runner.
Learn the pricing models without the jargon
Every cloud computing provider advertises “pay as you go,” but the details change from platform to platform. Understanding the basic pricing models helps a beginner or founder keep bills predictable instead of surprising.
On demand pricing is the default and simplest option. Customers pay for what they use, typically by the hour or even the second, with no long term commitment. Exoscale describes this as the most common model across providers, with its own platform billing hourly but calculating usage with per second granularity and no minimum billing period (Exoscale).
Beyond that, providers layer in discounts and special options:
- Spot pricing, where users bid on spare capacity and pay the current market price, which can be much cheaper but also highly volatile (Exoscale)
- Preemptible or interruptible instances, which offer steep discounts, often 50 percent or more off, but can be reclaimed by the provider at any time, making them fit for batch jobs and fault tolerant workloads (Exoscale)
- Reserved instances, where customers commit to a specific instance type and duration, usually one to three years, in exchange for significant discounts, often around 30 percent for flexible options and up to 60 percent for full upfront commitments (Exoscale)
AWS, Azure, and GCP all mix and match these patterns. AWS offers on demand, reserved, and spot instances. Azure provides pay as you go, reserved instances, and special hybrid benefits for existing Microsoft license holders. GCP combines flexible pricing with sustained usage discounts and committed use discounts, where longer and deeper usage unlocks lower pricing tiers (Varonis).
BMC notes that Azure is currently the lowest on demand option among the big three, especially for enterprises that already have Microsoft agreements, with AWS usually sitting in the mid range (BMC). For a freelancer or small startup, that translates into a simple principle. Start on on demand, benchmark real world usage, then move stable, always on workloads into reserved or committed use plans once the pattern is clear.
Use cloud providers safely and stay compliant
As soon as customer data enters the conversation, cloud computing providers are no longer just about features and price. They also become security and compliance partners.
Global spending on public cloud is expected to grow more than 20 percent in 2024, reaching roughly 675.4 billion dollars, with some forecasts placing it at 805 billion and predicting it could double again by 2028, driven largely by AI, big data, and the continuing rise of IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS (CloudOptimo). With that kind of growth, regulators are paying attention, and so are attackers.
Cloud Security Alliance points to ISO / IEC 27001:2022 A.5.23, which requires cloud providers to ensure information security throughout the entire life cycle of cloud service acquisition, use, management, and exit (Cloud Security Alliance). Additional standards such as ISO / IEC 27017:2015 and ISO / IEC 27018:2019 extend those controls specifically to cloud environments and to personal data. The former provides guidelines for security controls tailored to cloud services, and the latter outlines a code of practice for protecting personally identifiable information in public clouds (Cloud Security Alliance).
Serious providers invest in visible attestations. CSA STAR Level 2 SOC 2 Attestation combines AICPA Trust Service Principles with the CSA Cloud Controls Matrix in a rigorous, independently verified audit, typically valid for one year. There is also a CSA STAR Level 2 ISO 27001 Certification, which layers ISO 27001 with the same Cloud Controls Matrix and usually lasts three years before renewal (Cloud Security Alliance).
On the customer side, CrowdStrike defines cloud compliance as adhering to a mesh of standards, frameworks, and laws including MITRE ATT&CK, CIS benchmarks, NIST, ISO, GDPR, FedRAMP, and HIPAA, all aimed at ensuring that data and services meet security, privacy, and operational requirements (CrowdStrike). FedRAMP in the United States, for example, imposes strict controls and continuous monitoring on cloud services used by federal agencies (CrowdStrike). In payment environments, PCI DSS requires adapted security measures, such as cloud aware firewalls, to keep card data protected (CrowdStrike). In healthcare, HIPAA applies similar pressure, with fines as high as 50,000 dollars per violation for mishandled protected health information (CrowdStrike).
For a small business owner who never intended to become a compliance expert, the signal is clear. Choose cloud computing providers that can point to these certifications and frameworks, then layer on tools or partners that simplify continuous compliance, such as unified cloud security platforms like CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security that offer CSPM, ASPM, CIEM, and automated reporting (CrowdStrike).
Recognize why multi cloud is becoming the new normal
As cloud maturity grows, many organizations are no longer picking a single provider for everything. Instead, they spread workloads across multiple cloud computing providers, a practice often called multi cloud.
By 2024, this is more than a trend. CloudZero reports that many enterprises now run workloads across AWS, Azure, and GCP together, in an effort to reduce vendor lock in, improve resilience, and optimize costs and performance per application or region (CloudZero). The major providers have recognized this reality and released their own multi cloud management tools, such as Azure Arc, Google Anthos, and AWS Outposts, which extend their control planes into other environments (CloudZero).
Multi cloud is not just a big enterprise move. A startup might choose GCP for an analytics heavy product while using AWS S3 Glacier for long term archival backups. A freelancer might live inside Google Drive and Docs while heavy rendering workloads run in inexpensive spot instances elsewhere.
However, mixing providers has a catch. Security can quickly fragment. Varonis notes that relying only on built in, platform specific security tools across multiple providers often leads to inconsistent policies and patchy visibility, which is why many organizations adopt unified security and governance layers that sit above AWS, Azure, and GCP and enforce consistent controls (Varonis).
For a smaller organization, multi cloud can still make sense, but it should be intentional. The litmus test is simple. Each extra provider should clearly unlock better performance, cost, or capability that justifies the added complexity in security and management.
Focus on what small and growing businesses actually need
For small and medium sized businesses, cloud computing providers are less about theoretical elasticity and more about daily realities. File sharing that never loses data. Backups that just work. Virtual desktops for remote teams. A marketing site that does not crumble during a big launch.
A 2025 guide from CloudTech reports that cloud services have become essential for SMB competitiveness, with 94 percent of businesses saying that cloud computing increased their ability to scale and improved productivity (CloudTech). In that context, a few patterns keep appearing.
AWS gives SMBs flexible infrastructure building blocks and targeted services. Amazon S3, Elastic Block Store, EC2, and Lambda are often enough to run web applications, handle storage, and process background tasks efficiently, with auto scaling and elasticity adjusting resources based on actual demand (CloudTech). For long term or compliance driven storage, Amazon S3 Glacier provides three archival classes, Instant Retrieval, Flexible Retrieval, and Deep Archive, each trading access speed for lower cost (CloudTech). The shared responsibility model means AWS handles the physical and network security of its data centers, while the business is accountable for its own data, access controls, and application security (CloudTech).
Azure, on the other hand, is often the smoothest path for small businesses already using Microsoft products. It offers virtual PCs, business apps, hybrid cloud connections, analytics, automatic backups, and multi layer security from the outset, along with online training resources and multi platform support (wperp.com). A company that lives in Microsoft 365 can lean on Azure to extend that familiar environment into the cloud with minimal disruption.
For simpler needs, idiomatic consumer focused services still count as cloud computing providers. IDrive sells 5 TB of encrypted backup storage for a low first year price, with quick backup speeds, email based file sharing, and mobile apps (wperp.com). Google Drive remains a default choice for document collaboration, offering 15 GB of free storage and tight integration with web based documents, sheets, forms, and slides, although its unlimited free photo storage ended in 2021 (wperp.com). Dropbox provides at least 2 GB of free storage, straightforward sharing even with people who do not use Dropbox, encrypted transfers, offline access to synced files, and easy recovery of deleted content (wperp.com). For teams with especially sensitive data, SpiderOak emphasizes zero knowledge backups, strong encryption, and deduplication, although its lack of a full web app keeps it more desktop centric (wperp.com).
For a founder or IT beginner, the route forward looks less like chasing every new buzzword and more like mapping needs to specific strengths. Critical application hosting might live in AWS or Azure. Everyday collaboration might stay in Google Drive or Microsoft 365. Archival backups can move to Glacier or a specialized service like IDrive. The power of modern cloud computing technology lies in that mix and match flexibility.
Turn comparisons into a concrete next step
The cloud landscape in 2024 is noisy, but it is not random. Market share tells part of the story. Certification badges and compliance frameworks tell another. For beginners and smaller organizations, the path through this terrain starts with a few grounded actions rather than giant leaps.
First, clarify what the organization needs to do in the next 12 to 24 months. That might be launching a single web application, giving a distributed team reliable file access, or building a data pipeline. Second, shortlist two or three cloud computing providers whose natural strengths match those goals, using the differences in services, pricing, and ecosystem fit as a filter. Third, start small with a pilot workload under on demand pricing, measure usage and performance, and only then lock in longer term discounts.
The most successful use of cloud in 2024 is not about using every service. It is about choosing the right few, at the right providers, and letting those choices quietly multiply the output of a small team.