Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a cloud infrastructure and managed-services platform. Teams assemble compute, storage, databases, networking and application services into an architecture rather than buy one all-inclusive software subscription. EC2 virtual machines, S3 object storage and Lambda functions have different operating and charging models. A useful AWS buying brief identifies the exact services, regions, support level and responsibility for maintaining the application.
Amazon Web Services
Explore the official product
See the vendor’s current capabilities, product information and plan details.
Microsoft Azure provides infrastructure and managed services for applications, databases, analytics and hybrid environments. Virtual Machines, App Service and Azure Functions represent different ways to run an application; their costs and operating responsibilities differ. Microsoft software familiarity can help frame an evaluation, but existing Microsoft 365 subscriptions do not establish that Azure infrastructure, support or all software licences are included.
Vendor-described capabilities; availability can depend on the plan.
✓Virtual machines and serverless compute
✓Object and block storage
✓Managed database services
✓Identity and network controls
✓Service-level usage and cost tools
Amazon Web Services pricing considerations
Selected recurring service allowances
Estimate each service and region separately, including compute, storage, requests, transfer, support and any commitment. Legacy accounts can have different Free Tier terms.
Selected services have recurring Always Free allowances. The current new-customer Free plan lasts up to six months or until credits run out; up to $200 in credits is promotional, not a permanent infrastructure budget.
Service and region choices create different pricing and availability boundaries
Paid-account usage can incur charges beyond included allowances
Application security, recovery and cost ownership remain necessary
Test the same sample work, confirm your required plan and check how to export your data before committing.
Amazon Web Services FAQs
Does Amazon Web Services have a free plan?
Selected services have recurring Always Free allowances. The current new-customer Free plan lasts up to six months or until credits run out; up to $200 in credits is promotional, not a permanent infrastructure budget.
Who is Amazon Web Services for?
Engineering organisations building an explicitly scoped cloud application or infrastructure estate
What should I compare before buying?
Check the tier that contains your essential features, confirm plan limits and compare the total quote with your own expected usage.
