“Do we go with AWS or Azure?” is one of the most expensive questions a technology committee makes, because the answer shapes the architecture, the budget and the team’s skills for several years. And most of the comparisons out there don’t help: they are marketing tables that treat the two clouds as interchangeable, when in practice there are differences that do move the needle for a business that wants to modernize and not just migrate.
This guide compares AWS and Azure with decision criteria for managers and directors —not a feature list—. At Caleidos we are an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner, so we are transparent: we believe that for most companies AWS is the better platform, and we also state plainly where Azure keeps a real advantage. The point is not to sell you a cloud, but to help you understand why the scale tips one way.
The starting point: two leading clouds, not a tie
Before comparing, it helps to set the scale. In 2026, AWS keeps its lead in the global cloud infrastructure market with around 31%, followed by Azure at close to 24% and Google Cloud at 11-12%, according to Synergy Research. Azure grows fast, but AWS remains number one by volume, and that gap is explained by catalog depth, maturity and ecosystem.
The takeaway for a business is simple: neither one is a risky bet, but they are not equivalent either. The decision is not “the good one versus the bad one,” but which one gives you more room to grow and modernize. That is where AWS takes the lead.
The criteria that really decide
1. Escaping the Microsoft license trap
This is the reframe almost no comparison makes. The classic argument for Azure is that it “fits your Microsoft stack.” It’s true that it reduces friction, but it also hides something: the Microsoft stack —Windows Server, SQL Server— is a recurring license cost that grows with your operation, and staying on Azure perpetuates it.
AWS is the only one of the two that actively proposes to get out of that expense, with proven paths:
- Babelfish for Aurora PostgreSQL lets your SQL Server applications run on Aurora PostgreSQL —a managed, open-source database— with minimal code changes, leaving SQL Server licenses behind.
- AWS Transform for .NET uses agentic AI to port your .NET Framework applications from Windows to cross-platform .NET on Linux, removing the Windows license dependency. According to AWS, this reduces operating costs by up to 40%, and its full-stack agent —which modernizes the .NET application and the SQL Server database together into Blazor and Aurora PostgreSQL— can take that saving to up to 70%.
The question worth asking is not “which cloud fits my current stack?” but “which cloud helps me stop paying for it?”. On that ground, Azure works against its own business model; AWS, in your favor.
2. Breadth and maturity of the service catalog
AWS got there first —it launched its foundational services in 2006, four years before Azure— and that head start shows in catalog depth. AWS offers more than 200 services and is widely recognized as the cloud with the greatest pure-infrastructure breadth. Azure publishes a higher service count, but that number reflects a different way of counting: it includes tools bundled with Microsoft’s broader ecosystem, not just infrastructure.
For an architecture that will evolve —more data services, more compute options, more granularity— that maturity is a concrete advantage: it’s rare to hit a wall on AWS for lack of a service.
3. Differential services: contact center and IoT
Beyond compute and storage, there are capabilities where AWS has a depth that Azure does not match natively:
- Amazon Connect is a cloud omnichannel contact center, with pay-as-you-go pricing and integrated AI capabilities (transcription, sentiment analysis, agent assist). It is a native, mature service; on Azure, a contact center is usually assembled with Dynamics 365 or third-party solutions, not with an in-house piece of the same depth.
- Internet of Things (IoT): AWS has one of the most complete IoT suites on the market —from device connectivity to edge processing and industrial analytics—, a domain where its maturity and breadth make a difference for manufacturing, logistics or energy projects.
When your project touches these domains, the difference stops being theoretical.
4. Partner ecosystem and talent in your market
A cloud does not run itself: you need talent and a partner who knows it. AWS has the largest partner ecosystem in the industry, and in markets like Peru that translates into availability of certified specialists, local reference cases and close support. The honest question here is: who is going to be there when something breaks at 2 a.m.? The depth of the ecosystem in your country weighs more than is usually acknowledged at the decision stage.
5. Artificial intelligence: choose a model, don’t marry one
Generative AI has become part of the cloud decision, and here the difference is one of philosophy. Azure bets on integration with OpenAI’s models and with Copilot inside Microsoft 365: a very direct path if you already live in that ecosystem.
AWS bets on freedom of choice. Amazon Bedrock gives managed access to more than 100 models from around 18 providers —Anthropic (Claude), Meta, Mistral, Amazon Nova, Cohere and even OpenAI models— under a single API, with agents, knowledge bases and integrated security controls. And Amazon SageMaker adds the depth to build, train and deploy your own models when the case calls for it.
The decisive nuance is subtle but important: Azure’s AI value proposition —OpenAI’s models— is also available on AWS, alongside those of the other leading providers. In other words, with AWS you give up nothing that Azure offers in AI, and you gain the freedom not to bet everything on a single model. Azure keeps its edge where integration with Copilot and Microsoft 365 is the goal in itself.
6. Regional presence and data residency in LATAM
Here is Azure’s clearest advantage today, and we acknowledge it without hedging. Both clouds have consolidated presence in São Paulo, and AWS adds its Mexico Central region, already operational. For Chile specifically: Azure already launched its Chile Central region in Santiago in 2025, while AWS announced its Santiago region —with more than 4 billion dollars of investment and three availability zones— for the end of 2026.
The implication is concrete: if your requirement is data residency inside Chile right now, Azure solves it today and AWS will do so toward the end of 2026. It is a criterion to assess case by case, and the only one where the scale, for now, tips toward Azure.
The decision table
| Criterion | AWS | Azure |
|---|---|---|
| Market leadership (2026) | ~31%, number 1 | ~24%, number 2 |
| Infrastructure service breadth | The broadest (200+) | Broad |
| Escape Microsoft licenses (SQL Server, .NET) | Native paths: Babelfish, AWS Transform | Continuity of the ecosystem and its licenses |
| Differential services (contact center, IoT) | Amazon Connect + deep IoT suite | Via Dynamics 365 or third parties |
| Generative AI and ML | 100+ models (incl. OpenAI and Claude) + SageMaker | OpenAI + integrated Copilot |
| Native integration with Microsoft 365 | Good | Native |
| Operational region in Chile today | Announced for end of 2026 | Operational since 2025 |
When each one makes sense
Choose AWS when you want the greatest breadth and maturity of services, you want to modernize and reduce dependence on proprietary licenses, you need differential capabilities like contact center or IoT, you value the freedom to choose AI models, or you want the deepest partner ecosystem to operate at scale. For most forward-looking companies, it is the platform with the most room.
Choose Azure when your organization is deeply integrated into Microsoft 365 and Copilot and you don’t want to move that productivity layer, or when data residency inside Chile is an immediate, unavoidable requirement today. These are real advantages, but narrow ones.
Consider multicloud only when it answers a concrete requirement —data residency, a specific capability, cross-cloud resilience— and with your eyes open to its cost: you duplicate governance, security, monitoring and the talent needed to operate both well.
The honest summary: for the bulk of companies that want a broad, modern platform that doesn’t tie them to a growing license cost, AWS is the better decision. Azure keeps specific advantages worth respecting, but they don’t tip the scale.
How we approach it at Caleidos
At Caleidos, as an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner, we help companies make this decision with data and no spin: we understand your starting point —what stack you have, where your talent is, what your industry demands— and we design the path. When the goal is to escape the license trap, we apply Babelfish and AWS Transform to move your SQL Server and .NET workloads to open databases and operating systems; when the focus is to modernize, we design the AWS migration and the application modernization to get the most out of the platform. And when Azure keeps a real advantage for your case, we say so: trust is built by recommending what is right. If you want to better understand what having a partner behind you means, we explain it in what is an AWS Partner.
Are you evaluating AWS versus Azure for your next project?
Let’s talk about your case: in 30 minutes we give you a concrete read on which cloud fits your stack, your team and your industry —and how much you could save by getting out of the licenses you pay today—, with no sales pitch.
