AWS vs Azure vs GCP vs OCI: The Complete Cloud Cost Comparison Guide 2025
Choosing the wrong cloud provider can cost your business tens of thousands of dollars every year. With AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) all competing aggressively, the pricing landscape has never been more complex — or more opportunity-rich.
Why Cloud Cost Comparison Is So Difficult
Before diving into numbers, it's important to understand why comparing cloud costs is notoriously tricky:
- Different naming conventions. AWS calls its VMs EC2. Azure calls them Virtual Machines. GCP calls them Compute Engine. OCI calls them Compute Shapes.
- Different compute units. AWS, Azure, and GCP use vCPUs. OCI uses OCPUs — where 1 OCPU = 2 vCPUs.
- Hidden costs. Data egress fees, support tiers, and licensing can dramatically change the real cost.
Compute Pricing: Head-to-Head (2025)
General Purpose — 4 vCPU / 16 GB RAM
| Provider | Instance | $/Hour | $/Month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon AWS | m5.xlarge | $0.192 | $140 |
| Microsoft Azure | D4s v5 | $0.192 | $140 |
| Google GCP | n2-standard-4 | $0.194 | $142 |
| Oracle OCI | E4.Flex 2 OCPU | $0.064 | $47 |
OCI is 67% cheaper than AWS and Azure for equivalent compute. Even after the correct OCPU→vCPU conversion.
Data Egress: The Hidden Cost Killer
| Provider | Egress Price/GB | Annual Cost (50TB/mo) |
|---|---|---|
| AWS | $0.09 | $54,000 |
| Azure | $0.087 | $52,200 |
| GCP | $0.08 | $48,000 |
| OCI | $0.0085 | $5,100 |
When Each Cloud Wins
- AWS: Widest service catalog, most certifications, best ecosystem
- Azure: Microsoft/Windows workloads, Hybrid Benefit saves up to 40%
- GCP: Best Kubernetes (GKE), BigQuery, AI/ML, automatic sustained discounts
- OCI: Cost leader — 50–70% cheaper compute, near-free egress, Oracle DB advantages
3-Year TCO: Real-World Example
A mid-sized application with 4 app servers + 2 DB servers + 10TB storage + 5TB monthly egress:
| Cloud | Monthly | Annual | 3-Year TCO |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS | $2,890 | $34,680 | $104,040 |
| Azure | $2,720 | $32,640 | $97,920 |
| GCP | $2,540 | $30,480 | $91,440 |
| OCI | $890 | $10,680 | $32,040 |
OCI saves over $72,000 vs AWS over 3 years for this workload.
Use the TCOIQ Inventory Builder to model your own workload and get accurate numbers for your specific environment.
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