For most UK small businesses the choice is simpler than the hyperscaler marketing suggests. If you run Microsoft 365 and Windows workloads, pick Azure — identity, licensing and admin overlap with what you already have. If you run Linux, containers or data-heavy web apps and want the richest service menu, pick AWS. If you run Google Workspace and want the cleanest BigQuery/AI path, pick Google Cloud. All three have UK regions. Pricing is within 10–15% of each other for like-for-like workloads.
The honest starting point
Nine times out of ten for an SME, the correct answer isn't "which hyperscaler is best?" — it's "which one already matches your identity, your team's skills and your existing software?". Picking the cloud your people already understand removes most of the risk.
If the only cloud your team has ever used is the one baked into Microsoft 365, start there. If you have a Python developer who lives in AWS, start there. Treat the "best" label as secondary.
Azure — the pick for Microsoft-first SMEs
Azure is Microsoft's infrastructure platform. It shares identity (Entra ID) and admin tooling with Microsoft 365, which means your existing logins, groups and Conditional Access policies extend into whatever you build in Azure.
- Best for: Windows Server workloads, SQL Server, .NET applications, virtual desktops via AVD, Microsoft-stack line-of-business apps.
- Cost lever: Azure Hybrid Benefit lets you bring Windows Server and SQL Server licences from on-prem, cutting VM costs by up to 40%.
- UK regions: UK South (London) and UK West (Cardiff) — the gold standard for UK data residency.
- Watch out for: Egress charges and App Service plan sprawl. Easy to over-provision.
AWS — the pick for depth and Linux
AWS is the largest and oldest of the three. It has the widest service catalogue, the deepest marketplace of third-party integrations, and the strongest community docs. For Linux workloads, containers, data pipelines and anything cutting across multiple services, it's the mature choice.
- Best for: Linux servers, Docker/Kubernetes, data engineering (Redshift, Glue), SaaS products, developer-heavy teams.
- Cost lever: Savings Plans and Reserved Instances, plus Spot for non-critical batch workloads, typically cut VM costs 30–60%.
- UK regions: London (eu-west-2). Ireland (eu-west-1) is often paired for DR.
- Watch out for: The bill. AWS has the most ways to accidentally run up a big invoice — cross-AZ traffic, NAT gateway charges and unmonitored data transfer are classic traps.
Google Cloud — the pick for data and Google Workspace
Google Cloud is the smallest of the three by SME footprint but it has meaningful strengths: BigQuery for analytics is genuinely excellent, Cloud Run for containers is the smoothest of the three, and the pricing model (per-second billing, sustained-use discounts applied automatically) is the least punitive for steady workloads.
- Best for: Data warehousing, AI/ML workloads, container-native apps, businesses already on Google Workspace.
- Cost lever: Sustained-use discounts and committed-use discounts; very generous free tier for small services.
- UK regions: London (europe-west2). Also Belgium and Netherlands within EU data zones.
- Watch out for: Fewer UK-based consultancies, thinner Microsoft-stack support, less mature on Windows workloads.
Price comparison at SME scale
A rough like-for-like on a 4 vCPU / 16 GB RAM VM running 24/7 in London, on-demand:
- Azure (D4s v5, Linux): ~£110/month
- AWS (m6i.xlarge, Linux): ~£105/month
- Google Cloud (n2-standard-4, Linux): ~£100/month (with sustained-use discount)
Once you commit to 1- or 3-year reserved pricing, all three drop 30–55%. Storage, bandwidth and managed services vary more widely — compare on your actual workload, not list price. For context, the Microsoft Azure cost management docs walk through how to size and forecast spend properly.
Support and the "who do I call" question
All three sell support tiers — basic/free, developer (~£22/month), business (~£80/month + 10% of spend), and enterprise. For an SME, the right answer is usually your MSP, not the hyperscaler. A Microsoft CSP partner can support Azure at no extra hourly cost and handle billing in pounds on a single invoice. The same is true for AWS Advanced partners and Google partners. Paying the hyperscaler directly makes sense once you're spending £5,000+/month.
Data residency, Cyber Essentials and ISO
All three have UK regions with UK-domiciled data. All three are covered by the NCSC's cloud security principles and are compatible with Cyber Essentials and ISO 27001 certifications. What matters is your configuration, not the provider — an open S3 bucket or a public blob container is your fault, not theirs.
What we typically recommend
- 5–20 user office on Microsoft 365: Azure. Keep identity, billing and support simple.
- Software team shipping a web app: AWS. Deeper services, bigger talent pool.
- Data-heavy business already on Google Workspace: Google Cloud.
- Still running a physical server in a cupboard: Lift-and-shift to Azure first, modernise later.
We architect, deploy and bill Azure, AWS and Google Cloud for West Sussex SMEs so you get one throat to choke and one monthly invoice. Book a cloud sizing call or Get in touch.
FAQ
Which cloud is cheapest for a small business?
For the same workload, published on-demand rates are broadly within 10–15% of each other. Google Cloud's sustained-use discounts often edge ahead for steady workloads; Azure wins when you have Microsoft licensing to bring across.
Do I need a consultant to move to the cloud?
For anything beyond simple file storage or a couple of VMs, yes. Mis-sized resources and unused reserved instances are the biggest sources of cloud waste in SMEs.
Can I host a UK line-of-business app on any of them?
All three have UK regions (London / Ireland or Belgium backup pairs). For data residency, pin your region and use geo-redundant storage within UK/EU regions.
Is Microsoft 365 the same as Azure?
No. Microsoft 365 is Microsoft's SaaS bundle (email, Teams, Office apps). Azure is the infrastructure platform you rent to host your own applications. They share identity via Entra ID.