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Best Amazon AWS Alternatives

Amazon AWS can be tricky especially for beginners. Here are some good AWS alternatives to consider.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is one of the top-notch, most comprehensive, and broadly adopted Cloud platforms. They offer cutting-edge infrastructure built from the latest hardware, high-speed network connectivity, and resource redundancy from data centers globally.

However, various reasons are leading some towards alternatives instead. There are plenty of AWS alternatives in the market with equally formidable performance and reliability – at impressively competitive prices.

Whether you need Cloud hosting for a small project or an enterprise organization, here are some reliable and good Cloud alternatives to AWS:

1. ScalaHosting

Website: https://www.scalahosting.com

Price: Starting from $9.95 /mo (Managed Cloud VPS)

ScalaHosting has been providing web hosting services since 2007. They are a dual-headquartered Cloud hosting provider with homes in Bulgaria and the US. While ScalaHosting offers a complete range of web hosting plans, they are renowned for their Managed Cloud VPS.

ScalaHosting Key Features

One of the main criteria when it comes to hosting is speed. After all, speed influences how well search engines index your site and ultimately impacts your audience’s user experience. ScalaHosting offers excellent server speeds and a solid 99.9% uptime guarantee to users. 

SPanel is where ScalaHosting shines. It is an all-in-one web hosting control panel fully compatible with cPanel. ScalaHosting developed SPanel in-house and offers it to their VPS users at no cost, making it a good option, given how cPanel licensing fees have rapidly increased. 

SPanel also includes SShield, a free cybersecurity tool that helps safeguard your web hosting account. It monitors everything in real-time and has proven quite effective. You also get SWordPress Manager, a utility that allows WordPress users to manage their sites easily. 

All their plans come with ample resources, a free domain name, and SSL. Also included are daily backups. Their servers have supported HTTP/2 since mid-2021, which can boost page loading speeds significantly. 

Learn more about ScalaHosting in our review.

Why ScalaHosting is Better than AWS

ScalaHosting Manage Cloud VPS plans are robust and come with many advanced tools that make website owners’ life a lot simpler. They are far easier to manage (and less confusing) than those offered on AWS.

For those seeking a step up from shared hosting, ScalaHosting VPS plans are a happy middle ground, especially if you struggle with server management. It’s also cheap and helps you avoid pricey licensing fees as a plus.

2. Liquid Web

Website: https://www.liquidweb.com/

[icon tag ]Price: Starting at $15/mo (Managed VPS)

Based in Michigan, US, Liquid Web was founded in 1997. They bought a web server business from Rackspace called Cloud Sites, a hosting company devoted to web and Cloud professionals. With more than ten global data centers, LiquidWeb has a range of powerful web hosting options available. 

Liquid Web Key Features

Liquid Web specializes in VPS, Cloud, and dedicated server hosting, with managed VPS being the most in-demand option. Their packages come filled with impressive specs, resulting in a bevy of robust web hosting plans.

Their managed WordPress and WooCommerce hosting plans are driven by their Cloud called Nexcess that delivers exceptional speed, scalability, and security. For added ease of use, there are three available control panels for you to choose from, namely cPanel/WHM, InterWorx, and Plesk.

Liquid Web provides a 100% uptime guarantee; if you do experience any downtime, they promise to compensate you for it. Every single plan includes advanced server security services, automatic daily backups, firewalls, DDoS protection, and a free SSL.

Additionally, they provide free nightly backups, which safeguard your website. LiquidWeb also offers customers 24/7/365 support.

Find out more about Liquid Web here.

Why Liquid Web is Better than AWS

Many have found Liquid Web Managed Hosting easier to use, set up, and manage, while using AWS can sometimes be somewhat confusing and nerve-wracking. Liquid Web’s support is also often cited as a big plus, with users confirming that they preferred its feature updates and roadmaps.

3. InterServer

Website: https://www.interserver.net

[icone tag] Price: $6.00/mo (Cloud VPS)

InterServer was co-founded in 1999 by Mike Lavrik and John Quaglieri, two tech-savvy high-school friends. Today, the company owns two data centers located in Secaucus, NJ, and Los Angeles, CA. They have a comprehensive range of hosting services, including Cloud VPS, dedicated servers, and server colocation. 

InterServer Key Features

Their Cloud VPS hosting plans are highly configurable, where you choose how many “portions” you need. All 16 portions include SSD storage, dedicated backup features, and also support for lots of scripts. Also, if you get four or more portions, you’ll get server management support; you won’t have to worry about any server issues or security breaches.

You also have full root access to your server if you’re an advanced user. Although InterServer offers cPanel and Plesk control panels at an extra charge, they do have a DirectAdmin panel for you to use, free of charge. Mixed in with decent performance and reliability, InterServer provides 24/7 support and does have a strong track record. 

Find out more in our InterServer review.

Why InterServer is Better than AWS

With its Cloud-based VPS hosting, InterServer offers some of the most affordable plans you can find monthly; you can quickly scale up and down as you need and pay for what you’ve used that month. There are 16 portions you can choose from, and its ease of use certainly speaks volumes. 

4. Google Cloud Platform

Website: https://cloud.google.com/

Price: Pay as you go

Google Cloud, aka Google Cloud Platform or GCP, was launched back on April 7, 2008. Google offers it as a suite of Cloud computing services that runs on the same infrastructure that Google uses internally for its end-user products. GCP is mainly a service for building and maintaining original applications, which may be published on the Web.

Google Cloud Platform Key Features

Google Cloud offers multi-Cloud facilities for complex Cloud computing and storage architectures and widely distributed Cloud assets. All leading solutions and platforms such as MongoDB, Elastic Stack, DataStax, and Redis Labs are welcome on this platform. Also, Google’s global reach and processing power help make its Cloud platform highly scalable. 

Google Cloud excels in using the same technology that supports the company’s search engine, web browser, Gmail service, and others. This enables seamless integration with the Android mobile operating system. As a result, Google Cloud is fast, secure, and the preferred platform for developers of Android mobile applications.

Additionally, Google Cloud is working on Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) which are the future of Cloud computing. Last but not least, Google is among the few that offer a massive number of data centers over the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. Google Cloud charges you only for the resources you use, which is fair.

Why Google Cloud Platform is Better than AWS

Google Cloud is another of the foremost AWS competitors because they offer a wider variety of Cloud services at lower prices. A notable advantage is their development using the same technology that helps run Google’s other services – a boon for those seeking to run Android-based apps or systems. 

5. Digital Ocean

Website: https://www.digitalocean.com/

Price: Starts at $5

Digital Ocean is an American Cloud infrastructure service provider headquartered in New York City with 14 data centers worldwide. They provide developers with Cloud services capable of deploying and scaling applications for simultaneous operation on multiple connected devices.

Digital Ocean Key Features

DigitalOcean’s offered packages are predefined and priced so that there are no hidden costs; what you sign up for is what you get and pay for. Most prefer DigitalOcean because of the simplicity of setting up an account. 

Their Droplet system represents standalone self-sufficient servers that can also be configured to become part of a connected chain of platforms. As such, it is effortless to scale up or down. The platforms support various operating systems, including Ubuntu, CentOS, Debian, and Fedora. There’s also a one-click installer to help install WordPress, GitLab, Node.js, Docker, and more. 

Other notable features include security, storage, and monitoring via a sturdy and reliable infrastructure. They provide 24/7 support anytime you need help.

Why DigitalOcean is Better than AWS

DigitalOcean shines in that its pricing is comparatively lower than AWS. Also, they were the first Cloud hosting company that started serving SSD-built virtual machines to ensure high-speed delivery in 2013. DigitalOcean focuses primarily on its simple user interface (UI) and a lower-complexity approach. 

What is Amazon AWS?

Amazon AWS is considered the ‘“Colossus of Cloud Computing” and is a market leader by far. It was built in 2006 from the internal infrastructure of Amazon.com due to its need to handle massive-capacity online retail operations. 

Today, AWS is a comprehensive yet still evolving Cloud computing platform provided by Amazon that encompasses a mixture of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Packaged Software as a Service (SaaS) options. 

AWS also offers various tools and solutions for enterprises, even huge conglomerates. All of this runs out of Amazon’s vast data centers across the globe – spanning 245 countries and territories.  AWS was also one of the first to introduce a pay-as-you-go Cloud computing model. 

Why the Need for Amazon AWS Alternative

Amazon AWS offers over 120 Cloud services; that’s a lot! Having more is good, but sometimes having too many can be overwhelming and, for most businesses moving to the Cloud can be confusing and ultimately frustrating. 

Also, its pricing structure is complicated, which adds to the frustration; their prices and billing are high, and many end up paying for features they don’t need. 

One of the major criticisms of AWS is that businesses have to invest heavily in their IT team's education to take full advantage of what the platform has to offer. This need for investment jacks up costs, possibly negating the benefits of moving to the Cloud.

On the whole, AWS can become a challenging maze to tackle, especially for newbies. Also, AWS Elastic Computing (EC2) limits resources by region, about which many are unhappy.

As of late, AWS support has also been in question. As such, many are looking for more suitable Amazon AWS alternatives. 

Conclusion

Amazon AWS is undoubtedly a well-reputed host, delivering an impressive performance as expected. While they dominate the market share, they can be complex too. For a beginner, Amazon AWS can be tricky, and chances are, you may end up with a costly package you may not need.

The Cloud works best when customers can pick and choose what services suit them best; of course, the relevant mechanisms must be in place to effectively manage a multi-Cloud environment. The above is a list of solid contenders of Amazon AWS. Feel free to explore and try them out; you just might find the right one that suits your needs best.  

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Article by Timothy Shim

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