With heightened geopolitical dynamics and renewed scrutiny around the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, more organizations are looking to European Cloud Service Providers to ensure stability, security, and future scalability.
In this comparison series, we’re looking into how US hyperscalers AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, compare to UpCloud, so you can better prepare for migration.
AWS Vs. UpCloud
AWS
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a subsidiary of Amazon that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs to individuals, companies, and governments, on a metered, pay-as-you-go basis. It is one of the largest cloud service providers available.
UpCloud
UpCloud is a leading European cloud infrastructure provider, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, with a global cloud platform spanning 13 data centres across four continents. More than 10,000 clients trust UpCloud to run their mission-critical cloud-native workloads from European data centers, under the robust EU Regulatory Framework on Data, atop a cloud-native stack engineered for performance without compromise.
Application comparison
Both UpCloud and AWS offer comprehensive, feature-rich cloud stacks. AWS offers a paid-for service for its products, whereas UpCloud focuses on high-performance, cost-effective core services with zero vendor lock-in, so teams can choose the best free and open source tools for their specific use case.
| Service Area | AWS | UpCloud Equivalent/Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Compute | EC2 | ✅ UpCloud Cloud Servers with flexible plans, high-performance MaxIOPS storage |
| Containerization | ECS / EKS | ✅ UKS (UpCloud Kubernetes Service with optimized server plans) |
| Storage (Object) | S3 | ✅ UpCloud Object Storage (S3-compatible) |
| Block Storage | EBS | ✅ UpCloud Block Storage with MaxIOPS in place of EBS provisioned IOPS (io1/2), or standard UpCloud Block Storage for EBS general purpose (gp2/3) |
| Relational Databases (Managed) | RDS / Aurora | ✅ UpCloud managed MySQL or PostgreSQL, |
| NoSQL Document Databases(Managed) | DynamoDB | ➡️ Choose your preferred DB stack. We recommend PostgreSQL + JSONB for most scenarios, or MySQL NDB for high-scale key-value workloads. |
| In-memory Key-Value Store | Memcached | ✅ UpCloud Managed Valkey |
| Vector Databases | OpenSearch Service | ✅ UpCloud Managed OpenSearch |
| Serverless | AWS Lambda | ➡️ We recommend fnproject, or Fission atop UKS |
| Load Balancing | ELB / ALB | ✅ UpCloud Managed Load Balancer |
| DNS Management | Route 53 | ➡️ Choose your preferred external DNS (e.g., BunnyDNS, EuroDNS, Cloudflare) |
| Firewall & Network | Security Groups, NACLs | ➡️Choose UpCloud SDN Firewall (coming soon!), or leverage browser Firewall Rules for traffic filtering; private networking support |
| Identity & Access | IAM | ➡️ Use SSO, Organization, and workspaces-based access with three user roles: owner, admin and member. |
| Monitoring | CloudWatch | ➡️Choose from your preferred OSS alternatives such as Prometheus and Beszel, or services like Grafana |
| Logging | CloudTrail / CloudWatch Logs | ➡️️Choose from your preferred FOSS tools like Fluentd, Prometheus + Grafana and UpCloud Managed OpenSearch solution. UpCloud’s Audit Logs map to AWS CloudTrail. |
| DevOps / IaC | CloudFormation, CodeDeploy | ✅ Upcloud provider for Terraform/OpenTofu, UpCloud provider for Pulumi, UpCloud Ansible Collection, or CI/CD tools like GitHub Actions, |
| Backup & Snapshots | Snapshots, AWS Backup | ✅ UpCloud Snapshots, manual or scheduled |
Cost comparison
UpCloud offers more predictable and often lower pricing, especially for compute and data transfer, compared to AWS’s pay-as-you-go model, which can lead to higher costs depending on usage patterns. Let’s take a closer look:
| Service Area | AWS | UpCloud |
|---|---|---|
| Compute Instances | Offers a vast array of instance types with a pay-as-you-go model. For example, a t3a.medium instance (2 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM) costs approximately $274.48 per month. | Provides straightforward pricing with plans like the CLOUDNATIVE-2xCPU-4GB (2 CPUs, 4 GB RAM) at €15 per month (about $16.50 USD) |
| Storage | Charges around $8.00 per month for 100 GB of block storage | Offers 100 GB of storage at approximately €8.50 per month (about $9.35 USD) |
| Data Transfer Fees | Imposes data egress fees, with costs around $90 per TB beyond the free tier. | Provides zero-cost egress, allowing unlimited outbound data transfer without additional charges |
| Managed Services | Offers a broad range of managed services, such as databases and load balancers, each with its own pricing | Provides essential managed services with transparent pricing, often at a lower cost compared to AWS |
| SLA | 99.99% SLA | 99.999 % uptime SLA, with 50x compensation on downtime |
| Support | Features tiered support plans with varying response times | Includes 24/7 live chat support with an average response time under 46 seconds |
One of the biggest benefits of UpCloud is transparent, predictable pricing. In 2024, we scrapped egress fees in favour of offering unlimited outbound traffic. We also recently launched the handy UpCloud Cost Calculator so you can easily generate a real-time estimate for running your cloud infrastructure on UpCloud.
UpCloud also offers superior support, with live chat available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In 2024, our support team responded to initial queries in a blistering 46 seconds, and 94% of customers reported that they were extremely happy with the provided support.
Conclusion
As the geopolitical landscape faces ongoing uncertainty, choosing the right cloud service provider for your organizations goes beyond features — it’s about finding a partner that offers performance, transparency, security, and personalized support. While AWS remains a dominant force, UpCloud offers a highly competitive alternative, especially for organizations seeking European data sovereignty, predictable pricing, and unmatched customer support.
Why not start a free trial? Or chat to us for a demo or more information!
