Cloud architecture: AWS vs GCP for startups

Choosing a cloud provider is one of the most consequential decisions a startup CTO will make. The two giants, AWS and Google Cloud Platform (GCP), offer similar services but different philosophies.

AWS (Amazon Web Services) **Pros:** Largest ecosystem, unmatched community support, has a service for literally everything. **Cons:** Complex pricing, steep learning curve, overwhelming dashboard.

GCP (Google Cloud Platform) **Pros:** Developer-friendly interface, superior Kubernetes (GKE) and data analytics (BigQuery) services, simpler pricing. **Cons:** Smaller community, Google's history of deprecating services.

Verdict: If you are heavily invested in machine learning and containers, GCP is often the better choice. For everything else, AWS remains the safe, industry-standard bet.