Oracle Cloud vs AWS: Key Differences

Oracle Cloud’s IaaS solutions include storage, compute and networking. OCI storage services are divided into object storage and file storage, and compute services include virtual machines and bare-metal servers. To set up networking using OCI, you can use services such as site-to-site VPN and virtual cloud networks.

Oracle PaaS tools include a Kubernetes service (OKE), serverless computing in the form of OCI functions, low-code application building with APEX, and SaaS optimization and integration with Oracle Integration.

Oracle Cloud offers many SaaS solutions, with a focus on enterprise SaaS, including order management, ERP overview, payroll, recruiting, HCM analytics and ERP analytics.

The Oracle Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) option differs from its regular PaaS databases because it has automatic backup and recovery, higher availability and better scalability. DBaaS is also potentially cost-saving, but for the most part it is a specialized form of PaaS.

Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Simple Storage Service (S3) are among the most popular IaaS tools not only in AWS but also on the wider cloud market. AWS also offers Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Elastic Block Store (EBS) and Elastic File System (EFS).

PaaS solutions in AWS include Elastic Beanstalk and App Runner. Other services, like Elastic Container Service and AWS Lambda, can also be categorized as PaaS, or as CaaS (Container as a Service) and FaaS (Function as a Service), respectively.

AWS launched roughly a decade before Oracle Cloud, so it’s no surprise it has a larger market share. Current estimates place AWS’ market share at 31% — the same as in 2023, but 2% less than in 2022 and 2021. On the other hand, Oracle Cloud has a market share of 2%, which has remained roughly the same since 2021.

Oracle Cloud Platform saw a revenue growth of 5% between 2021 and 2022, 18% between 2022 and 2023, and 6% between 2023 and 2024. On the other hand, AWS recorded its highest revenue growth in Q4 of 2021 (40%), and as of Q4 of 2023, revenue growth had decreased to 13%.

Top AWS customers include Disney, Samsung and The Washington Post. Top OCI customers include Toyota, Uber, Zoom and FedEx.

Both Oracle Cloud and AWS primarily use a pay-as-you-go model. However, Oracle Cloud’s pricing is generally more consistent, as it uses the same unit price for its compute instances across all regions. AWS’ unit pricing differs across regions.

Oracle Cloud is generally cheaper than AWS, particularly when it comes to data egress costs. That said, you might see some cost savings when you use AWS reserved instances or savings plans.

Cloud services fall under three main delivery models: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS). Both AWS and Oracle Cloud offer IaaS and PaaS tools, but AWS does not offer SaaS, whereas Oracle Cloud does. That said, there are more AWS services than Oracle Cloud services.

Compute services offer computing power over the internet, and they include offerings such as virtual machines and containers. Oracle Cloud compute is generally cheaper than AWS compute, particularly because the pricing is consistent. However, AWS offers a wider range of compute services and has superior scalability.

Storage services facilitate long-term data retention, and they include block storage, object storage and file storage. Oracle Cloud boasts cheaper egress costs for storage services, but AWS has more storage features. AWS’ storage services have been around longer, so it’s easier to get support for them in developer communities since more people are familiar with them.

Database services include relational and non-relational databases deployed in the cloud. Oracle Cloud databases are generally high-performance, particularly when running Oracle databases. However, AWS excels when it comes to database options, ease of use and scalability.

Specialized services are cloud services that serve specific needs, including tools like Fusion ERP Analytics and Amazon Athena. AWS has more specialized service options with richer features, while Oracle Cloud focuses more on enterprise-level services.

A service-level agreement (SLA) defines the baseline for service uptime, support and performance as agreed upon by the cloud provider and the user. Oracle offers up to 99.995% availability for its Oracle NoSQL Database Cloud Service, while AWS offers up to 99.999% for DynamoDB. That said, it is easier to read through AWS’s SLA than Oracle Cloud’s SLA.

Data centers are physical locations housing the hardware used to run the cloud. AWS has more data centers than Oracle Cloud. However, Oracle Cloud’s OCI Dedicated Region offers more pricing flexibility for a public-in-private cloud experience than AWS’s equivalent service, AWS Outposts.

Performance refers to the efficiency of the cloud service delivery, and though AWS may generally be better due to its unmatched scalability, Oracle Cloud performs better than AWS for Oracle workloads.

Uptime is the percentage of time services are online and usable. Latency is the time it takes data to travel between two points in a network. You can assess both providers’ reliability via their uptime records. AWS’ latency is better due to its many global data centers. It has only had 16 critical downtimes since 2011, while OCI has had more, despite not launching until 2016.

Networking in the cloud involves a virtual cloud network that connects various cloud resources. AWS has more networking options than OCI, but data egress in OCI networks are markedly cheaper.

Cloud security includes the tools used and measures taken to prevent intrusion into a cloud environment. AWS has more security tools (such as AWS Shield and AWS WAF), and those tools are well established. However, both providers excel when it comes to standard cloud security.

Ease of migration refers to the speed and simplicity of transferring existing apps and data to the cloud. Oracle Cloud offers easier migration, particularly for Oracle workloads, whereas AWS requires more effort. Of course, AWS offers more service options, so it’s a tradeoff between simplicity and functionality.

Integration with third-party tools and services is an indication of how easy it is to use tools from other vendors on these cloud platforms. Since it has been around longer, AWS supports more third-party apps than Oracle Cloud.

Open-source support describes the providers’ open-source compatibility and involvement. AWS has more open-source support and involvement than Oracle Cloud, which is more focused on its stack of SaaS tools.

Comparing the quality and availability of technical support between both providers, AWS has more support personnel and channels than OCI. OCI offers web and chat support, whereas AWS adds phone support on top of its web and chat support.

Use cases describe the ideal applications and workloads for each provider. Oracle Cloud is enterprise-focused and integrates well with existing Oracle products, so it’s best used for high-performance computing and integration with existing Oracle workloads.

On the other hand, AWS can serve various purposes, from general computing needs to high-performance computing. That said, it may not integrate with some Oracle Cloud software, such as Oracle RAC.

Pricing is more straightforward with Oracle Cloud — you can predict the cost you’d incur with better accuracy than with AWS. This is primarily because the unit pricing on Oracle Cloud is often the same globally. On the other hand, prices are different across regions with AWS. Oracle Cloud also offers markedly cheaper egress costs than AWS.

Oracle’s database services are high-performance, especially its Exadata Database Service. Exadata is highly scalable, high-performance, portable and flexible — most AWS database services might not match its performance.

Besides performance, the OCI databases are relatively cost-effective since they offer similar performance at relatively lower costs.

Cloud migration is generally complex regardless of the cloud service provider. However, when compared with each other, Oracle Cloud migrations are often less complicated than AWS migrations partly due to Oracle Cloud’s high-performance databases.

OCI Dedicated Region (Cloud@Customer) and AWS Outposts offer the corresponding service’s public cloud in your private data center. However, OCI Dedicated Region is cheaper than AWS Outposts and uses the same pay-as-you-go model as its public cloud. With AWS Outposts, you pay per rack or per server.

AWS outcompetes Oracle Cloud and most other cloud service providers when it comes to the number of services offered. OCI offers more than 100 services, whereas AWS offers more than 200. If you choose AWS over Oracle, there’s a greater chance you’ll get all the services you need on one platform.

Compared to OCI, AWS has more resources, which makes for better scalability. AWS also has more services, making it more flexible to set up.

Though OCI also has a significant global reach, it doesn’t compare to AWS, which has an extensive global cloud infrastructure backed by multiple availability zones and hundreds of data centers.

Having launched at least 10 years before OCI, AWS has more established services than Oracle Cloud. People have more experience using AWS services such as EC2 and are very familiar with them. Therefore, it’s easier to get support for AWS services from developer communities. In addition, older AWS services tend to have more features than corresponding OCI services.