Answer Details

For SaaS startups, the top cloud providers are: AWS (Amazon Web Services) - The market leader with the most comprehensive service catalog. Best for startups that need maximum flexibility, have technical expertise, and plan to scale significantly. AWS Activate provides credits (up to $100k) for eligible startups. Google Cloud Platform (GCP) - Strong in data analytics, machine learning, and Kubernetes. Offers competitive pricing and excellent performance. Good for data-intensive SaaS products. Their startup program provides up to $200k in credits. Microsoft Azure - Ideal if you're building on the Microsoft stack (.NET, etc.) or need strong enterprise integration. Good B2B SaaS choice since many enterprise customers are already on Azure. Offers startup credits through Microsoft for Startups. Considerations for choosing: Early stage/MVP: Start with one provider to keep things simple. AWS or GCP are popular choices for their startup programs Cost optimization: All three have similar pricing, but GCP often edges out on raw compute costs. Use reserved instances or savings plans once you have predictable usage Multi-region needs: AWS has the most regions globally Specific services: Choose based on what you need (e.g., GCP for BigQuery, AWS for breadth, Azure for enterprise sales) Alternative worth considering: DigitalOcean or Linode for simpler, more predictable pricing if you don't need the full hyperscaler feature set. Many startups begin here and migrate later. The "best" choice depends on your technical stack, team expertise, scaling plans, and specific feature needs. Most successful SaaS companies start with one and potentially add others as they grow.