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If you’re building a SaaS startup, picking the right cloud provider is a major decision. Because you’ll want scalability, cost-effectiveness, developer productivity, and startup-friendly support (credits, growth programs) baked in. Below are some of the most highly recommended cloud computing providers—and what to consider when evaluating them. ✅ Top Cloud Providers for SaaS Startups 1. Amazon Web Services (AWS) Why it’s popular: One of the broadest and most mature cloud ecosystems: thousands of services, global data-centre footprint. uplatz.com +4 TechAhead +4 siliconspice.com +4 Strong for scale: if you expect to grow fast (geographically or in complexity), AWS has infrastructure to support you. siliconspice.com Startup programs / credits: AWS has an established “startups” track. Reuters +1 Things to watch: Pricing and complexity: lots of services + lots of options → can be confusing and lead to cost surprises. Whileone +1 Vendor lock-in risk, if you build heavily for AWS-specific services. 2. Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Why it stands out: Strong data / analytics / ML/AI capabilities. If your SaaS relies on those, this is a plus. siliconspice.com +1 Transparent-ish pricing, and focus on developer-friendliness. siliconspice.com Things to watch: While rapidly improving, in some regions or service-areas AWS/Azure may have more maturity. Less “startup credits / ecosystem” compared to AWS in some geographies (but still solid). 3. Microsoft Azure Why it’s a strong contender: If you and/or your customers are already in the Microsoft ecosystem (e.g., Office 365, Windows Server, Active Directory), Azure offers smooth integration. uplatz.com +1 Good for hybrid cloud / regulated industries / enterprise-grade scenarios. uplatz.com Things to watch: In start-up scenarios you’ll want to check what credits/support you can access. Some services may be less straightforward for purely cloud-native startups with minimal legacy Microsoft tech. 4. Other Providers Worth Considering Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI): Gaining traction, especially for cost-sensitive workloads. Whileone +1 DigitalOcean: Often cited as “friendly for startups / small businesses” with simpler pricing models. The CTO Club +1 Regional / niche clouds: If your SaaS is region-specific (e.g., Europe, e.g., data sovereignty) you might evaluate smaller players or more regional clouds. Tech2Geek 🔍 What to Prioritise when Choosing for a SaaS Startup Here are key criteria you should evaluate, especially given your SaaS context: Scalability & Availability: Can the provider handle your growth (users, geographic expansion, peak loads) without big rearchitecting? Startup/Partner Support & Credits: Many providers have programs giving cloud credits, mentorship, technical support for early-stage companies. Pricing Transparency & Cost Control: Avoid surprise bills. Check pricing models, reserved instances, pay-as-you-go, and the cost for scaling. siliconspice.com +1 Developer Productivity & Ecosystem: How easy is it to deploy, iterate, use managed services (databases, serverless, containers), integrate CI/CD? Data & Analytics / ML capabilities: If your SaaS leverages data heavily or ML/AI, provider’s strength in this area matters (GCP is strong here). Compliance / Security / Global Reach: Depending on your target markets, you may need specific certifications, data-centre regions, backups, disaster recovery. Tech2Geek +1 Lock-in & Flexibility: Ideally you want flexibility to switch or adopt multi-cloud later. Consider how tied you’ll be to proprietary services. Support & SLAs: Startup support levels, community, documentation, ease of getting help when things go wrong. 🎯 My Recommendation (for a typical SaaS startup) Given your likely profile (building a SaaS, possibly global or at least NZ region, growth-oriented rather than legacy enterprise) I might suggest the following path: Start lean with one of the major clouds (AWS or GCP) given their maturity and startup programs. Leverage startup credits early so you can experiment, prototype, iterate without large cost burden. Build your architecture cloud-native (containers, serverless, managed services) so you can scale and later if needed, migrate or adopt multi-cloud. As you grow, monitor cost growth closely and evaluate where you might use cost optimisation, potentially multi-cloud or region-specific providers if data sovereignty or latencies matter. Choose a provider where you can service your target geography well (e.g., Asia-Pacific / NZ region) — check data-centre locations, latency. Ensure you adopt cost monitoring, observability, and good engineering practices early: scaling a SaaS with a shaky infra base can be painful. If you like, I can compare cost, startup credit programs, and region-support (including NZ/APAC) for the top 3 providers (AWS, GCP, Azure) tailored to SaaS startup usage. Would you like me to pull that together?