Azure vs AWS in South Africa comes down to fit: both run local regions and offer one- or three-year commitment discounts. Weigh your Microsoft licences and identity, the services you need in-region, governance, and who will support it. For a Microsoft-centred business, Azure is often simpler; if your people already know AWS, AWS can be better.
I have worked in IT and development since 1998 and hold Microsoft’s Azure Fundamentals certification. Rizonetech is a Microsoft partner and our Azure service is our focus, so we will be plain about where AWS fits better. Reviewed 12 October 2026 by Derick Payne, with the published facts read that day.
Do we use only one cloud ourselves?
Our business runs on Microsoft 365. The two products we are building, SecureBin and MailMark, are designed for Laravel Cloud, Laravel’s managed platform, which runs on AWS.
How do Azure and AWS compare in South Africa?
| Azure | AWS | |
|---|---|---|
| Regions in South Africa | South Africa North (Johannesburg) and South Africa West (Cape Town) | Africa (Cape Town), af-south-1 |
| Opened | March 2019 | April 2020 |
| Availability zones | 3 in South Africa North; none in South Africa West (regions list) | 3 in Cape Town (regions list) |
| Access | South Africa West is restricted, for scenarios “such as disaster recovery” | Cape Town must be enabled first, as a region launched after March 2019 |
AWS has also announced a Johannesburg Local Zone under the Cape Town region, which you currently register interest in rather than use.
A South African region does not mean every service, backup or support process stays in South Africa. Service availability varies between Azure regions, and on AWS some services launch in a region later or not at all. Check each service you need, where its backups go, and the safeguards your contracts require. AWS’s own South African privacy page says customers “are ultimately responsible for their own compliance with PoPIA”, and Microsoft’s shared responsibility page says the same in general terms: “you own your data and identities”.
Does your Microsoft estate decide it?
Often it weighs most. If your business runs Microsoft 365, you already have a Microsoft Entra tenant: Microsoft says Microsoft 365 and Azure subscribers are “already using Microsoft Entra ID”. Azure uses that same tenant for sign-in and access.
AWS can use it too. AWS IAM Identity Center supports sign-in with Microsoft Entra ID and can synchronise users and groups from it. So compare the setup each needs, the skills your people have, and how you will manage access on both, rather than assuming only one works.
How do the licence options compare?
If you own Windows Server or SQL Server licences, check both routes:
- On Azure, Azure Hybrid Benefit lets you use qualifying Windows Server licences “with active Software Assurance or qualifying subscription licenses” to run virtual machines “at a reduced cost”, in every Azure region. SQL Server core licences with active Software Assurance or qualifying subscriptions are eligible too.
- On AWS, License Mobility covers eligible server applications such as SQL Server with active Software Assurance. Windows Server is not eligible for License Mobility. AWS lists three requirements for bringing your own Windows Server licences: they run on EC2 Dedicated Hosts; they were bought before 1 October 2019, or added as a true-up under an agreement effective before that date; and the version was publicly available before 1 October 2019. Licences bought through Microsoft’s Cloud Solution Provider programme are not eligible.
- The 2019 rule. Microsoft says licences bought from 1 October 2019 without Software Assurance and mobility rights “cannot be deployed with dedicated hosted cloud services” from listed providers, which include Amazon.
Licensing is specific to your agreements, so have it checked before you count on a saving.
How do costs compare?
Both sell the same kind of commitment: an hourly spend for one or three years. AWS says Compute Savings Plans can reduce costs “by up to 66%”; Microsoft says its savings plan for compute can save “up to 65%”. Those are advertised maximums for specific examples, not what your workload in South Africa will save, so price your own workload on both. A commitment is paid for whether you use it or not, and Microsoft says unused commitment for an hour “expires and does not roll over”. Size it against your steady usage, not your busiest month.
Data leaving the cloud for the internet costs money on both, after a free allowance: Azure’s first 100 GB a month of internet egress is free, and AWS gives 100 GB a month free, aggregated across its services and regions. Above that, Azure prices by billing zone and puts its South African regions in Zone 2, and AWS says charges “can vary depending on the services used and the source AWS Region”. Copying backups to another region is priced separately again. Price your expected monthly volume in the Azure pricing calculator and the AWS Pricing Calculator, for the South African region you would use, on the day you decide.
Build each estimate from the whole workload: compute, storage, data transfer, licensing, support and the effort of managing it.
How do you govern either one?
Both have mature frameworks. Azure’s Cloud Adoption Framework uses landing zones, management groups and Azure Policy. AWS uses its Well-Architected Framework with AWS Organizations and Control Tower. Neither works if nobody sets it up and keeps it up. Our Azure migration and governance whitepaper covers the Azure side in depth.
When is AWS the better choice?
When your team already knows AWS well, when a service you need is available on AWS in Cape Town and not on Azure in South Africa, or when the platform you want to use runs on AWS. Our own products are an example of the last: we chose Laravel Cloud as their platform, and Laravel Cloud runs on AWS. Compare the actual services each application needs before you decide for anything else.
When is Azure the better choice?
When your business runs on Microsoft 365 and Windows, when you hold licences that Azure Hybrid Benefit can use, or when the people supporting you know Azure. That is the business Azure suits best, and why Azure is our focus.
Who will run it after launch?
This matters more than most feature lists. An environment nobody owns drifts: costs creep and access spreads. Choose the platform that you, or your partner, can support properly, and agree who reviews cost, access and security each month.
FAQ
Is Azure or AWS cheaper in South Africa?
Neither is cheaper across the board. Compare your actual workload, your licences, data transfer and the commitments you would make, on both.
Can our data stay in South Africa on either?
It can, depending on the services you choose and how you configure them: both have South African regions. Check each service’s availability and where its backups and support processing happen, and document the safeguards your contracts need.
Can we use both?
Yes. Many businesses use Microsoft 365 for email and identity and run some workloads on AWS. Plan sign-in and access across both from the start.
What should you do next?
Find out where your systems stand with the free IT health check. For the Azure route, read our practical migration guide, or talk to us about our Azure service; we will tell you if AWS is the better fit.
Published 16 June 2026. Last updated 12 October 2026.