What’s the real cost of cloud when you factor in everything?
Why This Comparison Matters
Cloud pricing looks simple, until you get the invoice.
Many Australian businesses moving to the cloud hit the same roadblock: unpredictable costs. What starts as a clean per-hour or per-GB rate often becomes a maze of line items, from bandwidth to IOPS to support tiers.
At Amaze, we’re often asked how our PowerStack Professional offering stacks up against the AWS offer. Not in theory, but in actual dollars and real use cases.
So we ran the numbers - We modelled a standard 3-node setup, with compute, storage, networking, security, monitoring, and support, and we used AWS pricing (as of August 2025) and compared it to Amaze’s bundled pricing.
The results speak for themselves.
Quick Summary
- Amaze PowerStack Professional: ~$2,145 USD/month
- AWS Equivalent Setup: ~$3,950–$5,800 USD/month
- Savings with Amaze: Up to 63% less for the same infrastructure, with local support and no hidden costs.
What We Compared
We used the configuration from Amaze’s PowerStack Professional tier:
- 3-node hyper-converged infrastructure
- 84 vCPUs, 768 GB RAM
- 6 TB usable storage (3-way replication)
- 1 Gbps unlimited internet, 40 Gbps internal
- HA Fortigate firewall, 16 VLANs
- Australian-hosted, data sovereign
- Bundled 24/7 support, monitoring, and security
Amaze pricing: $3,300 AUD/month
(Approx. $2,145 USD/month using $1 AUD = $0.65 USD)
We then built a comparable AWS architecture using:
- EC2 instances (r6i series) across 3 Availability Zones
- EBS volumes (io2) with replication to match data durability
- AWS VPC with NAT, Network Firewall, and monitoring via CloudWatch
- Business-level AWS support (24/7)
| Component |
Amaze |
AWS |
Notes |
| Compute |
Included |
$1,920 |
6x r6i.4xlarge across 3 AZs |
| Memory |
Included |
Included in EC2 |
|
| Storage (6 TB usable) |
Included |
~$900 |
3x io2 volumes, provisioned IOPS |
| Networking (1 Gbps egress |
Included |
$450 - $2.000 |
Based on 5–20 TB data transfer |
| Firewall + VLANS |
Included |
~$300 |
AWS Network Firewall & NAT Gateway |
| Monitoring + Logging |
Included |
|
CloudWatch, metrics, logs |
| Support (24/7) |
Included |
~$300 |
AWS Business Support Plan |
| Total Estimated Cost |
$2,145 |
$3,950 - $5,800 |
AWS cost scales with usage |
When You Add More Nodes
Amaze scales predictably:
- Each extra node = $890 AUD ($580 USD approx.)
AWS scales more expensively - compute, storage, and especially network egress rise fast. For example, adding 3 nodes would push AWS monthly costs closer to $8,000+, especially with higher outbound traffic.
Real-World Sensitivity: Data Transfer Costs
One of the biggest hidden costs in AWS is data egress.
Here's how those charges stack up.
| Data Transfer (Outbound) |
Amaze |
AWS |
| 5 TB/Month |
Included |
~$460 |
| 20 TB/Month |
Included |
~$1,800 |
| 100 TB/Month |
Included |
~$8,900+ |
✅ Amaze includes unmetered 1 Gbps egress in every plan.
❌ AWS charges per GB, after the first 100 GB.
Total Cost Over 12 Months (Base 3-Node Setup)
|
Amaze |
AWS |
| 12-Month TCO |
~$25,740 USD |
~$47,400 - $69,600 USD |
| Savings with Amaze |
|
Up to $43, 860 USD saved annually |
And that’s not including potential bill shocks if AWS usage unexpectedly spikes, which is something our customers mention often.
Why These Numbers Matter
For many Australian businesses, especially in sectors like finance, healthcare, or eCommerce, workloads are relatively stable. They don’t need constant scaling.
What they do need is:
- Guaranteed performance
- Strong security and compliance
- Predictable budgeting
- Local support they can count on
Beyond the Numbers: Strategic Benefits of Amaze
| Factor |
Amaze |
AWS |
| Data Sovereignty |
100% hosted in Australia |
May replicate overseas |
| Support |
Local team, 24/7, included |
Tiered support, extra cost |
| Security |
Fortigate firewall, built-in encryption |
Requires service-by-service setup |
| Billing Simplicity |
One line item, predictable |
Variable, based on usage |
| Compliance |
Built for Australian standards |
Global-first model |
Which Platform Is Right For You?
Choose Amaze PowerStack if:
- You want predictable, transparent cloud pricing
- Data sovereignty is non-negotiable
- You’re a mid-sized business without a massive in-house DevOps team
- You're looking for simplicity and performance in one place
Stick with AWS if:
- You need global infrastructure for multi-region deployment
- Your engineering team is deeply integrated into AWS tools
- You value flexibility over predictability
Cloud That Works for You, Not Against You
AWS is a powerful platform, but power can come with complexity and hidden costs. At Amaze, we’ve built a cloud that prioritises clarity, compliance, and control, without compromise. If you’re planning a cloud move, or reviewing your current costs, we’ll help you model it - side by side.
Take a look at our PowerStack options available here - PowerStack
