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The Decisions.

Short, neutral, footnoted answers to the "which one should I use" questions cloud engineers ask most. One screen each — a plain verdict, a sourced comparison, and when to pick which.

10 decisions · reviewed
Google Cloud
App Engine or Compute Engine?
PaaS or IaaS on Google Cloud — when to hand Google the servers, and when to keep them.
Reviewed 2026-05-19
AWS · containers
Fargate or EC2 for ECS?
Hand AWS the host, or run your own instances — the ECS container-platform call.
Reviewed 2026-05-19
Patterns · AWS reference
API gateway, proxy or load balancer?
Gateway, proxy, load balancer — what each is actually for, and why you often need all three.
Reviewed 2026-05-19
AWS · API Gateway
REST API or HTTP API?
API Gateway's cheaper default vs the feature-complete original — and the features that force the choice.
Reviewed 2026-05-19
Google Cloud
Cloud Run or App Engine Flexible?
Google's modern serverless-container default vs the legacy VM-backed option.
Reviewed 2026-05-19
AWS · databases
Aurora or RDS?
AWS's cloud-native database engine vs classic managed RDS — architecture, or the cheaper floor.
Reviewed 2026-05-19
Azure
App Service, Container Apps or a VM?
Azure's PaaS, its serverless containers, or raw VMs — the modern three-way compute call.
Reviewed 2026-05-19
AWS · networking
NAT gateway, NAT instance or no NAT?
Private-subnet egress on AWS — the managed default, the legacy workaround, and skipping NAT outright.
Reviewed 2026-05-19
Cross-cloud · sovereignty
Sovereign region or EU-native provider?
A US hyperscaler's 'sovereign' region buys operational sovereignty; only an EU-parent provider gives legal sovereignty — the CLOUD Act is why.
Reviewed 2026-06-01
Cross-cloud · patterns
Cloud-native, managed or self-hosted observability?
Three operating models for the same problem — where you sit on the build-vs-buy spectrum.
Reviewed 2026-05-28