The Truth About Cloud: EC2, Azure, GCP — All Just Expensive VPS.

I’m a DevOps engineer, and for a long time I’ve been watching how people blindly choose cloud services like AWS EC2, Azure VM, and GCP Compute. Why? Because they think it’s modern and scalable.

But here’s the reality: all of these are just VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) with a company’s sticker on top — sold at 10x the price.

1. EC2, Azure, GCP — Just VPS Made Expensive

For around ₹1100 (or $15), I can get a VPS where I can run my entire infrastructure:

• My own Kubernetes cluster

• My deployments

• My monitoring setup

• Everything

On the other hand, when you go with EC2 or Azure, you get separate bills for:

• Storage

• Data transfer

• Load balancers

It’s basically the same VPS, but with an EMI plan attached.

2. Vendor Lock-In: Losing Control of Your Own Infra

When you rely on a cloud provider’s APIs and services, migrating away becomes almost impossible.

And when your traffic suddenly spikes 10x, your server crashes, and before your new instance is even ready, your users are already gone. Meanwhile, your cloud bill just doubled.

Even with Kubernetes scaling, if it’s tied to the cloud, you never have full control.

3. Real DevOps = Building Your Own Cluster

DevOps isn’t just about clicking buttons in the AWS console.

DevOps is about:

• Building your own cluster

• Scaling it yourself

• Setting up security

• Truly understanding your infrastructure

I can build my own cluster with kubeadm kind on a VPS. I don’t need anyone’s fancy dashboard to do real DevOps.

4. You Don’t

In the cloud, you don’t decide where your data is stored. Regions cost extra. Compliance costs extra.

With your own VPS or bare metal, you control your data your way. Your data, your rules.

Control Data in the Cloud

5. Cloud = “Ripping Your Pocket” as a Service

What I can do for ₹1100 ($15) on a VPS, cloud providers charge ₹20,000 ($250+) and brand it as “auto-scale, secure, pay as you go.”

The truth is, on the cloud you’re just paying to get your pocket ripped — while their billing keeps increasing.

So, Are We Becoming Slaves to the Cloud?

Today, the job of a DevOps engineer has been reduced to managing cloud bills. The real control of infrastructure is slipping away.

If your goal is a cost-effective and powerful system, then build it yourself on a VPS. You can scale, you can secure, and you can stay free from vendor lock-in.

Final Thought

Use the cloud — but use it wisely. Not every project needs to be on AWS, Azure, or GCP.

The real meaning of DevOps is:

• Understanding systems

• Building them

• Running them

DevOps is not just pressing a button on a GUI and paying bills.

The bigger picture: We must focus on learning real DevOps concepts, not just becoming platform-dependent engineers tied to AWS, Azure, or GCP.