Nearly ten years ago, Thirdbridge made the strategic decision to use AWS as our default cloud provider for most projects. This choice fits into a broader, more nuanced digital strategy in which we also integrate other providers when specific needs arise. The following sections explain the reasoning behind this position.

The Default Choice

Thirdbridge builds projects for other companies. This means we bear the responsibility of choosing reliable and sustainable technologies on their behalf. If a client eventually decides to bring the project back in-house, they shouldn’t be penalized by our use of obscure or niche tech chosen for our own enjoyment.

This mindset of restraint and caution shapes our entire tech stack (React, C#, Node.js, Postgres, AWS, etc.).

When we first opened an AWS account in 2017, the company held the largest market share — around 32%. This ratio has remained remarkably stable: today, AWS still holds about 31% of the market. This ongoing dominance makes AWS a natural default. The talent pool is vast, the community is vibrant, and despite its massive scale, AWS continues to innovate at a steady pace, thanks in part to its unique organizational structure.

A Beneficial Partnership

To maintain its market leadership, AWS offers a highly attractive partnership program for qualified companies (like Thirdbridge) and their clients.

Innovation Credits

AWS provides generous credits for eligible innovation projects. This makes it easier to validate technical concepts without worrying about upfront cloud costs.

Proof of Concept Funding

AWS can even co-fund a portion of costs related to building a proof of concept, as long as it’s hosted on AWS. This isn’t just about AWS credits — we’re talking about real money. It’s a valuable financial boost at the early stages of a project.

Standardized Security

Thanks to a decade of expertise with AWS, Thirdbridge clients benefit from a very high standard of cybersecurity. By consolidating all our projects within the same AWS organization, we can automatically deploy AWS’s full security suite (GuardDuty, Config, Security Hub, Inspector, and Macie) across every account.

This means even our smallest clients enjoy enterprise-grade protection — at a fraction of the typical cost.

A Nuanced Strategy

While AWS remains our default for the reasons outlined above, we’re fully aware that it’s not the ideal solution for every use case. Here are a few other platforms we use, depending on context:

Vercel

AWS’s power is a double-edged sword — with great power comes… complexity. Vercel, a cloud platform known for its seamless integration with Next.js, runs on AWS but offers a far more intuitive and streamlined experience. It supports most modern meta-frameworks (Next.js, SvelteKit, etc.).

For simpler projects that don’t require complex infrastructure, Vercel is often a better choice. It removes a lot of cloud overhead. That said, its limitations show up quickly. For example, it doesn’t offer fixed IP addresses, which prevents proper firewall setup for external databases (VPC peering is only available on the Enterprise plan). While that may sound minor, it’s a real blocker for any project needing strict security compliance.

Azure

In recent years, we’ve seen strong growth from Microsoft Azure. Its service offering is similar to AWS’s, but its native integration with other Microsoft products often tips the scale in its favor. Some of our largest clients explicitly require Azure for this reason.

To meet that demand, we launched an internal certification program on Azure to provide high-level service to clients operating in Microsoft-centric environments.

Firebase / GCP

Google Cloud Platform stands out with Firebase — a simplified backend solution that lets you quickly spin up projects, with a smooth transition path to GCP as complexity grows.

We typically choose Firebase when we need Firestore, its real-time database. Real-time needs are rare, but when they arise, Firestore is a rock-solid choice.

Conclusion

For nearly a decade, AWS has been our go-to cloud provider. Its popularity, partner incentives, and advanced security features make it a strong and reliable default.

But we’re not dogmatic: we know that some projects — and client ecosystems — demand different solutions. While AWS is our baseline, we always conduct a thorough analysis to choose the best technology for each unique situation.