Docker revolutionized how we build and ship applications. When combined with the power of cloud computing, Docker enables developers to build portable, scalable, and consistent deployment environments across infrastructure providers. Whether you’re deploying microservices or machine learning workloads, Docker simplifies the process across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

This guide provides a hands-on overview of deploying Docker containers on the three major cloud providers, comparing their container services and helping you choose the best option for your needs.

1. Deploying Docker Containers on AWS

Amazon Web Services offers several ways to run Docker containers:

Option 1: Amazon ECS (Elastic Container Service)
  • Fully managed container orchestration
  • Integrated with EC2 and AWS Fargate (serverless)
  • Supports Docker out-of-the-box

Steps to deploy:

  1. Create a Docker image and push to Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR):
aws ecr create-repository --repository-name my-app
docker tag my-app:latest 123456789.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/my-app
docker push 123456789.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/my-app

  1. Define a task definition using ECS.

  2. Deploy using ECS Console, CLI, or CloudFormation.

Option 2: Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service)
  • Run Docker containers using Kubernetes
  • Use kubectl to manage deployments
  • Fully integrated with IAM, VPC, and CloudWatch

2. Deploying Docker Containers on Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure supports Docker through Azure Container Instances (ACI) and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).

Option 1: Azure Container Instances (ACI)
  • Fast, serverless deployment of containers
  • Ideal for short-lived or stateless workloads

Deploy with Azure CLI:

az group create --name myResourceGroup --location eastus
az container create --resource-group myResourceGroup \
--name mycontainer \
--image myacr.azurecr.io/my-app \
--cpu 1 --memory 1 \
--registry-login-server myacr.azurecr.io \
--registry-username <username> \
--registry-password <password> \
--dns-name-label mydockerapp --ports 80
Option 2: Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
  • Managed Kubernetes for orchestrating containers
  • Supports Helm, kubectl, and CI/CD pipelines

Basic AKS deployment:

az aks create --resource-group myResourceGroup \
--name myAKSCluster --node-count 2 --enable-addons monitoring \
--generate-ssh-keys

az aks get-credentials --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myAKSCluster
kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml

3. Deploying Docker Containers on Google Cloud

Google Cloud Platform offers multiple ways to run Docker containers.

Option 1: Cloud Run
  • Fully managed, serverless platform
  • Automatically scales containers based on traffic
  • Best for stateless web apps and APIs

Deploy from Docker image:

gcloud builds submit --tag gcr.io/my-project/my-app
gcloud run deploy my-app --image gcr.io/my-project/my-app \
--platform managed --region us-central1 --allow-unauthenticated
Option 2: Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
  • Full-featured Kubernetes service
  • Integrated with Google Cloud IAM, Monitoring, and Logging

Deploy with kubectl:

gcloud container clusters create my-cluster --num-nodes=3
gcloud container clusters get-credentials my-cluster
kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml

Comparing Cloud Container Services

Feature AWS Azure Google Cloud
Serverless Container Runtime Fargate ACI Cloud Run
Managed Kubernetes Amazon EKS Azure AKS Google GKE
Container Registry Amazon ECR Azure Container Registry (ACR) Google Container Registry (GCR)
Pricing Granularity Per vCPU/second (Fargate) Per second (ACI) Per request & CPU (Cloud Run)
CI/CD Integration CodePipeline, GitHub Actions Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions Cloud Build, GitHub Actions

Best Practices

  • Use multi-stage builds in Dockerfiles for smaller images
  • Secure your registries with IAM roles and access policies
  • Use infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Pulumi, CDK) for reproducible deployments
  • Enable logging and monitoring (CloudWatch, Azure Monitor, Cloud Logging)
  • Use secrets management (AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, GCP Secret Manager)

Conclusion

Deploying Docker containers on AWS, Azure, and GCP has never been easier. Each provider offers robust tools and services tailored to various workloads — from stateless APIs to complex microservice architectures. Whether you prefer Kubernetes, serverless models, or simple container hosting, understanding these deployment options allows you to build resilient and scalable cloud-native applications.

Pick the right platform and strategy based on your team’s expertise, latency requirements, and budget constraints — and accelerate your journey to the cloud.