Google Cloud → AWS and Azure
AWS and Azure equivalents of Service accounts
The closest AWS equivalent of Google Cloud Service accounts is IAM roles for AWS services; on Azure, Managed identities for Azure resources.
About Service accounts
| Provider | Google Cloud |
|---|---|
| Status | Generally available |
| What it is | Identities for workloads; attach a service account to a resource to get short-lived credentials without keys. |
| Documentation | docs.cloud.google.com |
| Pricing | No separate pricing page |
Mappings (1)
| Capability | AWS | Match (GCP vs AWS) | Azure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credential-free identities for cloud workloads | IAM roles for AWS services | Direct match | Managed identities for Azure resources |
Credential-free identities for cloud workloads Direct match
IAM roles for AWS services map to service accounts attached to Google Cloud resources, which receive short-lived credentials automatically.
- A service account is a principal with its own IAM roles, rather than a role assumed by a service.
- Avoid service account keys; attached service accounts and federation remove the need for them.