Azure App Service vs Azure Container Apps - which to use?

Question

Hello,

our company is planning to develop multitenant web application. We will be having several modules, where each module consists of frontend and backend (as separate apps). So not really a monolith, but not really a microservice architecture as well. These modules will be shared across multiple tenants, but there can be an use case where a specific tenant needs a specific version of some module (for example having some additional feature).

Now, I can't really decide which service in Azure should be more suitable for us in this scenario. Either use Azure App Service or Azure Container Apps. I'm leaning more towards ACA, as it seems to offer more flexibility with containers, possibly slightly better pricing. The official documentation for comparison of these services didn't really help me decide.

Could you please share with me some deciding factors I should consider?

Thanks

Answer 1

@Jakub Pernica Thanks for reaching out. Based on your requirements, both Azure App Service and Azure Container Apps can be used to host your multitenant web application. However, there are some factors that you should consider before making a decision.

Azure App Service is a fully managed platform that provides hosting for web applications including websites and web APIs. It is optimized for web applications and provides a range of features such as automatic scaling, load balancing, and integration with other Azure services. Azure App Service is a good choice if you want to focus on developing your application and not worry about the underlying infrastructure. It also provides built-in support for popular programming languages and frameworks.

On the other hand, Azure Container Apps is a fully managed platform that provides hosting for containerized applications. It provides more flexibility than Azure App Service as you can use any container image to run your application. It also provides features such as automatic scaling, load balancing, and integration with other Azure services. Azure Container Apps is a good choice if you want to have more control over the underlying infrastructure and want to use containers to run your application.

Here are some factors that you should consider when deciding between Azure App Service and Azure Container Apps:

Flexibility: If you want to use any container image to run your application, then Azure Container Apps is a better choice. If you want to use a specific programming language or framework, then Azure App Service is a better choice.

Control: If you want more control over the underlying infrastructure, then Azure Container Apps is a better choice. If you want to focus on developing your application and not worry about the underlying infrastructure, then Azure App Service is a better choice.

Pricing: Azure Container Apps can be more cost-effective than Azure App Service if you have a large number of applications to host. However, if you have a small number of applications to host, then Azure App Service may be more cost-effective.

Scalability: Both Azure App Service and Azure Container Apps provide automatic scaling. However, Azure Container Apps provides more granular control over scaling as you can scale individual containers.

Based on your requirements, it seems that Azure Container Apps may be a better choice as it provides more flexibility with containers and slightly better pricing. However, you should also consider the other factors mentioned above before making a decision.

Please "Accept Answer" if the answer is helpful so that it can help others in the community.