A new Civo report reveals that 64 per cent of AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud users have seen their costs increase in the last year.

This comes as the watchdogs are probing the public cloud services for their dodgy billing and pricing tricks.

Based on a survey of over 500 tech experts who use the big cloud services, the report finds that 69 per cent of them have seen their bills rise by up to 25 per cent.

More than 42 per cent of businesses using the cloud giants say they can't predict their monthly bill, and 28 per cent say they've been hit with a nasty surprise. 47 per cent of businesses are thinking of ditching the cloud, and 28 per cent have hired advisers to help them cut their costs.

Civo boss Mark Boost said that the cloud is a con and

Mark Boost, the boss of Civo, the firm behind the report, said that the industry needs to face the truth that the cloud is broken.

The cloud giants have not kept their promises of low costs and easy solutions made more than ten years ago. Instead, they've left us with high prices, complicated systems, and locked-in tech, making it hard to go anywhere else.

“Once you're in, you're stuck! This is terrible news, especially for small businesses, who can't afford to tailor the cloud to their needs, “Boost said.

He said the tech sector can improve by focusing on fairness, honesty, and customer experience—not fat cat profits.

“The cloud should be about helping IT teams try new things and create using the technology, finding the services they want, and paying a fair price. With this new approach, the cloud can be what it should have been: an amazing tool for equality in technology, making it possible for anyone to use the latest tech to innovate and succeed. I believe that the tech sector's future must be about fairness and social responsibility, giving back to users and making the world a better place,” Boost said.