A hybrid cloud solution for securely extending a private cloud or network to a public cloud can be enhanced with tools for evaluating the resources offered by multiple public cloud providers. In an example embodiment, a public cloud evaluation system can be used to create a virtual machine (VM) in a public cloud to serve the function of a public cloud evaluation agent. The public cloud evaluation agent can instantiate one or more VMs and other resources in the public cloud, and configure the VMs and resources to execute performance evaluation software. The results of the performance evaluation software can be transmitted to a private enterprise network, and analyzed to determine whether the public cloud is an optimal public cloud for hosting an enterprise application.