Google Cloud Platform Compute

Compute Engine

Compute Engine provides infrastructure-as-a-service for deploying virtual machines on Google Cloud. It handles core workloads like web servers, databases, and AI tasks through preset or custom machine types. The platform manages the underlying hardware while you configure the instances to match specific performance requirements for your applications.

This setup suits teams needing flexible VM provisioning without upfront commitments, but it lacks a free tier entirely. Costs start at $0.00838 per hour on a strict pay-as-you-go basis, meaning even minimal testing or development environments incur immediate charges. You pay for every hour an instance runs, regardless of traffic or activity levels.

Product page Docs
  • Free tier No
  • Starting price from $0.00838 per hour
  • Regions 10 · 5 continents
  • SLA uptime 99.99%
  • Compliance 13 certifications
  • Provider health B

Decision score

54 /100
Features 48
Pricing 40
Reliability 94
Community 0
Ecosystem 86

Computed from catalog breadth, pricing, provider reliability (uptime & SLA), community signal, and ecosystem (compliance & regions). Weighted equally.

Trust & reach via Google Cloud Platform

Compliance
  • C5
  • CSA STAR
  • FedRAMP
  • GDPR
  • HIPAA
  • ISO 27001
  • ISO 27017
  • ISO 27018
  • ISO 9001
  • PCI DSS
  • SOC 1 Type II
  • SOC 2 Type II
+1 more
SLA uptime
  • compute99.99%
  • database99.95%
  • networking99.99%
  • storage99.95%
Global reach

10 regions across 5 continents

  • Asia
  • Europe
  • North America
  • Oceania
  • South America

Pricing tiers 76

Tier / PlanPriceUnitRegion
e2-standard-4 · Committed 1yr $0.0844 per hour us-central1
n2-standard-4 · Committed 1yr $0.1224 per hour us-central1
c2-standard-4 · Committed 1yr $0.1322 per hour us-central1
c3-standard-4 · Committed 1yr $0.1352 per hour us-central1
e2-standard-4 · Committed 3yr $0.0603 per hour us-central1
n2-standard-4 · Committed 3yr $0.0874 per hour us-central1
c2-standard-4 · Committed 3yr $0.0945 per hour us-central1
c3-standard-4 · Committed 3yr $0.0966 per hour us-central1
e2-micro $0.00838 per hour us-central1
e2-small $0.0168 per hour us-central1
e2-medium $0.0335 per hour us-central1
t2d-standard-1 $0.0425 per hour us-central1
e2-highcpu-2 $0.0495 per hour us-central1
e2-standard-2 $0.0670 per hour us-central1
n2-highcpu-2 $0.0718 per hour us-central1
Show all 76 pricing rows (61 more)
Tier / PlanPriceUnitRegion
t2d-standard-2 $0.0850 per hour us-central1
e2-highmem-2 $0.0904 per hour us-central1
n2-standard-2 $0.0971 per hour us-central1
e2-highcpu-4 $0.0990 per hour us-central1
n2-highmem-2 $0.1310 per hour us-central1
e2-standard-4 $0.1340 per hour us-central1
n2-highcpu-4 $0.1436 per hour us-central1
t2d-standard-4 $0.1699 per hour us-central1
e2-highmem-4 $0.1808 per hour us-central1
n2-standard-4 $0.1942 per hour us-central1
e2-highcpu-8 $0.1981 per hour us-central1
c2-standard-4 $0.2099 per hour us-central1
c3-standard-4 $0.2146 per hour us-central1
n2-highmem-4 $0.2621 per hour us-central1
e2-standard-8 $0.2681 per hour us-central1
n2-highcpu-8 $0.2872 per hour us-central1
t2d-standard-8 $0.3398 per hour us-central1
e2-highmem-8 $0.3616 per hour us-central1
n2-standard-8 $0.3884 per hour us-central1
e2-highcpu-16 $0.3962 per hour us-central1
c2-standard-8 $0.4198 per hour us-central1
c3-standard-8 $0.4292 per hour us-central1
n2-highmem-8 $0.5241 per hour us-central1
e2-standard-16 $0.5361 per hour us-central1
n2-highcpu-16 $0.5744 per hour us-central1
t2d-standard-16 $0.6797 per hour us-central1
e2-highmem-16 $0.7232 per hour us-central1
n2-standard-16 $0.7768 per hour us-central1
e2-highcpu-32 $0.7923 per hour us-central1
c2-standard-16 $0.8396 per hour us-central1
n2-highmem-16 $1.05 per hour us-central1
e2-standard-32 $1.07 per hour us-central1
n2-highcpu-32 $1.15 per hour us-central1
c3-standard-22 $1.18 per hour us-central1
t2d-standard-32 $1.36 per hour us-central1
n2-standard-32 $1.55 per hour us-central1
c2-standard-30 $1.57 per hour us-central1
t2d-standard-48 $2.04 per hour us-central1
n2-highmem-32 $2.10 per hour us-central1
n2-highcpu-64 $2.30 per hour us-central1
n2-standard-48 $2.33 per hour us-central1
c3-standard-44 $2.36 per hour us-central1
t2d-standard-60 $2.55 per hour us-central1
n2-standard-64 $3.11 per hour us-central1
c2-standard-60 $3.15 per hour us-central1
n2-highcpu-96 $3.45 per hour us-central1
a2-highgpu-1g $3.67 per hour us-central1
n2-standard-80 $3.88 per hour us-central1
n2-highmem-64 $4.19 per hour us-central1
n2-standard-96 $4.66 per hour us-central1
c3-standard-88 $4.72 per hour us-central1
n2-standard-128 $6.21 per hour us-central1
a2-highgpu-2g $7.35 per hour us-central1
c3-standard-176 $9.44 per hour us-central1
a2-highgpu-4g $14.69 per hour us-central1
a2-highgpu-8g $29.39 per hour us-central1
a2-megagpu-16g $55.74 per hour us-central1
e2-standard-4 · Spot $0.0402 per hour us-central1
n2-standard-4 · Spot $0.0583 per hour us-central1
c2-standard-4 · Spot $0.0630 per hour us-central1
e2-micro · Free Tier Free per month us-west1

Prices in USD. Micro-prices are quoted per 1M units; "< $0.000001" marks rates below our stored precision. Subject to change — check the provider's official page.

Alternatives on other providers

Compute Engine has the highest starting price of 3 comparable services — $0.00838 per hour.

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