AWS EC2 vs Google Compute Engine
Default scenario: At 32 vCPUs, 128 GB RAM, 10 TB egress to internet / month, estimated bills are $21,853/yr for Google Compute Engine and $24,864/yr for AWS EC2. That’s a $3,011 difference before accounting for different features or operating costs.
The services may differ in features, performance, support and the work you need to do yourself. Read the notes and test what matters to your setup.
Your selected usage
32 vCPUs, 128 GB RAM, 10 TB egress to internet / month
- AWS EC2: $24,864/yr estimated
- Google Compute Engine: $21,853/yr estimated
Estimated costs at different usage levels
| Usage | AWS EC2 | Google Compute Engine |
|---|---|---|
| Default scenario32 vCPUs, 128 GB RAM, 10 TB egress to internet / month | $24,864/yrm7i.8xlarge · 1 × $1,181 + $891 egress | $21,853/yre2-standard-32 · 1 × $786 + $1,035 egress |
| Side project2 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM, 0.5 TB egress to internet / month | $1,359/yrm7i.large · 1 × $77 + $36 egress | $1,301/yre2-standard-2 · 1 × $53 + $56 egress |
| Startup16 vCPUs, 64 GB RAM, 5 TB egress to internet / month | $12,400/yrm7i.4xlarge · 1 × $592 + $441 egress | $11,010/yre2-standard-16 · 1 × $395 + $522 egress |
| Scale-up128 vCPUs, 512 GB RAM, 50 TB egress to internet / month | $108,098/yrm7i.16xlarge · 2 × $2,358 + $4,292 egress | $86,261/yre2-standard-32 · 4 × $786 + $4,043 egress |
On-demand list prices, Linux, the vendor’s main US or EU region (see notes). Fleets are built from one instance type. A vCPU is one hardware thread; rows marked shared sell oversubscribed vCPUs. Disks, backups and committed-use discounts (often 30–60% on hyperscalers) aren’t included. Try your own numbers against all servers & vps providers.
Side by side
| AWS EC2 | Google Compute Engine | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Amazon's virtual machines. The market default, priced per second with every extra (disk, public IPv4, egress) metered separately. | Google Cloud's virtual machines, with cost-optimised E2 and newer N4 families and the priciest default egress of the big three. |
| Headquarters | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Parent jurisdiction | 🇺🇸 United States (Amazon) | 🇺🇸 United States (Alphabet) |
| EU self-serve plan | Available; check eligible plans and regions | Available; check eligible plans and regions |
| GDPR DPA | Yes | Yes |
| Provider type | Hyperscaler & enterprise | Hyperscaler & enterprise |
| Billing | payg | payg |
| Free tier | New accounts (since July 2025) get up to $200 in credits for 6 months, usable on small t3/t4g/flex instances. | $300 credit for 90 days; one always-free e2-micro in selected US regions. |
| Open source | No | No |
| Source last checked | 2026-10-06 | 2026-10-06 |
| Pricing evidence | Published rates | Published rates |
Which should you choose?
Google Compute Engine has the lower estimated bill at every usage level we tested, from 3 vCPUs, 13 GB RAM, 1 TB egress to internet / month to 3,200 vCPUs, 13,000 GB RAM, 1,000 TB egress to internet / month.
Choose AWS EC2 if…
Our data shows no advantage on price, residency, jurisdiction or licensing. Compare features in the notes below.
Choose Google Compute Engine if…
- it has the lower estimated bill at Side project, Startup and Scale-up usage
Based on estimated list-price bills and the facts above. Features, performance and support aren’t scored.
AWS EC2 pricing
Calculated from the listed vendor rates; exclusions still apply.
| Plan | vCPUs / instance | RAM / instance (GB) | Instance / month | Internet egress / TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| m7i.large | 2 | 8 | $77.23 | $90, tiered |
| m7i.xlarge | 4 | 16 | $150.82 | $90, tiered |
| m7i.2xlarge | 8 | 32 | $297.99 | $90, tiered |
| m7i.4xlarge | 16 | 64 | $592.32 | $90, tiered |
| m7i.8xlarge | 32 | 128 | $1,180.99 | $90, tiered |
| m7i.16xlarge | 64 | 256 | $2,358.34 | $90, tiered |
us-east-1 (N. Virginia), Linux on-demand, m7i general purpose (Intel, 4 GB per vCPU; a vCPU is a hyperthread), 730 hours. Each instance price includes the public IPv4 address at $0.005/hour ($3.65/month). EBS disk is extra (gp3 $0.08/GB-month). Newer m8i costs ~5% more; Graviton m8g (Arm, full cores) ~11% less; burstable t4g starts at $3.07/month. Egress: 100 GB/month free per account, then $0.09/GB for the first 10 TB, $0.085 to 50 TB, $0.07 to 150 TB, $0.05 above. Savings Plans cut compute up to 66–72% for 1–3 year commitments. Prices from the AWS price-list API (Sept 2026).
AWS EC2 plan limits, full rates and cheaper alternatives · official pricing page
Google Compute Engine pricing
Calculated from the listed vendor rates; exclusions still apply.
| Plan | vCPUs / instance | RAM / instance (GB) | Instance / month | Internet egress / TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| e2-standard-2 | 2 | 8 | $52.57 | $111.76, tiered |
| e2-standard-4 | 4 | 16 | $101.49 | $111.76, tiered |
| e2-standard-8 | 8 | 32 | $199.32 | $111.76, tiered |
| e2-standard-16 | 16 | 64 | $395 | $111.76, tiered |
| e2-standard-32 | 32 | 128 | $786.34 | $111.76, tiered |
| n4-standard-2 | 2 | 8 | $69.86 | $111.76, tiered |
| n4-standard-4 | 4 | 16 | $136.07 | $111.76, tiered |
| n4-standard-8 | 8 | 32 | $268.49 | $111.76, tiered |
| n4-standard-16 | 16 | 64 | $533.34 | $111.76, tiered |
| n4-standard-32 | 32 | 128 | $1,063.03 | $111.76, tiered |
| n4-standard-64 | 64 | 256 | $2,122.4 | $111.76, tiered |
us-central1 (Iowa), Linux on-demand, 730 hours. E2 is the cost-optimised family; N4 is the current general-purpose one (both 4 GB per vCPU; a vCPU is a hyperthread). Each instance price includes the public IPv4 address at $0.005/hour. Disk is extra (Hyperdisk Balanced ~$0.08/GB-month, pd-balanced $0.10). Egress on the default Premium tier to North America/Europe: first 1 GiB free, $0.12/GiB to 1 TiB, $0.11 to 10 TiB, $0.08 above (converted to decimal TB: $111.76, $102.45 and $74.51); the Standard network tier is $0.085/GiB after 200 GiB free. Committed-use discounts are 37% (1 yr) / 55% (3 yr) for resource-based commitments.
Google Compute Engine plan limits, full rates and cheaper alternatives · official pricing page
Frequently asked questions
Is AWS EC2 cheaper than Google Compute Engine?
Google Compute Engine has the lower estimated bill at every usage level we tested, from 3 vCPUs, 13 GB RAM, 1 TB egress to internet / month to 3,200 vCPUs, 13,000 GB RAM, 1,000 TB egress to internet / month. At 32 vCPUs, 128 GB RAM, 10 TB egress to internet / month, the estimates are $24,864/yr for AWS EC2 and $21,853/yr for Google Compute Engine. Estimates use list prices and leave out features, support and operating costs.
Do AWS EC2 and Google Compute Engine offer EU data residency?
Both offer EU data residency on a self-serve plan. Check which plans and regions qualify.
Do AWS EC2 and Google Compute Engine have a free tier or trial?
AWS EC2: New accounts (since July 2025) get up to $200 in credits for 6 months, usable on small t3/t4g/flex instances. Google Compute Engine: $300 credit for 90 days; one always-free e2-micro in selected US regions.
Where are AWS EC2 and Google Compute Engine based?
AWS EC2 is headquartered in the United States and owned by Amazon (the United States). Google Compute Engine is headquartered in the United States and owned by Alphabet (the United States).