How does per-second billing compare between AWS and Google Cloud?

Both AWS and Google Cloud bill compute instances per second with a 1-minute minimum. However, Google Cloud provides automatic Sustained Use Discounts (SUD) on certain VM families without upfront contractual commitments.

AWSVSGoogle Cloud (GCP)2026 Verified Catalog Data

AWS vs. Google Cloud (GCP): 2026 Pricing, Kubernetes & AI Cost Comparison

Google Cloud (GCP) delivers tighter resource granularity and superior Kubernetes efficiency (GKE) with per-second billing and sustained use discounts, while AWS offers broader global region availability and extensive catalog depth.

ComputeVMs & Droplets

6-12% Lower On-Demand on GCP

Standard on-demand list pricing comparison for general purpose memory and vCPU tiers.

AWSVSGoogle Cloud (GCP)

DatabasesPostgreSQL & MySQL

Comparable (Cloud SQL vs. RDS)

PostgreSQL and MySQL database clusters with high availability and automated daily backups.

AWSVSGoogle Cloud (GCP)

NetworkingBandwidth & Egress

Google Cloud (GCP) Generous Free Pools

Both cloud providers charge between $0.08 and $0.12 per GB of internet egress, with Google offering a low-cost Standard Network Tier.

AWSVSGoogle Cloud (GCP)

Direct Head-to-Head Configuration Shootout

Monthly prices based on 730 hours/month on-demand consumption.

Explore Full 26,000+ SKU Catalog

Workload Profile	AWS SKU & Rate	Google Cloud (GCP) SKU & Rate	Cost Advantage
Entry Compute (2 vCPU / 4 GB) 2 vCPU • 4 GB RAM	t3.medium ($0.0416/hr) $30.37/mo	e2-medium ($0.0335/hr) $24.46/mo	Google Cloud (GCP) saves 19%
General Purpose (4 vCPU / 16 GB) 4 vCPU • 16 GB RAM • Balanced	m5.xlarge ($0.192/hr) $140.16/mo	e2-standard-4 ($0.134/hr) $97.82/mo	Google Cloud (GCP) saves 30%
Kubernetes Cluster Control Plane Single Production K8s Cluster	Amazon EKS ($0.10/hr) $73.00/mo	Google GKE (1 Free Cluster / Zonal) $0.00/mo	Google Cloud (GCP) saves 100%
Standard Object Storage (5 TB) 5 TB Standard Hot Storage	Amazon S3 Standard ($0.023/GB) $115.00/mo	GCP Cloud Storage Standard ($0.020/GB) $100.00/mo	Google Cloud (GCP) saves 13%

Interactive 1-Click Code Transpiler

Translate your Terraform / OpenTofu HCL code between AWS and Google Cloud (GCP) instantly.

1-Click Multi-Cloud Migration Transpiler

OpenTofu / Terraform HCL

Drop or paste your existing Terraform / OpenTofu HCL code below. Our semantic normalizer automatically translates resource shapes, network VPCs, managed databases, and storage buckets into ready-to-run code for your target cloud provider.

Zero Data Retention

Target Cloud:

Presets:

Source Infrastructure (HCL)

// Transpiling infrastructure...

Frequently Asked Questions

Google Cloud includes one free zonal cluster per billing account, while AWS charges $73/month per EKS cluster immediately. In addition, GKE Autopilot automatically optimizes pod-level bin-packing and only bills for requested pod resources rather than unallocated worker node capacity.