Amazon Web Services (AWS) vs Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Pricing (2026)
Compare / Amazon Web Services (AWS) vs Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
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Team size
25 seats

Amazon Web Services (AWS) vs Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Cloud Infrastructure pricing comparison · 2026

Amazon Web Services (AWS) pricing ranges from $0–$15000/month, while Google Cloud Platform (GCP) ranges from $0–$48.92/month. Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is typically 9% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.

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See pricing on each vendor's site
Above-the-fold path — each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit Amazon pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Visit Google pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Compare
2 products · Cloud Infrastructure
Side-by-side · live
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world's largest cloud infrastructure provider, commanding
verified 27d ago
$398 $429
View pricing →
Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is the third-largest cloud infrastructure provider with roughl
verified 27d ago
$398 $429
View pricing →
Verdict · Vendr median · year 1
Amazon saves $31 vs Google · 25 seats
Cheapest $398
Spread 7%
Estimated license cost
at 25 seats
List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.
On-Demand (t3.medium)
$9.1K/yr
year 1 license · $30/seat
On-Demand (e2-standard-2)
$15K/yr
year 1 license · $49/seat
What buyers actually pay
median, annual
Vendr deal-flow data. The real benchmark, not list price.
↓ Lowest median
Median annual
$398/yr
Vendr · n=164
Median annual
$429/yr
Vendr · n=54
REF · 01

Sources & confidence

Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.

Where this data comes from
Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs
Sources 18 sourced facts
14 hidden-cost · 2 contract · Vendr median · 1 review platform
Last verified 3w ago
Confidence High confidence
Sources 11 sourced facts
9 hidden-cost · 1 contract · Vendr median
Last verified 3w ago
Confidence Medium confidence
REF · 02

Plans at a glance

Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.

Tier ladder
Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.
REF · 03

Hidden costs

Each cost is severity-ranked, with the dollar range quoted from its source (Vendr, Reddit, TrustRadius, BBB, official docs) — never our estimate.

Beyond the sticker
Severity-ranked, sourced
5 documented
  • Data Egress and Bandwidth Costs
    10-30% of license costs
    2 sources
  • Lambda Hidden Service Dependencies
    5-15% of license costs
    2 sources
  • GPU and ML Instance Cost Shock
    $2,160-$14,400
    1 source
  • Managed Service Premium (Fargate, Aurora, Redshift)
    $21-$100
    2 sources
  • VPC Endpoint Charges per Service
    5-15% of license costs
    2 sources
5 documented
  • Unexpected API and Service Charges Despite Free Credits
    $50-$500
    3 sources
  • No Hard Spending Limits on Pay-As-You-Go Services
    100-500% of expected budget
    2 sources
  • Billing Transparency and Reporting Limitations
    10-20% of license costs
    2 sources
  • Unintentional Overage Charges
    10-50% of license costs
    1 source
  • API Token Costs for AI Services
    $500-$5,000
    1 source
REF · 04

Contract terms

The fine print, surfaced. Green = buyer-friendly. Each clause backed by a quoted source.

Amazon
Google
Auto-renewal
✓ No
—
Cancellation
On-Demand instances can be stopped or terminated at any time with no notice; Reserved Instances commit to 1 or 3-year terms
—
Commitment
None for On-Demand; 1 or 3 years for Reserved Instances and Savings Plans
1 year for committed use discounts
Price escalation
No published price escalation schedule; AWS has historically reduced prices over time, though GPU, ML, and managed service pricing remains high
—
Can downgrade
✓ Yes
✓ Yes
Based on 3 verified sources (Vendr · TrustRadius · BBB)
REF · 05

What users say

Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.

User reviews
TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2
TrustRadius
7.6/5 (735)
Best for
Developers learning AWS, small experiments, and proof-of-concept projects
Watch out
Customer support described as 'terrible' with 24-hour outages and no resolution
No public ratings yet
Best for
Developers exploring GCP, data analytics experimentation, and serverless prototyping
Watch out
Easy to accidentally incur charges beyond free tier
Decide
Get a quote from each vendor
Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit Amazon pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Visit Google pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats). Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges. Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.
Cloud Infrastructure

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

$0–$15000
/month
5 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
Cloud Infrastructure

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

$0–$48.92
/month
5 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) both operate in the cloud infrastructure category. This page compares their list pricing.

Plan-by-Plan Pricing

Plan Amazon Web Services (AWS) Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
Free Tier Free /month Free /month
On-Demand (t3.micro) $7.59 /month $6.12 /month
On-Demand (t3.medium) $30.37 /month $48.92 /month
Savings Plans (1-Year Compute) Custom Custom
Enterprise Support $15K /month Custom

Cost at Scale

Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

8 scenarios
$15
Developer Sandbox
25/month
$150
Small Web Application
250/month
$1,500
Production SaaS Platform
3,000/month
See all 8 scenarios →

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

6 scenarios
$10
Developer Playground
15/month
$100
Startup Web Application
200/month
$1,000
Production Data Platform
2,500/month
See all 6 scenarios →

Market Intelligence

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Median annual cost
$398
Based on
164 deals

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Median annual cost
$429
Based on
54 deals

Hidden Costs

Beyond the sticker price — what catches buyers off guard.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) 7 hidden costs

high
Data Egress and Bandwidth Costs 10-30% of license costs
medium
Lambda Hidden Service Dependencies 5-15% of license costs
high
GPU and ML Instance Cost Shock $2,160-$14,400
high
Managed Service Premium (Fargate, Aurora, Redshift) $21-$100
medium
VPC Endpoint Charges per Service 5-15% of license costs
See all Amazon Web Services (AWS) hidden costs →

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) 5 hidden costs

critical
Unexpected API and Service Charges Despite Free Credits $50-$500
critical
No Hard Spending Limits on Pay-As-You-Go Services 100-500% of expected budget
high
Billing Transparency and Reporting Limitations 10-20% of license costs
high
Unintentional Overage Charges 10-50% of license costs
medium
API Token Costs for AI Services $500-$5,000
See all Google Cloud Platform (GCP) hidden costs →

Contract Terms

Term Amazon Web Services (AWS) Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
Auto-renewal No —
Cancellation On-Demand instances can be stopped or terminated at any time with no notice; Reserved Instances commit to 1 or 3-year terms —
Minimum commitment None for On-Demand; 1 or 3 years for Reserved Instances and Savings Plans 1 year for committed use discounts
Price escalation No published price escalation schedule; AWS has historically reduced prices over time, though GPU, ML, and managed service pricing remains high —
Can downgrade Yes Yes

Continue researching

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

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