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

Cloud Infrastructure pricing comparison · 2026

Amazon Web Services (AWS) pricing ranges from $0–$50000/month, while Google Cloud Platform (GCP) uses custom pricing. These products use different pricing models ( vs Per-seat subscription), so a direct price comparison isn't meaningful — costs depend on usage volume and mix.

Visit
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) offers pay-as-you-go cloud infrastructure with no upfront commit
verified 6w ago
$398 $429
View pricing →
Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is the third-largest cloud infrastructure provider with roughl
verified 20d 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
Pricing model unknown
Pricing model unknown
no public list price found
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 16 sourced facts
12 hidden-cost · 1 contract · Vendr median · 2 review platforms
Last verified 1mo ago
Confidence Medium confidence
Sources 17 sourced facts
14 hidden-cost · 1 contract · Vendr median · 1 review platform
Last verified 2w 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
  • Phantom Charges for Deleted/Unused Resources
    5-25% of license costs
    3 sources
  • Data Egress / Network Transfer Costs
    10-30% of license costs
    2 sources
  • EC2 T-Series Unlimited Mode Burst Credits
    $0.05/vCPU-hour above baseline
    1 source
  • EBS Storage Costs for Data-Intensive Workloads
    $45/TB/month (EBS st1, us-east)
    1 source
  • S3 Tables Premium Storage & Compaction Fees
    15-37% above standard S3 costs
    1 source
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
—
—
Commitment
None for On-Demand; 1 or 3 years for Savings Plans/Reserved Instances
1 year for committed use discounts
Price escalation
AWS has historically not increased existing service prices; new features and services may be priced higher. Community reports proxy price increases via new service charges (e.g., Lambda Init, S3 GET/PUT fees added over time)
—
Can downgrade
✓ Yes
✓ Yes
Based on 2 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
7.6out of 5 (5)
Trustpilot
1out of 5 (25)
Best for
Developers learning AWS, small experiments, and proof-of-concept projects
Watch out
Unresponsive customer support with tickets going unassigned for weeks
Trustpilot
1out of 5 (23)
Best for
New customers evaluating Google Cloud and users with workloads that fit always-free monthly usage limits
Watch out
Unexpected charges despite having promotional or free credits
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–$50000
/month
7 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
Cloud Infrastructure

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Custom pricing
/month
3 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
⚖

Different Pricing Models

Direct price comparison isn't meaningful here — Amazon Web Services (AWS) uses pricing while Google Cloud Platform (GCP) uses Per-seat subscription pricing. Your actual cost will depend on usage volume, team size, or both. Here's each product in its native unit.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

$0–$50000 / month
See full Amazon Web Services (AWS) pricing →
vs
Per-seat subscription

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Custom pricing
See full Google Cloud Platform (GCP) pricing →

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 /user/month
On-Demand — t3.micro $7.59 /month Custom
On-Demand — t3.medium $30.37 /month Custom
Savings Plans Custom —
Business Support+ $29 /month —
Enterprise Support $5K /month —
Unified Operations $50K /month —

Cost at Scale

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

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

4 scenarios
$7.59/month ($91.08/year)
Single t3.micro Development Server (On-Demand)
$30.37/month ($364.44/year)
Single t3.medium Production Server (On-Demand)
$5,850/month ($70,200/year)
Small Kafka Cluster Storage (130TB, EBS st1, us-east)
See all 4 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

What Users Say

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Trustpilot
1out of 5 (25)
TrustRadius
7.6out of 10 (5)
Top complaints
  • Unresponsive customer support with tickets going unassigned for weeks
  • Phantom charges for deleted or auto-provisioned resources
  • AI chatbots replacing human support with no escalation path

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Trustpilot
1out of 5 (23)
Top complaints
  • Unexpected charges despite having promotional or free credits
  • No hard spending limits to prevent cost overruns
  • Support is difficult to reach and provides generic, unhelpful responses

Hidden Costs

Beyond the sticker price — what catches buyers off guard.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) 8 hidden costs

critical
Phantom Charges for Deleted/Unused Resources 5-25% of license costs
high
Data Egress / Network Transfer Costs 10-30% of license costs
high
EC2 T-Series Unlimited Mode Burst Credits $0.05/vCPU-hour above baseline
high
EBS Storage Costs for Data-Intensive Workloads $45/TB/month (EBS st1, us-east)
medium
S3 Tables Premium Storage & Compaction Fees 15-37% above standard S3 costs
See all Amazon Web Services (AWS) hidden costs →

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) 8 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 — —
Minimum commitment None for On-Demand; 1 or 3 years for Savings Plans/Reserved Instances 1 year for committed use discounts
Price escalation AWS has historically not increased existing service prices; new features and services may be priced higher. Community reports proxy price increases via new service charges (e.g., Lambda Init, S3 GET/PUT fees added over time) —
Can downgrade Yes Yes

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Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

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