Web hosting services: AWS (Amazon Web Services) vs. Google Cloud Platform
Quick Verdict
Both AWS and Google Cloud Platform are strong contenders in the cloud computing market. AWS excels in its breadth of services, established ecosystem, and guaranteed uptime. Google Cloud Platform stands out with its network performance and modern infrastructure. The choice depends on specific needs, workload requirements, and regional considerations.
- AWS offers a more mature and comprehensive set of services, particularly in compute instance types, storage options, and monitoring tools.
- Google Cloud Platform boasts a modern infrastructure and competitive network performance, with egress bandwidth reaching up to 200 Gbps for certain instance types.
- Both platforms provide robust security features, scalability, and a variety of pricing models.
- AWS has a larger global presence with more Availability Zones and Regions, while Google Cloud Platform highlights its network edge locations.
- AWS guarantees 99.99% uptime for EC2 and S3, while Google Cloud Platform provides SLAs without specifying a concrete uptime guarantee.
Key features – Side-by-Side
| Attribute | AWS (Amazon Web Services) | Google Cloud Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Compute Instance Types | Offers a wide selection of EC2 instance types with varying combinations of CPU, memory, storage, and networking capacity. Instance families include General Purpose (M Series), Compute Optimized (C Series), Memory Optimized (R and X Series), Accelerated Computing (P and G Series), Storage Optimized (I and D Series), and Burstable Instances (T Series). | General-Purpose (E2, N2, N2D), Compute-Optimized (C2, C2D, C3, C4), Memory-Optimized (M1, M2), Accelerator-Optimized (A2 with A100 Tensor Core GPUs) |
| Storage Options | Provides various cloud storage services including Amazon S3 (object storage, pricing starting at $0.023 per GB per month), Amazon EBS (EC2 block storage volumes), Amazon EFS (file storage system), and instances like I3 offer NVMe storage. | SSD, HDD, Object Storage |
| Network Performance | Bandwidth depends on the instance type and setup. Single-flow traffic is capped at 5 Gbps, but within a cluster placement group, it can reach up to 10 Gbps. Enhanced Networking provides even higher speeds. Key metrics to monitor include throughput, latency, jitter, and packet loss. Uses 6+ million kilometers of fiber optic cabling. MTU of 9001 bytes enables jumbo frames. TCP Fast Open reduces connection latency. | Egress bandwidth up to 100 Gbps (N2, N2D, C2, C2D, C4A, X4, A2, G2), up to 200 Gbps (H3), Ingress traffic limited to 1,800,000 pps or 30 Gbps |
| Global Infrastructure | Spans 117 Availability Zones within 37 geographic Regions, with announced plans for 13 more Availability Zones and 4 more AWS Regions. Each AWS Region consists of a minimum of three isolated Availability Zones. Maintains multiple geographic Regions, including Regions in North America, South America, Europe, China, Asia Pacific, South Africa, and the Middle East. | 47 global regions, 127 zones, 202 network edge locations (as of March 2025) |
| Pricing Model | Offers Pay-as-you-go (On-Demand), Reserved Instances (RIs), Savings Plans, Spot Instances, and a free tier. | Pay-as-you-go, reserved instances, spot instances, Sustained Use Discounts |
| Managed Services | Offers managed services such as Amazon RDS (databases), Amazon EKS (Kubernetes), and AWS Load Balancers. | Databases, Kubernetes (Google Kubernetes Engine or GKE), Load Balancers |
| Security Features | Architected to be a secure global cloud infrastructure with built-in security features, encryption options, and IAM roles. AWS CloudTrail helps audit governance, compliance, and operational risk. Amazon GuardDuty is a threat detection service. | IAM, Encryption, VPC, KMS, Cloud Armor (DDoS protection and WAF), Compliance certifications (ISO 27001, SOC 2/3, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR) |
| Scalability and Auto-Scaling Capabilities | Scalability is a system's ability to handle increased workload without compromising performance. Auto-scaling automatically adjusts capacity based on actual demand. AWS Auto Scaling lets you configure automatic scaling of AWS resources for Amazon EC2, EC2 Spot Fleet requests, Elastic Container Service (ECS), DynamoDB, and Amazon Aurora. | Autoscaling with Managed Instance Groups (MIGs) |
| Monitoring and Logging Tools | Offers Amazon CloudWatch to analyze logs and monitor metrics, AWS CloudTrail to record account activity and deliver log files to Amazon S3, and Amazon CloudWatch Logs to centralize logs from systems, applications, and AWS services. | Google Cloud Monitoring, Google Cloud Logging, Google Cloud Trace, Google Cloud Debugger |
| Support Options and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) | Guarantees 99.99% uptime for EC2 and S3 services. | SLAs available |
| Integration with Other Cloud Services | AWS Lambda integrates well with other AWS services. | Integrates with other Google Cloud services |
| Ease of Use and Management Interface | The AWS Management Console is a user-friendly interface for managing AWS cloud infrastructure, offering functionalities such as launching and configuring virtual machines (Amazon EC2), managing data storage and retrieval (Amazon S3), monitoring application performance and health (Amazon CloudWatch), and configuring security and user permissions (AWS IAM). | Tools and services for building and deploying applications |
Overall Comparison
AWS: 117 Availability Zones, 37 Regions, S3 pricing starting at $0.023/GB/month, 99.99% uptime guarantee for EC2 and S3. Google Cloud Platform: 47 Regions, 127 Zones, 202 network edge locations, up to 200 Gbps egress bandwidth for H3 instances.
Pros and Cons
AWS (Amazon Web Services)
Pros:
- Wide selection of compute instance types
- Various cloud storage services
- Large global presence
- Multiple pricing models
- Variety of managed services
- Robust security features
- Scalability and auto-scaling capabilities
- Comprehensive monitoring and logging tools
- Guaranteed uptime for EC2 and S3 services
- Integration with other AWS services
- User-friendly management interface
- More generous free tier trial (12 months)
Cons:
- No major disadvantages reported.
Google Cloud Platform
Pros:
- Global infrastructure with numerous regions and zones
- Variety of compute instance types optimized for different workloads
- Comprehensive suite of managed services including databases and Kubernetes
- Robust security features and compliance certifications
- Scalability and auto-scaling capabilities
- Monitoring and logging tools for performance visibility
- Integration with other Google Cloud services
Cons:
- Google Cloud Functions can be more costly than AWS Lambda for requests exceeding 2 million
- Higher network latency compared to AWS and Azure when connecting Europe to India
- Limit of 1,000 functions per project for Google Cloud Functions
- Shorter maximum execution time for Google Cloud Functions compared to AWS Lambda
- AWS offers more security certifications
User Experiences and Feedback
AWS (Amazon Web Services)
What Users Love
- No highlights reported.
Common Complaints
- No major complaints reported.
Value Perception
- No value feedback reported.
Google Cloud Platform
What Users Love
- No highlights reported.
Common Complaints
- No major complaints reported.
Value Perception
- No value feedback reported.