Alibaba Cloud vs Google Compute Engine
This page was updated with new data on August 15 2019.
We have tested 10 VPS plans from Alibaba Cloud and Google Compute Engine. This page is a summary and comparison of all test results for those 2 providers.
VPS Plans
| Plan Name | Monthly Price | CPU cores | Memory (GB) | Disk Space (GB) | Data Transfer (GB) | Latest trial | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
1GB 1 core | $4.50 | 1 | 1.0 | 40 | 1000 | Feb 10 2019 |
|
|
ecs.t5-lc1m1.small | $10.08 | 1 | 1.0 | 40 | 10000 | Nov 16 2018 |
|
|
g1-small | $13.13 | 1 | 1.7 | 10 | 100 | Mar 28 2019 |
|
|
n1-standard-1 | $24.27 | 1 | 3.75 | 20 | 100 | Nov 07 2018 |
|
|
ecs-t5-c1m1-large | $25.00 | 2 | 2.0 | 20 | 10000 | Sep 09 2018 |
|
|
ecs.n4.large | $28.84 | 2 | 4.0 | 40 | 0 | Jun 17 2019 |
|
|
n1-highcpu-2 | $36.23 | 2 | 1.8 | 20 | 100 | May 31 2019 |
|
|
n2-highcpu-2 | $39.36 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | Aug 12 2019 |
|
|
ecs.c5.large | $43.00 | 2 | 4.0 | 20 | 1000 | Apr 08 2019 |
|
|
n1-standard-2 | $48.55 | 2 | 7.5 | 10 | 100 | Jan 27 2019 |
Performance Grades
To summarize the performance of each VPS plan, we generated grades based on the various tests that were run: web, sysbench, endurance and remote timing tests. Each grade focuses on one aspect of the VPS speed or stability (cpu, disk IO, network IO...) and is made of one or more metrics measured during the tests.
Grades are evenly distributed between A and F. A is best, F is worst.
Follow the letter links to find the test results backing the grade.
| Plan Name | Web Perf | Raw CPU Power | Perf Stability | Disk IO Perf | Network Perf | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
1GB 1 core
$4.50 |
C | E | B | E | E |
|
|
ecs.t5-lc1m1.small
$10.08 |
C | E | E | E | E |
|
|
g1-small
$13.13 |
E | C | D | E | D |
|
|
n1-standard-1
$24.27 |
E | E | C | D | C |
|
|
ecs-t5-c1m1-large
$25.00 |
A | C | C | D | E |
|
|
ecs.n4.large
$28.84 |
B | C | B | C | E |
|
|
n1-highcpu-2
$36.23 |
C | B | B | D | C |
|
|
n2-highcpu-2
$39.36 |
C | B | D | D | C |
|
|
ecs.c5.large
$43.00 |
B | B | B | C | E |
|
|
n1-standard-2
$48.55 |
D | B | D | A | C |
VPS Instance Provisioning Time
This is the average time it took to create an instance for Alibaba Cloud and Google Compute Engine from instance order to instance accepting connections.
| Alibaba Cloud | Google Compute Engine | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of instance creations in sample | 4 | 5 |
| Provisioning time in seconds | 85s | 29s |
In Depth...
The grades above are based on the following test results.
Web Response Times
We ran a database intensive web application with ~100,000 hits per day for several days on cloud servers from Alibaba Cloud and Google Compute Engine. This is the average response time measured locally on the VPS for each plan we tested.
Local Response Time per Plan
Lower is better
| Provider | Plan | Average response time |
|---|---|---|
| GCE | g1-small | 96.0ms |
| GCE | n1-standard-1 | 84.0ms |
| GCE | n1-highcpu-2 | 74.0ms |
| GCE | n2-highcpu-2 | 55.0ms |
| GCE | n1-standard-2 | 69.0ms |
| Alibaba | 1GB 1 core | 84.0ms |
| Alibaba | ecs.t5-lc1m1.small | 68.0ms |
| Alibaba | ecs-t5-c1m1-large | 55.0ms |
| Alibaba | ecs.n4.large | 66.0ms |
| Alibaba | ecs.c5.large | 65.0ms |
During the Web Test, we collect response time metrics, CPU metrics and database performance metrics. All of those are measured locally on the VPS running the web server. All metrics can be compared on the Web Performance Comparison page.
Sysbench CPU Performances
We ran the full suite of Sysbench tests on VPS plans of Alibaba Cloud and Google Compute Engine. These are the Sysbench CPU test results:
Rate of operations
Higher is better
Sysbench test results are also available for random disk IO tests, sequential disk IO tests and memory tests.
Review and compare all Sysbench numbers on the Sysbench Comparison page for Alibaba Cloud and Google Compute Engine.
Remote Timings
During the entire duration of the web performance test, we collected web response times from 5 different locations in the world. The chart below reports the connection establishment time + TLS handshake latency from all 5 locations. (That excludes the time spent on the server that is already measured in web response times above and it also excludes the DNS resolution time since it is not dependent on the provider).
Remote Latency per Plan
Lower is better
| Provider | Plan | Average remote request duration |
|---|---|---|
| GCE | g1-small | 307.8ms |
| GCE | n1-standard-1 | 300.8ms |
| GCE | n1-highcpu-2 | 344.0ms |
| GCE | n2-highcpu-2 | 305.6ms |
| GCE | n1-standard-2 | 299.4ms |
| Alibaba | 1GB 1 core | 504.4ms |
| Alibaba | ecs.t5-lc1m1.small | 335.0ms |
| Alibaba | ecs-t5-c1m1-large | 450.8ms |
| Alibaba | ecs.n4.large | 495.6ms |
| Alibaba | ecs.c5.large | 508.0ms |
Detailed remote timings measurements including connection time, TLS handshake time, and response time can be compared for Alibaba Cloud and Google Compute Engine on the Remote Timings Comparison page.
Network Transfers
We have performed large file transfers from the Alibaba Cloud and Google Compute Engine VPS and we measured the speed of downloads and uploads.
The transfers involve multiple files, 10 threads and last for at least 10 seconds at maximum speed. The transfers are repeated 3 times from different servers and only the fastest transfer is reported here.
Download Speed per Plan
Higher is better
| Provider | Plan | Network Download Speed |
|---|---|---|
| GCE | g1-small | 434.1Mbps |
| GCE | n1-standard-1 | 514.9Mbps |
| GCE | n1-highcpu-2 | 889.9Mbps |
| GCE | n2-highcpu-2 | 642.1Mbps |
| GCE | n1-standard-2 | 636.3Mbps |
| Alibaba | 1GB 1 core | 317.7Mbps |
| Alibaba | ecs.t5-lc1m1.small | 80.9Mbps |
| Alibaba | ecs-t5-c1m1-large | 114.8Mbps |
| Alibaba | ecs.n4.large | 110.6Mbps |
| Alibaba | ecs.c5.large | 109.9Mbps |
Network Transfers measurements including download and upload speeds can be compared for Alibaba Cloud and Google Compute Engine on the Network Transfers Comparison page.
Sustained CPU Endurance Tests
We pushed the CPU of those VPS plans hard for 24 hours straight.
This test shows how fast the VPS can go for long periods of time, how stable the performance is and it also gives clues on how overallocated the VPSs may be.
Average number of operations per hour
Higher is better
Review and compare endurance test results for Alibaba Cloud and Google Compute Engine on the Sustained CPU Endurance Comparison page.
Features and Usability
Features not included in the VPS price of the plan will be marked as missing but they may be available for the fee.
| Google Compute Engine Review | Alibaba Cloud Review | |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly Billing | Yes | Yes |
| DDOS Protection | Yes | Yes |
| Backups | No | Yes |
| Control Panel | Builtin | Custom |
| SSH Keys Setup | Yes | Yes |
| Total Number of Datacenters | 20 | 19 |
| Number of Datacenter Continents | 4 | 4 |
Having trouble finding the VPS that fits your needs?
Use the VPS Screener to quickly zero in on the specifications, performance and price that you're looking for.
Compare Alibaba Cloud and Google Compute Engine against other providers
VPS Screener
Latest Tweets by @vpsbenchmarks
-
VPSBenchmarks
2019-08-26 00:30:06 UTCNew trial started for DigitalOcean Standard 1GB 3 cores: $15.00 #VPS, 3 cores, 1.0GB vpsbenchmarks.com/trials/digital… #cloudcomputing
-
VPSBenchmarks
2019-08-24 17:55:25 UTCAll tests results are in for Amazon Web Services c5.large: $61.20 #VPS, 2 cores, 4.0GB vpsbenchmarks.com/trials/amazon_… #cloudcomputing
-
VPSBenchmarks
2019-08-23 16:50:08 UTCNew trial started for Vultr High Frequency 4GB: $24.00 #VPS, 2 cores, 4.0GB vpsbenchmarks.com/trials/vultr_p… #cloudcomputing
-
VPSBenchmarks
2019-08-21 23:27:30 UTCAll tests results are in for OVHcloud B2-15: $62.00 #VPS, 4 cores, 15.0GB vpsbenchmarks.com/trials/ovh_pub… #cloudcomputing
-
VPSBenchmarks
2019-08-20 22:10:07 UTCNew trial started for Amazon Web Services c5.large: $61.20 #VPS, 2 cores, 4.0GB vpsbenchmarks.com/trials/amazon_… #cloudcomputing
-
VPSBenchmarks
2019-08-20 16:00:16 UTC.Google Cloud Platform will start charging for each external IP addresses on all VM instances on Jan 1st 2020: $0.004/hour, that's almost $3 per month. Ouch! That's going to hurt on small instances. (No URL, just received an email about this).
News
List of the best Virtual Private Servers, performance tested, that will cost you $10 or less per month.
Vultr High Frequency Compute Instances
On June 10th 2019, Vultr announced the launch of [high frequency compute ...
Performance of burstable CPU VM instances
Burstable CPUs VM instances appeared on Amazon EC2 for the first time in 2014. Since then, they have...
Evaluating cloud server performance with sysbench
Finding the best cloud servers for your use case can be challenging. Most providers offer a number ...
Partners
vpsbenchmarks.com is hosted by:
Disclaimer
We are proud to provide objective and impartial benchmark data on this website. VPSBenchmarks receives support from some of the providers featured here but all tests are conducted the same way for all providers irrespective of our relationships with them.
If you find our benchmarks valuable, you can help by make your hosting purchases using the Provider Affiliate Buttons displayed throughout the site.
Latest trials
All tests that were recently conducted at VpsBenchmarks:
| Start | Provider |
|---|---|
| Aug 23 2019 | Vultr |
| Aug 20 2019 | Amazon EC2 |
| Aug 18 2019 | OVH Public Cloud |
| Aug 14 2019 | Ramnode |
| Aug 12 2019 | Google Compute Engine |
| Aug 09 2019 | Scaleway |
| Aug 07 2019 | Amazon Lightsail |
| Aug 05 2019 | Kamatera |
| Aug 02 2019 | LunaNode |
| Jul 29 2019 | Vpsdime |
| Jul 26 2019 | Aruba Cloud |