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Google Compute Engine VPS Review

GCE

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Google Compute Engine was founded in 2008.
It is headquartered in the USA.
It offers VPS, Database, Storage and Networking hosting products.

It has datacenters in:
  • Australia
  • Belgium
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • China
  • Finland
  • Germany
  • Hong Kong
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Japan
  • Netherlands
  • Qatar
  • Singapore
  • South Korea
  • Switzerland
  • Taiwan
  • United Kingdom
  • United States

Quick Links

Google Compute Engine plans specs and prices Plans
Review Google Compute Engine plan grades in the Screener Screener
Review CPU models found in Google Compute Engine trials CPUs
Performance variations of Google Compute Engine VPS over the long term Consistency

Google Compute Engine VPS Features

Features not included in the VPS price are marked as missing below.

Feature Value Comment
Hourly Billing  Yes
DDOS Protection  Yes

GCE uses the Andromeda network stack which features DDOS protection.
https://cloudplatform.googleblog.com/2014/04/enter-andromeda-zone-google-cloud-platforms-latest-networking-stack.html
Backups  No

Snapshots and Images are available but are charged extra as storage ($0.026 per GB per month as of 5/8/2016).
Control Panel  Builtin
SSH Keys Setup  Yes
Total Number of Datacenters  20
Number of Datacenter Continents  4
Monitoring Charts  Yes

CPU, disk and network utilization.
Admin REST API  Yes

URL: https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/api/getting-started
Upgrade VPS from admin console  No
Mobile Friendly UI  No
Reverse DNS  No
Accepted Forms of Payment  Credit Cards
Hidden CPU Model  Yes
Affiliate Program  No
Firewall  No
Shelving  Yes

"A stopped instance does not incur charges, but all of the resources that are attached to the instance continue to incur charges.": https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/stop-start-instance
Compare Features

Pros and Cons

Strengths

  • Large catalog of available features.
  • Datacenter locations all over the world.

Weaknesses

  • Disk IO is throttled on small storage volumes.

Google Compute Engine Extra Services

In addition to features included in VPS plans, Google Compute Engine also offers the following services (possibly for a fee):

Backups   Block storage   Object storage   Load balancer   Floating IP addresses  
Team Management   Managed databases   Serverless   DDoS protection   Kubernetes  
GPU instances   Private network  

VPS Instance Provisioning Time

For each Google Compute Engine VPS trial, we measured how long it took to provision the server from the moment it was ordered to the moment it accepted SSH connections.

See also VPS provisioning times for all providers.

Average Provisioning Time Min Provisioning Time Max Provisioning Time Number of VPS Samples
36s 20s 60s 5

Admin UI Screenshots


Cloud Storage Prices

For a comparison of storage features and prices from all providers, please check the Cloud Storage Prices page.

Storage Type Price / GB / month Restriction Description
Block $0.170 SSD Provisioned space Called "Persistent Disk" at Google.
Also available in Standard form on HDD at $0.04/GB/month.
https://cloud.google.com/persistent-disk/
Object $0.023 Standard Storage. First 5GB free. Object storage is called "Cloud Storage" at Google.
Nearline and Coldline storage are also available at lower prices and speeds. Data transfer and operation fees are extra.
https://cloud.google.com/storage/pricing
Snapshots $0.023 GCE snapshots are incremental and stored in "Cloud Storage" (object storage)
https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/disks/snapshots?hl=en

Google Compute Engine Plans

Screen all Google Compute Engine VPS Plans


Plan Specifications

URL https://developers.google.com/compute/pricing#machinetype
Price per month $13.13
Warning: storage costs are not included in this price.
Warning: network bandwidth costs are not included in this price.
Discount or Surcharge for
long or short term use		 Surcharge
The on-demand price for this plan is $18.50/month, which is 40% more expensive than the monthly price.
The surcharge does not apply if the VPS is used for 30 days or more.
Disk GB 10
Num Cores 1
Memory GB 1.7
Hourly Billing Yes
Virtualization KVM
Data Transfer GB 100
Burstable CPU Per core CPU allocation: 50%
Dedicated CPU No

Plan Grades

Grades are calculated by combining results from web, sysbench, endurance and remote timing tests. Grade A is best, grade F is worst.

Follow the letter links to find the test results backing the grade.

More details about grades calculation

Overall Score: 34

Web Performance Raw CPU Power Performance Stability Disk IO Performance Network Performance
D E C E E
Show Price Weighted Grades   

Note: A low grade on a low price VPS does not necessarily mean the VPS is underperforming, the server may still perform better than other servers at the same price. Use the Price Weighted Grades or the Best VPS 2022 rankings to find the best VPS in each price range.


Performance Test Results

We conducted 4 different types of tests during the latest trial for Google Compute Engine - g1-small. Review the results and compare this plan to its competitors.

Web Runs Network Transfers Sysbench Endurance
Review Review Review Review
Compare Compare Compare Compare

Performance trials run on the g1-small plan

This plan was tested 3 times at vpsbenchmarks.com. The table below shows all trials run on the g1-small plan with its grade and CPU type.

Start of Trial CPU Datacenter Overall Grade
Jul 21 2020 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.30GHz Iowa, USA D
Mar 28 2019 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.30GHz Iowa, USA E
Aug 16 2018 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.50GHz us-central1-f D

Plan Specifications

URL https://cloud.google.com/compute/vm-instance-pricing#e2_sharedcore_machine_types
Price per month $16.23
Warning: network bandwidth costs are not included in this price.
Discount or Surcharge for
long or short term use		 No
Disk GB 40
Num Cores 2
Memory GB 2
Hourly Billing Yes
Virtualization KVM
Data Transfer GB 0
Burstable CPU Per core CPU allocation: 25%
Dedicated CPU No

Plan Grades

Grades are calculated by combining results from web, sysbench, endurance and remote timing tests. Grade A is best, grade F is worst.

Follow the letter links to find the test results backing the grade.

More details about grades calculation

Overall Score: 26

Web Performance Raw CPU Power Performance Stability Disk IO Performance Network Performance
F E F E D
Show Price Weighted Grades   

Note: A low grade on a low price VPS does not necessarily mean the VPS is underperforming, the server may still perform better than other servers at the same price. Use the Price Weighted Grades or the Best VPS 2022 rankings to find the best VPS in each price range.


Performance Test Results

We conducted 4 different types of tests during the latest trial for Google Compute Engine - e2-small. Review the results and compare this plan to its competitors.

Web Runs Network Transfers Sysbench Endurance
Review Review Review Review
Compare Compare Compare Compare

Performance trials run on the e2-small plan

This plan was tested 1 times at vpsbenchmarks.com. The table below shows all trials run on the e2-small plan with its grade and CPU type.

Start of Trial CPU Datacenter Overall Grade
Aug 16 2021 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.30GHz Iowa, USA E

Plan Specifications

URL https://cloud.google.com/compute/vm-instance-pricing#e2_sharedcore_machine_types
Price per month $24.46
Warning: storage costs are not included in this price.
Warning: network bandwidth costs are not included in this price.
Discount or Surcharge for
long or short term use		 No
Disk GB 40
Num Cores 2
Memory GB 4
Hourly Billing Yes
Virtualization KVM
Data Transfer GB 0
Burstable CPU Per core CPU allocation: 50%
Dedicated CPU No

Plan Grades

Grades are calculated by combining results from web, sysbench, endurance and remote timing tests. Grade A is best, grade F is worst.

Follow the letter links to find the test results backing the grade.

More details about grades calculation

Overall Score: 30

Web Performance Raw CPU Power Performance Stability Disk IO Performance Network Performance
E D E E D
Show Price Weighted Grades   

Performance Test Results

We conducted 4 different types of tests during the latest trial for Google Compute Engine - e2-medium. Review the results and compare this plan to its competitors.

Web Runs Network Transfers Sysbench Endurance
Review Review Review Review
Compare Compare Compare Compare

Performance trials run on the e2-medium plan

This plan was tested 2 times at vpsbenchmarks.com. The table below shows all trials run on the e2-medium plan with its grade and CPU type.

Start of Trial CPU Datacenter Overall Grade
May 05 2022 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.20GHz Iowa, USA E
Apr 14 2020 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.30GHz Iowa, USA D

Plan Specifications

URL https://cloud.google.com/compute/pricing#predefined_machine_types
Price per month $27.67
Warning: network bandwidth costs are not included in this price.
Discount or Surcharge for
long or short term use		 No
Disk GB 20
Num Cores 1
Memory GB 3.8
Hourly Billing Yes
Virtualization KVM
Data Transfer GB 0
Burstable CPU No
Dedicated CPU No

Plan Grades

Grades are calculated by combining results from web, sysbench, endurance and remote timing tests. Grade A is best, grade F is worst.

Follow the letter links to find the test results backing the grade.

More details about grades calculation

Overall Score: 38

Web Performance Raw CPU Power Performance Stability Disk IO Performance Network Performance
D E C D E
Show Price Weighted Grades   

Performance Test Results

We conducted 4 different types of tests during the latest trial for Google Compute Engine - n1-standard-1. Review the results and compare this plan to its competitors.

Web Runs Network Transfers Sysbench Endurance
Review Review Review Review
Compare Compare Compare Compare

Performance trials run on the n1-standard-1 plan

This plan was tested 3 times at vpsbenchmarks.com. The table below shows all trials run on the n1-standard-1 plan with its grade and CPU type.

Start of Trial CPU Datacenter Overall Grade
Jan 04 2021 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.30GHz D
Oct 28 2019 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.20GHz us-east4-c D
Nov 07 2018 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.50GHz us-central1-f D

Plan Specifications

URL https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/machine-types
Price per month $34.24
Warning: network bandwidth costs are not included in this price.
Discount or Surcharge for
long or short term use		 No
Disk GB 20
Num Cores 1
Memory GB 4
Hourly Billing Yes
Virtualization KVM
Data Transfer GB
Burstable CPU No
Dedicated CPU No

Plan Grades

Grades are calculated by combining results from web, sysbench, endurance and remote timing tests. Grade A is best, grade F is worst.

Follow the letter links to find the test results backing the grade.

More details about grades calculation

Overall Score: 47

Web Performance Raw CPU Power Performance Stability Disk IO Performance Network Performance
E D C D B
Show Price Weighted Grades   

Performance Test Results

We conducted 4 different types of tests during the latest trial for Google Compute Engine - t2d-standard-1. Review the results and compare this plan to its competitors.

Web Runs Network Transfers Sysbench Endurance
Review Review Review Review
Compare Compare Compare Compare

Performance trials run on the t2d-standard-1 plan

This plan was tested 1 times at vpsbenchmarks.com. The table below shows all trials run on the t2d-standard-1 plan with its grade and CPU type.

Start of Trial CPU Datacenter Overall Grade
Nov 20 2021 AMD EPYC 7B13 Iowa, USA D

Plan Specifications

URL https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/machine-types
Price per month $36.11
Warning: storage costs are not included in this price.
Warning: network bandwidth costs are not included in this price.
Discount or Surcharge for
long or short term use		 No
Disk GB 0
Num Cores 2
Memory GB 2
Hourly Billing Yes
Virtualization KVM
Data Transfer GB 0
Burstable CPU No
Dedicated CPU No

Plan Grades

Grades are calculated by combining results from web, sysbench, endurance and remote timing tests. Grade A is best, grade F is worst.

Follow the letter links to find the test results backing the grade.

More details about grades calculation

Overall Score: 40

Web Performance Raw CPU Power Performance Stability Disk IO Performance Network Performance
D D D E D
Show Price Weighted Grades   

Performance Test Results

We conducted 4 different types of tests during the latest trial for Google Compute Engine - e2-highcpu-2. Review the results and compare this plan to its competitors.

Web Runs Network Transfers Sysbench Endurance
Review Review Review Review
Compare Compare Compare Compare

Performance trials run on the e2-highcpu-2 plan

This plan was tested 2 times at vpsbenchmarks.com. The table below shows all trials run on the e2-highcpu-2 plan with its grade and CPU type.

Start of Trial CPU Datacenter Overall Grade
Mar 24 2021 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.30GHz Iowa, USA D
Dec 30 2019 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.30GHz Iowa, USA C

Plan Specifications

URL https://cloud.google.com/compute/pricing#predefined
Price per month $36.23
Warning: storage costs are not included in this price.
Warning: network bandwidth costs are not included in this price.
Discount or Surcharge for
long or short term use		 Surcharge
The on-demand price for this plan is $51.05/month, which is 40% more expensive than the monthly price.
The surcharge does not apply if the VPS is used for 30 days or more.
Disk GB 20
Num Cores 2
Memory GB 1.8
Hourly Billing Yes
Virtualization KVM
Data Transfer GB 100
Burstable CPU No
Dedicated CPU No

Plan Grades

Grades are calculated by combining results from web, sysbench, endurance and remote timing tests. Grade A is best, grade F is worst.

Follow the letter links to find the test results backing the grade.

More details about grades calculation

Overall Score: 54

Web Performance Raw CPU Power Performance Stability Disk IO Performance Network Performance
C C B E C
Show Price Weighted Grades   

Performance Test Results

We conducted 5 different types of tests during the latest trial for Google Compute Engine - n1-highcpu-2. Review the results and compare this plan to its competitors.

Live Web Remote Timings Network Transfers Sysbench Endurance
Review Review Review Review Review
Compare Compare Compare Compare Compare

Performance trials run on the n1-highcpu-2 plan

This plan was tested 1 times at vpsbenchmarks.com. The table below shows all trials run on the n1-highcpu-2 plan with its grade and CPU type.

Start of Trial CPU Datacenter Overall Grade
May 31 2019 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.00GHz us-east1-b C

N2 VMs run on Cascade Lake CPUs with a base frequency of 2.8 GHz and a sustained all core turbo of 3.4 GHz.

Plan Specifications

URL https://cloud.google.com/compute/vm-instance-pricing#n2_machine_types
Price per month $41.87
Warning: storage costs are not included in this price.
Warning: network bandwidth costs are not included in this price.
Discount or Surcharge for
long or short term use		 Surcharge
The on-demand price for this plan is $51.62/month, which is 23% more expensive than the monthly price.
The surcharge does not apply if the VPS is used for 30 days or more.
Disk GB 0
Num Cores 2
Memory GB 2
Hourly Billing Yes
Virtualization KVM
Data Transfer GB 0
Burstable CPU No
Dedicated CPU No

Plan Grades

Grades are calculated by combining results from web, sysbench, endurance and remote timing tests. Grade A is best, grade F is worst.

Follow the letter links to find the test results backing the grade.

More details about grades calculation

Overall Score: 60

Web Performance Raw CPU Power Performance Stability Disk IO Performance Network Performance
B B B E C
Show Price Weighted Grades   

Performance Test Results

We conducted 4 different types of tests during the latest trial for Google Compute Engine - n2-highcpu-2. Review the results and compare this plan to its competitors.

Web Runs Network Transfers Sysbench Endurance
Review Review Review Review
Compare Compare Compare Compare

Performance trials run on the n2-highcpu-2 plan

This plan was tested 2 times at vpsbenchmarks.com. The table below shows all trials run on the n2-highcpu-2 plan with its grade and CPU type.

Start of Trial CPU Datacenter Overall Grade
May 23 2020 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU Iowa, USA C
Aug 12 2019 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU Iowa, USA C

Plan Specifications

URL https://cloud.google.com/compute/pricing#predefined_machine_types
Price per month $48.55
Warning: storage costs are not included in this price.
Warning: network bandwidth costs are not included in this price.
Discount or Surcharge for
long or short term use		 Surcharge
The on-demand price for this plan is $68.40/month, which is 40% more expensive than the monthly price.
The surcharge does not apply if the VPS is used for 30 days or more.
Disk GB 10
Num Cores 2
Memory GB 7.5
Hourly Billing Yes
Virtualization KVM
Data Transfer GB 100
Burstable CPU No
Dedicated CPU No

Plan Grades

Grades are calculated by combining results from web, sysbench, endurance and remote timing tests. Grade A is best, grade F is worst.

Follow the letter links to find the test results backing the grade.

More details about grades calculation

Overall Score: 47

Web Performance Raw CPU Power Performance Stability Disk IO Performance Network Performance
D D B E C
Show Price Weighted Grades   

Performance Test Results

We conducted 6 different types of tests during the latest trial for Google Compute Engine - n1-standard-2. Review the results and compare this plan to its competitors.

Web Runs Live Web Network Transfers Remote Timings Sysbench Endurance
Review Review Review Review Review Review
Compare Compare Compare Compare Compare Compare

Performance trials run on the n1-standard-2 plan

This plan was tested 3 times at vpsbenchmarks.com. The table below shows all trials run on the n1-standard-2 plan with its grade and CPU type.

Start of Trial CPU Datacenter Overall Grade
Feb 20 2020 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.30GHz Virginia, USA D
Jan 27 2019 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.50GHz us-central1-f C
Jul 05 2018 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.30GHz us-central-1c (Iowa) C

Plan Specifications

URL https://cloud.google.com/compute/vm-instance-pricing#n2d_machine_types
Price per month $56.14
Warning: network bandwidth costs are not included in this price.
Discount or Surcharge for
long or short term use		 No
Disk GB 40
Num Cores 2
Memory GB 8
Hourly Billing Yes
Virtualization KVM
Data Transfer GB 0
Burstable CPU No
Dedicated CPU No

Plan Grades

Grades are calculated by combining results from web, sysbench, endurance and remote timing tests. Grade A is best, grade F is worst.

Follow the letter links to find the test results backing the grade.

More details about grades calculation

Overall Score: 31

Web Performance Raw CPU Power Performance Stability Disk IO Performance Network Performance
E D D E E
Show Price Weighted Grades   

Performance Test Results

We conducted 4 different types of tests during the latest trial for Google Compute Engine - n2d-standard-2. Review the results and compare this plan to its competitors.

Web Runs Network Transfers Sysbench Endurance
Review Review Review Review
Compare Compare Compare Compare

Performance trials run on the n2d-standard-2 plan

This plan was tested 1 times at vpsbenchmarks.com. The table below shows all trials run on the n2d-standard-2 plan with its grade and CPU type.

Start of Trial CPU Datacenter Overall Grade
Oct 14 2020 AMD EPYC 7B12 Iowa, USA E

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