Google Compute Engine
Google Compute Engine · Founded 2012 · Mountain View, USA
9.0
Overall
/ 10
GCE offers e2-micro free tier (1 vCPU/1GB in us-central1, f1-micro), 35+ regions, and sustained-use discounts. Strong for ML/data workloads.
WebsiteBest for: ML/data workloads, free-tier experiments
Scores
Overall9.0
Reliability9.1
Performance8.3
Value7.4
Support7.7
- Uptime SLA
- 99.99%
- Founded
- 2012
- Regions
- 35
Plans
| Plan | CPU | RAM | Storage | Bandwidth | Price (USD/mo) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| e2-microPopular | 2 vCPU (shared) | 1 GB | 30 GB SSD | 1 GB egress | $6.5 |
| e2-small | 2 vCPU (shared) | 2 GB | 30 GB SSD | 1 GB egress | $13 |
| e2-medium | 2 vCPU (shared) | 4 GB | 30 GB SSD | 1 GB egress | $26 |
| n2-standard-2 | 2 vCPU | 8 GB | 30 GB SSD | Pay-per-GB | $48.04 |
Pros
- ✓Free tier (e2-micro) genuinely free
- ✓Auto sustained-use discounts
- ✓Best for ML/TPU workloads
- ✓Live migration = no reboot during host maintenance
Cons
- ✕Pricing UI is confusing
- ✕Egress costs add up
- ✕Smaller marketplace than AWS
- ✕Support tiers pricey
Data Center Regions (35)
us-central1us-east1us-west1us-west4europe-west1europe-west4asia-east1asia-northeast1asia-southeast1australia-southeast1southamerica-east1
Features
E2 general-purpose (cost-optimized)N2/N2D (Intel/AMD)Spot VMsPreemptible instancesCustom machine typesSustained-use discount (auto)Committed-use discountTPU/GPU attachLive migration
Payment methods
Credit CardInvoice
Certifications
SOC2ISO27001PCI-DSSFedRAMPHIPAA
User Reviews
ML Researcher★★★★★2025-09
TPU + Colab integration is unbeatable for training.