Google Cloud vs AWS: Key Differences

Market share indicates the portion of the market each provider controls, while revenue indicates their financial performance. From 2021 to 2023, AWS maintained a dominant market share of 34% in 2021, 32% in 2022 and 31% in 2023. Google Cloud has seen an increase in its market share, from 9% in 2021 to 11% in 2023.

Some of AWS’ notable big customers are Netflix, Unilever and Sony. Major Google Cloud Platform customers include PayPal, Uber, Mercedes-Benz and Walmart. We share a comparison between these two cloud platforms in the table below.

Pricing refers to the cost models and structures that cloud service providers set for the use of their resources, such as servers, storage, databases and networking capabilities. Google Cloud and AWS use the same pricing model, allowing customers to scale and manage costs based on their specific needs. 

Both platforms offer various pricing options, including pay-as-you-go and committed use discounts, providing flexibility and cost-effectiveness for different usage patterns. GCP and AWS offer various discounts to help users manage expenditures. The following tables break down the pricing structures for Google Cloud and AWS.

The table below summarizes the comparison of the pricing models.

The table below breaks down the price comparison per hour for on-demand virtual machines in Google Cloud and AWS.

Cloud services refer to the diverse set of offerings that cloud platforms provide, like compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics and security. AWS boasts an extensive service portfolio, offering more than 200 fully featured cloud services and solutions, which exceeds GCP’s offerings.

On the other hand, GCP adopts a more targeted approach that concentrates on key areas such as data analytics, machine learning, containerization and open-source compatibility. This focused strategy allows GCP to provide highly specialized and integrated services that align with these core areas.

Compute services encompass the virtual machines and the infrastructure provided to run applications. They include containers, serverless functions and resources that power cloud applications and workloads. Both AWS and Google Cloud offer compute platforms, with some differences:

• AWS has Amazon EC2 for virtual machine instances, AWS Lambda for serverless functions and AWS Outposts for on-premises compute.
• Google Cloud offers Compute Engine for VMs, Cloud Run for serverless containers and Anthos for hybrid/multicloud deployments.

Storage services refer to the various cloud-based data storage solutions that providers offer, like object storage, block storage, file storage, backup and archival options. When it comes to storage, both Google Cloud and AWS provide robust and scalable offerings. The table below shows the different storage offerings on each platform.

In the table below, we provide a pricing comparison for Amazon S3 and Cloud Storage, which are AWS and GCP’s most used cloud storage solutions.

Database services offer managed solutions for storing and retrieving structured and unstructured data, including relational and NoSQL databases. AWS’s Relational Database Service (RDS) supports multiple database engines and offers automated backups, patching and scaling, making it the best choice for relational database management. 

Google Cloud SQL, a fully managed relational database service for MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQL Server, is known for its ease of use and seamless integration with other Google services.

For NoSQL databases, AWS offers Amazon DynamoDB, a fully managed, serverless key-value NoSQL database designed for high-performance applications. Google Cloud Datastore and Google Cloud Bigtable provide scalable and fully managed key-value stores with strong consistency and reliability.

Specialized cloud services refer to advanced services tailored for specific use cases, such as emerging technologies and industry-specific needs like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), the Internet of Things (IoT), analytics and blockchain.

Google Cloud has invested in artificial intelligence and machine learning services, providing services like AI Platform, AutoML, Vision AI and custom tensor processing units (TPUs). 

AWS branded its specialized AI and ML services under Amazon AI, which includes SageMaker for model building, Comprehend for natural language processing and Rekognition for image analysis.

Additionally, AWS provides a diverse range of industry-specific services for IoT, robotics, blockchain, media, gaming and more. Though both cloud giants offer reliable AI, ML and IoT services, AWS currently has a broader portfolio of specialized services spanning emerging technologies like quantum computing, AR/VR, robotics and blockchain development.

A service-level agreement (SLA) is a contractual commitment between a cloud provider and a customer that defines the minimum service levels, performance metrics and support terms for the services being consumed.

Google Cloud and AWS provide SLAs across their core services, such as compute, storage, databases and networking. Most services have at least a 99.9% or 99.95% monthly uptime commitment and clearly defined service credit policies in case of downtime or performance issues. 

Cloud networking incorporates virtual networks, load balancers, DNS resolution, connection services and other components that enable secure and reliable connectivity for cloud-based applications. Google Cloud’s Andromeda powers services like Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Cloud Load Balancing, Cloud DNS, Cloud NAT and Network Service Tiers.

AWS offers a similar suite of networking services, including Amazon VPC, Elastic Load Balancing, Route53 and VPN and Direct Connect solutions. These services provide secure connectivity, load balancing, DNS resolution and performance optimization for cloud resources.

Private connectivity enables secure communication between on-premises data centers and public cloud environments over dedicated private networks, without traversing the public internet. Google Cloud’s Interconnect allows businesses to privately connect their on-premises networks to GCP over carrier partner links, while Cloud VPN provides secure IPsec tunnels.

AWS Direct Connect provides dedicated private connectivity to AWS from on-premises environments or other cloud providers over partner telco providers. AWS VPN allows IPsec VPN tunnels for private connectivity. Both platforms offer private connectivity options for hybrid/multicloud needs, with AWS having an edge for complex global networking.

Network service tiers allow cloud customers to choose different pricing and performance levels for their networking data transfers based on requirements like internet egress/ingress bandwidth, internal data processing needs and global availability.

GCP customers can choose between Premium and Standard Network Service Tiers. GCP’s Premium Tier uses Google’s private global network for faster, more reliable content delivery, which is ideal for critical business operations. 

AWS implements variable data transfer pricing based on public internet data transfer volumes, with lower fees for higher data transfer volumes. For guaranteed bandwidth, AWS offers Elastic Network Adapter capabilities for instances. AWS’s flexible approach allows bandwidth scaling with variable pricing based on data transfer volumes, optimizing costs for high-volume users.

A DNS (Domain Name System) is a naming system that translates readable domain names like www.cloudwards.net into machine-readable IP addresses like 192.168.1.1, which computers use to identify and communicate with each other on the internet or in a private network.

GCP offers Cloud DNS as a scalable DNS service for translating domain names. AWS uses Route 53 as its scalable cloud Domain Name System. Both services provide reliable DNS resolution and domain management capabilities, though AWS Route 53 has additional features like traffic routing policies and private DNS support for AWS resources.

Cloud security refers to the policies, controls and services that protect cloud-based systems, data and infrastructure from potential threats and vulnerabilities. Google Cloud offers services like Cloud Armor (web application firewall), Cloud Identity Access Management (IAM) and encryption services like Cloud KMS and Cloud EKM. 

AWS provides an extensive suite, including AWS WAF (web application firewall), AWS Shield (DDoS protection), AWS Security Hub, AWS IAM and dedicated security services like Amazon Inspector and Amazon GuardDuty.

Both Google Cloud and AWS offer robust security features tailored to a wide range of compliance and security needs. Choosing between them often depends on specific organizational requirements and existing infrastructure.

Data centers are physical locations that house cloud infrastructure. Google Cloud operates data centers globally, with a focus on sustainable, high-efficiency facilities. AWS has a larger global data center footprint, with more availability zones and regions to choose from. GCP has data centers in 121 zones, while AWS has 125 zones.

Cloud performance refers to the speed and efficiency of cloud services. AWS typically performs better for big business applications because of its wide range of services and global network. However, Google Cloud Platform excels in high-performance computing and data analytics workloads due to its advanced ML tools and strong network infrastructure.

Uptime measures the amount of time cloud services remain operational and available. Latency refers to the delay in data transmission over a network. 

GCP offers uptime SLAs of at least 99.9% for most services, with premium network tiers for low latency. AWS also provides SLAs with over 99.9% uptime across services, with features like enhanced networking and Global Accelerator for optimizing latency.

A content delivery network (CDN) is a distributed network of servers that delivers web content and services to users based on their geographic location, improving performance and availability. 

Google Cloud Platform uses Cloud CDN to cache content at Google’s edge locations for faster delivery and reduced latency. CloudFront is AWS’s CDN solution. It integrates with AWS services and offers advanced security features like AWS Shield and AWS WAF. 

Choosing between Amazon CloudFront and Google Cloud CDN will depend on your specific needs; Google Cloud CDN often offers more competitive pricing for certain tiers and regions, while Amazon CloudFront provides broader global coverage and deep integration with AWS services, potentially offering better value for AWS-heavy environments.

Ease of migration refers to how seamlessly existing on-premises or cloud-based applications and data can be transitioned to a cloud environment. For instance, GCP offers Migration Center, Database Migration Service and Storage Transfer Service, while AWS’ solutions for migration to the cloud include AWS Migration Hub, AWS Data Sync and AWS Database Migration Service. 

Many find it easier to migrate to Google Cloud than to AWS because of Google’s user-friendly interface, which is better suited for complex compute workloads.

Cloud customer support includes the resources, channels and response procedures providers offer to assist customers with technical issues, billing and other service-related matters. 

Google Cloud Platform offers basic, premium and offering-specific support plans, while AWS support plans include Developer, Business, Enterprise and custom enterprise support. The table below shows a comparison of each service’s customer support plans.