Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Google App Engine vs Google Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.2
Proper usage of Google App Engine enhances ROI through easy updates and scalability, but improper use increases costs for beginners.
Sentiment score
6.9
ROI from Google Cloud emerges through faster deployment, cost-effective features, free services, and fair pricing, enhancing value.
Operationally, it was efficient for us because we could easily spin up new versions to demonstrate new functionality without modifying the original environment.
I have noticed a return on investment in terms of less maintenance, but it depends on the organization's standard deployment preferences.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.2
Google App Engine support experiences vary; some praise responsiveness, others cite delays, with mixed ratings from users.
Sentiment score
6.7
Google Cloud support is efficient but variable, with some delays; reliability may reduce need, extra purchases are sometimes required.
The technical support was very quick and responsive, with a direct team line available.
Technical support for Google App Engine is efficient and offers a brilliant solution.
If I generate an urgent request, they can respond with a call within the next hour.
I consider them good partners when it comes to support.
We have consulted Google support several times, and we received a quick response.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Google App Engine excels in scalability and integration, praised for efficiency despite some deployment delays under heavy workloads.
Sentiment score
7.8
Google Cloud offers high scalability, ease of integration, and flexible cost-effective solutions, making it superior to other providers.
I would rate the scalability as nine out of ten, appreciating its design that does not require much attention to scaling configurations or costs.
Google App Engine scales well in the standard environment, which automatically handles traffic without manual scaling.
Google App Engine is highly scalable and can integrate easily with other applications.
If I had to rate scalability from one to ten, I would rate it a nine as we have never faced any issues with scalability.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Google App Engine is highly reliable with minimal maintenance, though performance may vary with large scripts or network issues.
Sentiment score
8.1
Google Cloud is highly rated for stability, with users appreciating its reliability and consistent performance despite minor issues.
I have not experienced any crashing or instability with Google App Engine.
However, large code bases can still cause it to slow down.
I would rate the stability of Google App Engine a perfect 10 out of 10, as it is completely managed by Google.
 

Room For Improvement

Google App Engine needs pricing, documentation, support, language expansion, customization flexibility, security, and performance improvements for better user experience.
Google Cloud needs improved user-friendliness, integration, analytics, UI, training, pricing, stability, security, language support, and customer tools.
It would be beneficial if Flex services could scale down to zero instances during periods of no traffic.
The pricing is higher compared to alternatives like Kubernetes and Compute Engine.
In the Flex environment, SSH access is not available for private instances.
Providing more hypervisors would be beneficial.
The logging could be improved; there's currently no intuitive way to filter logs on the Google console, especially for individuals who are not familiar with query languages.
 

Setup Cost

Google App Engine's pricing varies, affordable for some but expensive for others, with pay-as-you-go and free tiers.
Google Cloud is cost-effective with flexible pricing, but users desire greater transparency and more flexible options.
For F1 usage with 256 MB, it is free.
My GCP billing is about 10 lakh INR per month, and Google App Engine contributes only 25,000 to 30,000 INR.
The pricing of Google App Engine largely depends on the features chosen; if we opt for the standard edition, it is less expensive, while the flexible option incurs more costs due to always having an instance running.
As far as I know, it is a little more expensive compared to other cloud options.
 

Valuable Features

Google App Engine provides scalable, cost-effective, serverless architecture with automatic scaling, supporting multiple languages and seamless Google Cloud integration.
Google Cloud offers scalable, reliable, and secure solutions with user-friendly design for developers, ideal for machine learning and data analytics.
The solution offers scalability, autoscaling based on user demand, and security, as Google manages all updates and security patches.
Google App Engine offers a cloud-based solution for free, especially for Java, making it a cost-effective option compared to expensive VMs.
I also appreciate the Google App Engine standard environment because it handles traffic scaling without manual intervention.
The most valuable features of Google Cloud for us are the integration with Kubernetes, IAM, Istio integration, and Terraform capabilities.
If customers use different technologies within their environment, GCP cannot offer a full performance analysis covering all the disclosures.
 

Categories and Ranking

Google App Engine
Ranking in PaaS Clouds
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Google Cloud
Ranking in PaaS Clouds
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the PaaS Clouds category, the mindshare of Google App Engine is 2.2%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Google Cloud is 6.4%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
PaaS Clouds
 

Featured Reviews

OmkarPatil - PeerSpot reviewer
Simplifies app development process for businesses
The product simplifies app development processes since once the local development is completed, my company has a common configuration in place where we can specify the requirements to run an application, after which we need to do a one-click GCP deployment for the entire application. In general, the two offer managed deployment options, so we don't have to worry about deployment. In my company, we just configure the servers and check if anything needs to be containerized, after which GCP handles everything for us. A project where Google App Engine scalability was essential was when, recently, my company was involved with Golang to build a web application, after which deploying that application on Google App Engine was really easy. In my company, we also had a Django application in Python, and it was easy to deploy. As my company deals with small-scale projects, the automated scaling feature of Google App Engine is not something we thought about. I wouldn't recommend the product to others unless the potential end users use GCP and have a word with their vendors about their plans. One specific recommendation from me would be that the product's potential uses should stick with a particular vendor. If someone wants a product that is easy to deploy and scalable, then multiple options are available in the market. The product integrates very well with other Google solutions. I rate the overall solution a ten out of ten.
Saurav Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
Integration with Kubernetes and flexibility improve our application deployment process
The logging could be improved; there's currently no intuitive way to filter logs on the Google console, especially for individuals who are not familiar with query languages. Our non-technical users find it difficult to access logs. Additionally, the user interface could be more user-friendly and intuitive compared to our previous experience with AWS ( /products/amazon-aws-reviews ).
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which PaaS Clouds solutions are best for your needs.
857,688 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user8586 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 14, 2013
Amazon vs Rackspace vs Microsoft vs Google: Cloud Hosting Services Comparison
Amazon Web Services, Rackspace OpenStack, Microsoft Windows Azure and Google are the major cloud hosting and storage service providers. Athough Amazon is top of them and is oldest in cloud market, Rackspace, Microsoft and Google are giving tough competition to each other and to Amazon also for…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Educational Organization
11%
University
6%
Educational Organization
34%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Google App Engine?
The product's setup and deployment phases are easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google App Engine?
Google App Engine's pricing seemed reasonable to my employer. However, I cannot make comparisons as I don't have experience with other managed services.
What needs improvement with Google App Engine?
While integrating Google App Engine with other services, I don't recall any specific challenges. The main drawback with Google App Engine's standard environment was its restrictions. We could not w...
What do you like most about Google Cloud?
Google Cloud is perceived as a cost-effective and user-friendly option, especially compared to AWS. The current affordability and ease of use make it suitable for medium-sized companies. While the ...
What needs improvement with Google Cloud?
The logging could be improved; there's currently no intuitive way to filter logs on the Google console, especially for individuals who are not familiar with query languages. Our non-technical users...
What is your primary use case for Google Cloud?
Our primary use case for Google Cloud ( /products/google-cloud-reviews ) is deploying applications. Our applications are deployed on Google Cloud ( /products/google-cloud-reviews ), and we use it t...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Khan Academy, Best Buy, Gigya, MetOffice, Getaround, Mimiboard, NewsLimited, WebFilings, and CloudLock.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Google App Engine vs. Google Cloud and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
857,688 professionals have used our research since 2012.