Google App Engine vs Pivotal Cloud Foundry comparison

Google and Broadcom are both solutions in the PaaS Clouds category. Google is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.3, while Broadcom is ranked #15. Google holds a 2.6% mindshare in PSP, compared to Broadcom’s 5.1% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Google users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Google App Engine

Read 36 Google App Engine reviews

2,452 Views
2,182 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Read 15 Pivotal Cloud Foundry reviews

5,084 Views
4,982 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Google App Engine

Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

Google App Engine and Pivotal Cloud Foundry are competing in the Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) category. Pivotal Cloud Foundry is often considered superior due to its robust features.

Features: Google App Engine supports automatic scaling, integrated storage, and flexible pricing. It is ideal for applications requiring automatic scalability and cost-effectiveness. Pivotal Cloud Foundry offers enterprise-grade features such as continuous integration, support for multiple development languages, and comprehensive DevOps tools. These features cater to complex projects and enterprise needs.

Room for Improvement: Google App Engine could improve its flexibility in supporting additional services beyond its standard offerings. Enhancing SQL database support and expanding its range of deployable languages could benefit users. For Pivotal Cloud Foundry, the complexity of the initial setup is an area for improvement. Simplifying the learning curve for new users and reducing setup time could make it more accessible. Improving integration with non-Java technologies would broaden its appeal.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Google App Engine is known for its simplified deployment process, making it suitable for startups or small businesses. Its exceptional customer service adds value for users seeking support. In contrast, Pivotal Cloud Foundry offers support for sophisticated deployment scenarios and enterprise-grade support, offering greater control but requiring a steeper learning curve.

Pricing and ROI: Google App Engine offers adaptable pricing and a low entry cost, providing faster ROI for small and medium-sized businesses. Its pricing model is advantageous for limited budgets. Pivotal Cloud Foundry, while having a higher initial cost, offers significant ROI for enterprises with its scalable, comprehensive features, making it more suitable for large-scale deployments.

To learn more, read our detailed Google App Engine vs. Pivotal Cloud Foundry Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Google App Engine vs. Pivotal Cloud Foundry

April 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 894,738 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Google App Engine

Ranking in PaaS Clouds

6th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Ranking in PaaS Clouds

15th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the PaaS Clouds category, the mindshare of Google App Engine is 2.6%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pivotal Cloud Foundry is 5.1%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

PaaS Clouds Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Google App Engine	2.6%
Pivotal Cloud Foundry	5.1%
Other	92.3%

PaaS Clouds

Featured Reviews

Rajesh Kadyan

Senior Engineer at Brillio

Have managed resources seamlessly thanks to robust platform capabilities

The areas of Google App Engine that I would to improve or enhance include its allowance for complete end-to-end deployment and scalability; however, it is manageable only for a few languages. For instance, it doesn't support languages C and C++, only basic support for Node.js, Java, and Ruby. It's not a comprehensive solution for all scenarios. Moreover, the security feature is based on IAM roles, but it should ideally be based on Active Directory (AD) roles. For IAM-based roles, we need to add the proper users and provide all security permissions manually. In an AD-based model, we would simply add users to a specific group, and all permissions would be inherited.

Read full review

reviewer2263239

Head of Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

PCF allows for fine-grained configuration, especially regarding scaling but routing limitations

Something that can be done better is canary deployment. So, right now, we're using blue-green deployment. The support for canary deployment would be nice. A few things, such as what OpenShift does better are cluster management. Like, you can manage the entire thing together. Currently, it's possible to manage all the clusters, especially when it comes to cluster management using straightforward configuration. As of now, we have to handle each application instance individually, which means servicing them one by one. It would be better if we could perform these actions as a group or in a more streamlined manner. One more downside is actually the cost of this environment. So, major downside of Pivotal, it's the cost. So, the runtime running costs are very high. Extremely high.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Administering App Engine is simple; it has intuitive UIs and a very scalable app engine."

"Seurity features - unauthorized individuals are unable to access certain applications."

"The customer service is excellent and very responsive."

"The integration with Google's suite allows me to offer a comprehensive service to my enterprise clients."

"The seamless integration of Google App Engine with other Google Cloud services has enhanced my application capabilities by allowing us to trigger Cloud Jobs from App Engine and some cloud functions, as handling messages through Pub/Sub."

"Zero maintenance cost for web servers"

"What I find most beneficial about Google App Engine is that we do not need to manage it since it's a fully managed serverless platform, allowing us to spend more time on development rather than managing and maintaining configurations."

"I have found it useful in my work and life."

More Google App Engine pros

"The most valuable feature of Pivotal Cloud Foundry is the UI, it is easy to use."

"The most valuable feature of Pivotal Cloud Foundry is auto-healing and the plenty of other features that are provided."

"PCF is open, so the applications run really smoothly and with little downtime."

"The most valuable features are the monitoring and the deployment is easier."

"It is a scalable product...We are not facing any particular issues since most of the applications in our company are written in Java and .NET."

"Stability is not a concern with this product."

"The solution is stable and resilient. In our company, we do not even see any challenges with the solution."

"Stability is not a concern with this product."

More Pivotal Cloud Foundry pros

Cons

"There are two versions of Google App Engine: flexible and standard versions. I think they can improve by having only one version."

"The initial setup is complex as it is customized based on different clients, and it can range from one to three years, requiring niche-specific technical resources."

"There needs to be more directions in terms of how to use the solution."

"The main drawback with Google App Engine's standard environment was its restrictions. We could not work with file systems, run shell scripts from the environment, or use WebSockets."

"The only concern is that there is a number of the offerings which are built on their own proprietary technologies."

"The product's price is an area of concern where improvements are required."

"The documentation and community are lacking for this product."

"There is limited customization because the sandbox environment restricts it."

More Google App Engine cons

"It is not straightforward to setup."

"I would prefer to use Amazon AWS or Google Cloud Platform rather than Pivotal Cloud Foundry."

"Pivotal Cloud Foundry is not scalable, infinitely, because when you install it on a set of virtual machines it is very hard to scale."

"Regarding the setup phase, every step is a hurdle. With Pivotal Cloud Foundry, I won't get any proper resources for that. Even if I Google it, there is no proper solution for Pivotal Cloud Foundry."

"The initial setup was not easy, it was a bit complex."

"It should offer more security features."

"The user interface should be simpler to navigate because it t can take time for users to learn it."

"In the next release, they should offer additional applications for the databases, and improve the deployment experience."

More Pivotal Cloud Foundry cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would like to have more free application with it. Some of the applications, I am paying more for them. I think that they must be free."

"If we don't know how to work with the tool, we might have some spikes in price."

"We pay the license yearly. It's about $6 a month, which is $72 a year per person, so it's about $500."

"The price of Pivotal Cloud Foundry could improve. However, in this category of solutions, they are all expensive."

"The pricing is on the higher side and there are cheaper options available."

"You're paying for the number of virtual machines you want to install in the installation."

"We do pay for the licensing cost because we have opted for a private cloud setup. So, it is a cloud setup, and we have to make payments based on the cloud size. I do not consider it very costly when comparing it to the market."

"Licensing is on a monthly basis and right now we pay $24/month. There are no other costs over and above that."

"The price of Pivotal Cloud Foundry is based on the customer's requirements. However, the price is comparable to other similar solutions."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which PaaS Clouds solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

894,738 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

it_user8586

Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

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…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

10%

University

Educational Organization

Construction Company

Financial Services Firm

35%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Insurance Company

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	13

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Large Enterprise	11

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google App Engine?

I believe it is reasonably priced. I've never heard anyone express that the licenses are too expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Google App Engine?

The error logging system in Google App Engine could be enhanced. While there are troubleshooting documents with Google-defined error logs, identifying the exact root cause can be challenging. Often...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Google App Engine?

My primary use case for Google App Engine is within the finance industry, dealing with enterprise-scale businesses.

See all answers

Which would you recommend - Pivotal Cloud Foundry or OpenShift?

Pivotal Cloud Foundry is a cloud-native application platform to simplify app delivery. It is efficient and effective. The best feature is how easy it is to handle external services such as database...

See all answers

Comparisons

Amazon AWS vs Google App Engine

Compared 17% of the time

Microsoft Azure vs Google App Engine

Compared 16% of the time

Heroku vs Google App Engine

Compared 10% of the time

VMware Tanzu Platform vs Google App Engine

Compared 7% of the time

Azure Red Hat OpenShift vs Google App Engine

Compared 3% of the time

More Google App Engine Competitors

Microsoft Azure vs Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Compared 27% of the time

Amazon AWS vs Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Compared 16% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift vs Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Compared 12% of the time

Google Cloud vs Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Compared 8% of the time

More Pivotal Cloud Foundry Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Google App Engine

May 2026

Download Google App Engine product report

Buyer's Guide

Pivotal Cloud Foundry

April 2026

Download Pivotal Cloud Foundry product report

Also Known As

GAE

PCF, Pivotal Application Service (PAS), Pivotal Container Service (PKS), Pivotal Function Service (PFS)

Overview

Google App Engine offers seamless platform integration, automatic scaling, and zero infrastructure maintenance, enhancing development efficiency. Its serverless architecture with robust security measures supports diverse programming needs and simplifies deployment, making it a top choice for modern applications.

Designed for effortless web application deployment and API management, Google App Engine integrates smoothly with Google Cloud services, offering automatic scaling without the burden of infrastructure upkeep. Developers enjoy a cost-effective serverless platform that optimizes performance and reduces operational workload. Despite its intuitive interface and real-time logging advantages, areas needing improvement include documentation and community engagement. Expansion on language support, technical backing, pricing strategies, error logging, and advanced deployment tools is essential. Scalability and control flexibility require attention to resolve performance and customization issues. Enhancing migration paths and security features would significantly boost user satisfaction and platform reliability.

What are Google App Engine's most important features?

Seamless Integration: Connects efficiently with Google Cloud services and supports diverse languages.
Automatic Scaling: Adjusts resources in response to traffic variations, optimizing performance.
Zero Maintenance: No server management, freeing developers to focus on code.
Real-Time Logging: Provides instant insights to improve debugging and monitoring.
Cost-Effective: Offers a budget-friendly, scalable serverless environment.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Scalability: Effortless handling of backend service demands without manual intervention.
Security: Reliable protective measures safeguarding application data.
Integration: Simplified authentication with Google services, enhancing productivity.
Support: Assistance for cloud migration and SaaS applications in diverse industries.

Industries like finance and manufacturing utilize Google App Engine for cloud migration and scaling SaaS applications efficiently. Its ability to seamlessly integrate with services like Pub/Sub and Stackdriver supports complex projects, while cloud-native tools like Cloud Run and Kubernetes Engine facilitate microservice communication.

Google

Pivotal Cloud Foundry is a scalable cloud platform known for its deployment ease, monitoring, and auto-healing capabilities. It supports Java and Spring Cloud frameworks, offering a stable environment for microservices and seamless CI/CD integration.

Pivotal Cloud Foundry facilitates cloud-based application development, focusing on private cloud security and developer-friendly tools. Open-source advantages lead to enhanced performance and innovation, providing robust deployment crucial for enterprise environments. While integration and documentation need improvement, its strength lies in microservice management, application hosting, and compliance with data residency regulations. The platform addresses migration and security challenges within enterprises, particularly in financial services, by supporting cloud transitions.

What key features does Pivotal Cloud Foundry offer?

Scalability: Dynamically adjust resources to meet demand.
Auto-healing: Automatically recover from system failures, ensuring stability.
CI/CD Integration: Streamlined processes for continuous delivery.
Microservice Management: Efficiently handle application components.
Security Features: Protect data in private cloud environments.
Developer Tools: Simplify application development with open-source resources.

What benefits should users expect from Pivotal Cloud Foundry?

Increased Stability: Reliable and consistent platform performance.
Reduced Deployment Time: Quick setup and initiation of services.
Enhanced Security: Robust measures for data protection.
Cost Efficiency: Optimizes operational expenses for cloud transitions.

Pivotal Cloud Foundry is implemented widely in industries for deploying web and financial services applications, enabling microservices architecture within banking and enterprise environments. Its cloud diagnostic tools facilitate transitioning from on-premise to cloud-based systems, ensuring compliance with regulations and streamlined application hosting.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Khan Academy, Best Buy, Gigya, MetOffice, Getaround, Mimiboard, NewsLimited, WebFilings, and CloudLock.

Humana, Citibank, Mercedes Benz, Liberty Mutual, The Home Depot, GE, West Corp, Merrill Corporation, CoreLogic, Orange, Dish Network, Comcast, Bloomberg, Internal Revenue Service, Ford Motor Company, Garmin, Volkswagen, Solera, Allstate, US Air Force, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, ScotiaBank

Buyer's Guide

Google App Engine vs. Pivotal Cloud Foundry

April 2026

Free Report: Google App Engine vs. Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Find out what your peers are saying about Google App Engine vs. Pivotal Cloud Foundry and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

894,738 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Google App Engine vs. Pivotal Cloud Foundry report.

See our list of best PaaS Clouds vendors.

We monitor all PaaS Clouds reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.