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Hyperscaler compute · by Google Cloud

Google Compute Engine

Google Cloud's virtual machines, billed per second after the first minute, with an always-free e2-micro in three US regions and custom machine shapes.

Visit cloud.google.com ↗ Alternatives Free tier EU region
Google Compute Engine homepage
§1

Overview

Compute Engine is Google Cloud's virtual machine service. Machine families range from the low-cost E2 line with shared cores, through balanced N4 and N2 types and performance-focused C4, to Arm-based Axion (C4A, N4A), memory-optimized, HPC and GPU machines. Instances are billed per second after a one-minute minimum.

The Free Tier gives one e2-micro instance-month in Oregon, Iowa or South Carolina, 30 GB-months of standard persistent disk and 1 GB of egress from North America. The limit is measured in hours, so running two micro instances uses the allowance twice as fast. It is enough for a small bot, cron server or personal VPN.

Beyond the free instance, costs work like other hyperscalers: machine time, disks, IPs and egress are separate charges, and committed use discounts reward steady usage. Compute Engine makes most sense alongside other Google Cloud services such as Cloud SQL, GKE or BigQuery. Before paying, estimate disk and egress costs alongside the machine price, since those items often exceed the VM itself for small instances.

§2

Pricing and plans

Free tier · card required

One non-preemptible e2-micro VM per month in us-west1, us-central1 or us-east1, 30 GB-months of standard persistent disk and 1 GB of outbound transfer from North America per month.

At the limit Bills overage Usage past the free e2-micro, disk and egress allowance is billed to your card; set a budget alert.

Plan Price What you get
Free Tier e2-micro $0 One e2-micro instance-month in us-west1, us-central1 or us-east1, 30 GB-months standard disk
e2-micro About $6.11/mo 2 shared vCPU, 1 GB RAM, us-central1 on demand
e2-small About $12.23/mo 2 shared vCPU, 2 GB RAM, $0.0168/hour
e2-medium About $24.46/mo 2 shared vCPU, 4 GB RAM, $0.0335/hour
c4-standard-2 $0.096866/hour 2 vCPU, 7 GiB RAM, on demand
Committed use discounts Custom 1- and 3-year commitments reduce hourly prices

Google's E2 per-hour prices were not readable as text on its own pages; the e2 monthly figures are from economize.cloud's catalog (us-central1, 730 hours, updated September 2026). The c4-standard-2 price is from Google's general-purpose pricing page. Disks, images, IP addresses and network egress are billed separately. New customers get a $300 credit valid for 90 days, a time-limited trial; signup requires a payment method.

Source: cloud.google.com/compute/vm-instance-pricing · prices as published, excluding tax.

§3

What it does

Always-free e2-micro
One non-preemptible e2-micro per month in three US regions, with 30 GB-months of disk.
Per-second billing
vCPU, GPU and memory are billed in one-second increments after the first minute.
Many machine families
E2, N4, N2, C4, Arm Axion and Tau T2A, memory-optimized, HPC and accelerator-optimized types.
Committed use discounts
Flexible and resource-based 1- and 3-year commitments lower the hourly price.
Spot VMs
Preemptible capacity at lower prices for interruptible work.
$300 trial credit
New accounts get $300 to spend over 90 days, without automatic charges.
§4

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • A permanent free micro VM, which most providers do not offer.
  • Per-second billing and a wide choice of machine families, including Arm.
  • Close integration with Google Cloud's managed databases, Kubernetes and data tools.
  • Global region footprint for multi-region deployments.

Limitations

  • The free e2-micro is limited to three US regions and only 1 GB of free egress a month.
  • Disks, IPs and network egress are billed separately from the machine price.
  • Free Trial accounts cannot add GPUs, use Marketplace or request quota increases.
  • Pricing is spread across many pages and SKUs, which makes estimates harder than a VPS bundle.
§5

Who it suits

Good for

  • A free always-on micro server in the US
  • Teams already on Google Cloud
  • Workloads that need autoscaling or specialised machine types

Look elsewhere if

  • Bandwidth-heavy hobby projects
  • Buyers who want one flat monthly price per server
§6

Alternatives to Google Compute Engine

Tool From Free option Stages
— Free tier
€5.25/mo Paid
€6.55/mo Paid
$5/mo Paid
Azure Virtual Machines Hyperscaler compute
$0.0104/hr Trial
$4/mo Paid

All VPS and cloud servers →

§7

Questions

Does Google Cloud have a free VM?

Yes. The Free Tier includes one non-preemptible e2-micro instance per month in us-west1, us-central1 or us-east1, with 30 GB-months of standard persistent disk.

How much does an e2-micro cost without the free tier?

About $6.11 per month on demand in us-central1, based on 730 hours.

Is Compute Engine billed per second?

Yes. vCPUs, GPUs and memory have a one-minute minimum, then are billed in one-second increments.

Do I need a credit card for the Google Cloud free tier?

Yes. Signing up requires a valid credit card or other payment method to verify identity, though the Free Trial does not charge automatically.

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