Short on Time? These Are Google Cloud’s Best Cloud Instances in 2023:
- e2-small ($12.23/mo) – Cheap starting point for a low-traffic site with enough resources to grow and develop
- e2-standard-2 ($48.91/mo) – Customizability and scalability at an affordable price
- n2-standard-8 ($226.87/mo) – Impressively fast processors suited to enterprise traffic
Google Cloud’s Features and Pricing Overview
Complex Pricing, but Cheaper Than the Average
Google Cloud tends to offer better prices than the competition, especially if you take advantage of its discount plans. As a cloud computing service, it offers over 100 products. For web hosting, Google Cloud’s Compute Engine virtual machines (VMs) are the best fit. You’re charged by the second, which offers the benefit of only ever paying for what you use. That said, it certainly makes things more confusing if you’re not used to this method of billing. Furthermore, each VM may be eligible for certain discounts. For the best deal, you’ll be expected to commit to a one- or three-year term. This will get you a heavy discount over paying on-demand, but be forewarned – you cannot cancel a commitment. On-demand instances can easily be cancelled at any time. Google Cloud accepts major credit or debit cards, PayPal, bank account transfers, and even checks. You can also sign up for a free trial of Google Cloud’s services for 90 days with $300 credit. Keep in mind that Google Cloud’s platform is not suited to beginners. Technical support is expensive, and you’ll need significant know-how to run an unmanaged cloud instance.Shared-Core Virtual Machines
e2-micro | e2-small | e2-medium | |
Initial term starting price | Free as part of the free tier, otherwise $6.11/mo ($0.008 hourly) | $12.23/mo ($0.016 hourly) | $24.46 ($0.033 hourly) |
Price on renewal | Same as above | Same as above | Same as above |
vCPU cores | 0.25 cores, can be bursted to 2 cores for 30s | 0.5 cores, can be bursted to 2 cores for 60s | 1 core, can be bursted up to 2 cores for 120s |
RAM | 1GB | 2GB | 4GB |
Storage | 30GB HDD persistent disk included with free tier | None included | None included |
Bandwidth | 1gbp/s (1GB free network egress per month to all regions besides China and Australia) | 1gbp/s, network egress is charged per GB | 2gbp/s, network egress is charged per GB |
Static IPs | Costs a small hourly fee | Costs a small hourly fee | Costs a small hourly fee |
Data center locations | 69 data centers covering all major continents and a total of 200+ countries and territories | ||
Support | Only billing support is available for free. Available through chat and tickets from Sunday, 5PM, to Friday, 5PM. |

e2-small

e2-medium

Are Shared-Core Virtual Machines Right For You?
The shared-core instances are best for basic websites or apps with low traffic – you can save plenty of money if this is all you’re looking to host. If you wish to build a static HTML site, or perhaps a very simple WordPress blog, you could even use the e2-micro for free. However, I’d recommend the e2-small, especially if you wish to use a CMS. It’s a good price compared to the competition, and delivers enough resources to support a new site finding its feet. However, if you’re seeing a consistently high volume of traffic, you may require the dedicated resources offered by Google Cloud’s general-purpose VMs.General-Purpose Virtual Machines
e2-standard-2 | e2-standard-4 | n2-standard-8 | n2-standard-16 | |
Initial term starting price | $48.91/mo ($0.067 hourly) | $97.83/mo ($0.134 hourly) | $226.87/mo ($0.388 hourly) | $453.74/mo ($0.776 hourly) |
Price on renewal | Same as above | Same as above | Same as above | Same as above |
vCPU cores | 2 cores | 4 cores | 8 cores | 16 cores |
RAM | 8GB | 16GB | 32GB | 64GB |
Storage | None included | None included | None included | None included |
Bandwidth | 4gbp/s, network egress is charged per GB | 8gbp/s, network egress is charged per GB | 16gbp/s, network egress is charged per GB | 32gbp/s, network egress is charged per GB |
Static IPs | Costs a small hourly fee | Costs a small hourly fee | Costs a small hourly fee | Costs a small hourly fee |
Data center locations | 69 data centers covering all major continents and a total of 200+ countries and territories | |||
Support | Only billing support is available for free. Available through chat and tickets from Sunday, 5PM, to Friday, 5PM. |
e2-standard-2

e2-standard-4

n2-standard-8

n2-standard-16

Are General-Purpose Virtual Machines Right For You?
If you’re dealing with a high volume of traffic and require a highly customizable environment, the general-purpose instances will likely be a good fit for you. These instances can handle large workloads at a lower price than competing providers. If you’re unsure about which instance to choose, I’d recommend starting with the e2-standard-2. It offers a comfortable amount of resources at an affordable price. You can always scale up as necessary.Recommended Google Cloud Alternatives
While Google Cloud offers many advantages, it may not be for you. I’d recommend taking a look through our top-rated alternatives below to see if they may prove a better fit.
Starting Price | Main Pro | Main Con | ||
Google Cloud | $6.11 | Competitive pricing with discount options and impressive global performance | Lack of reasonably-priced tech support | |
Kamatera | $4.00 | Very high customizability | More expensive as there are no term discounts | |
Liquid Web | $15.00 | Managed service available for a low price, guaranteed rapid response times from support | Few data centers, no coverage in Asia-Pacific, Africa | |
Cloudways | $11.00 | Management and technical support for Google Cloud instances | No root access, and many server configuration changes must go through support | |
Render | $7.00 | Extensive Git integration, flexible environment to build a static site for free | No uptime guarantee, fewer options than Google Cloud | |
Amazon Web Services | $3.50 | Beginner-friendly Amazon Lightsail service for entry-level instances | Not as cost-effective as Google Cloud |
Kamatera
Kamatera’s entry-level instances offer better value. While Google Cloud is limited to just three burstable entry-level instances, Kamatera allows you to custom-build your own. These instances also do not share a CPU core with other customers – traffic surges will thus be served more reliably.
All Kamatera instances benefit from Cascade Lake processors, offering stronger performance per core than Google Cloud’s entire e2 line. Additionally, Kamatera doesn’t require you to fulfill multiple restrictive conditions for the best prices.


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Liquid Web
If you’re looking for quality managed service and support, Liquid Web offers a better deal. While Google Cloud charges a huge fee for rapid technical support and some minor management services, Liquid Web offers managed hosting as part of the package. Additionally, Liquid Web’s technical support aims to reply in under a minute to any queries, or you can request compensation.

Save up to 75 % on your Liquid Web plan!
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Cloudways
Rather than offer its own web hosting services, Cloudways acts as a third-party management service on third-party cloud infrastructure. This includes Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, DigitalOcean, and others. Cloudways simplifies use of Google Cloud’s hosting service with its own hosting software stack and affordable technical support. Your server is configured and managed via Cloudways’ proprietary platform.

Save up to 30 % on your Cloudways plan!
Limited-time offer - Don't miss it!
