Purchase options & licensing · AWS vs Google Cloud
Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts & Dedicated Instances vs Sole-tenant nodes
EC2 Dedicated Hosts map to sole-tenant nodes, physical Compute Engine servers that host only your project's VMs.
Side-by-side comparison
| Aspect | Amazon Web Services | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Service | Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts & Dedicated Instances | Sole-tenant nodes |
| Lifecycle | Generally available | Generally available |
| What it is | Physical servers dedicated to your account. Dedicated Hosts expose sockets and cores for per-core/per-socket BYOL and give host affinity. Dedicated Instances give hardware isolation without host visibility. | Physical Compute Engine servers dedicated to your project's VMs, used for isolation and bring-your-own-license needs. |
| Pricing model | Billed per host per second, with On-Demand, Savings Plans, or host reservations available. Instances on the host have no separate instance charge. | Billed for the node's vCPUs and memory, plus a sole-tenancy premium. |
| Docs | Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts & Dedicated Instances docs | Sole-tenant nodes docs |
| Pricing page | Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts & Dedicated Instances pricing | Sole-tenant nodes pricing |
Key differences
- Sole-tenant nodes are billed per node plus a sole-tenancy premium; only flexible CUDs apply to the premium.
- There is no direct counterpart to EC2 Dedicated Instances (single-tenant hardware without host-level control).
Pricing summary
Pricing models only. No prices are quoted because they change by region and over time.
- AWS
- Billed per host per second, with On-Demand, Savings Plans, or host reservations available. Instances on the host have no separate instance charge. Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts & Dedicated Instances pricing →
- GCP
- Billed for the node's vCPUs and memory, plus a sole-tenancy premium. Sole-tenant nodes pricing →
And on Azure?
Direct match Azure's equivalent is Azure Dedicated Host. AWS vs Azure comparison →
FAQ
What is the Google Cloud equivalent of Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts & Dedicated Instances?
EC2 Dedicated Hosts map to sole-tenant nodes, physical Compute Engine servers that host only your project's VMs.
How does pricing compare between Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts & Dedicated Instances and Sole-tenant nodes?
AWS: Billed per host per second, with On-Demand, Savings Plans, or host reservations available. Instances on the host have no separate instance charge. Google Cloud: Billed for the node's vCPUs and memory, plus a sole-tenancy premium. Check the official pricing pages for current rates.
What is the Azure equivalent?
Azure Dedicated Host (direct match). EC2 Dedicated Hosts map to Azure Dedicated Host.