Virtual machines & images · AWS vs Google Cloud
Amazon EC2 instance types vs Compute Engine machine families and machine types
EC2 instance types map to Compute Engine machine families, series, and machine types (for example general-purpose N4 and C4, compute-optimized H4D, memory-optimized X4, and accelerator-optimized A-series).
Side-by-side comparison
| Aspect | Amazon Web Services | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Service | Amazon EC2 instance types | Compute Engine machine families and machine types |
| Lifecycle | Generally available | Generally available |
| What it is | Instance families by workload (general purpose M/T, compute C, memory R/X/U, storage I/D/H, accelerated P/G/Inf/Trn, HPC Hpc). Each family uses a generation number and processor/feature suffixes (g = Graviton, a = AMD, i = Intel, d = local NVMe, n = network-enhanced). | General-purpose, compute-optimized, memory-optimized, storage-optimized, and accelerator-optimized machine series, plus custom machine types. |
| Pricing model | Each instance type has its own per-second On-Demand price per Region and OS. Newer generations are usually cheaper per unit of performance. | Billed per second (1-minute minimum) for vCPUs, memory, and attached resources, by machine type and region. Sustained use discounts apply automatically to some series; committed use discounts and Spot pricing are also available. |
| Docs | Amazon EC2 instance types docs | Compute Engine machine families and machine types docs |
| Pricing page | Amazon EC2 instance types pricing | Compute Engine machine families and machine types pricing |
Key differences
- Compute Engine also supports custom machine types, where you pick the vCPU and memory amounts yourself.
- Machine type names follow series-shape-vCPUs (for example c4-standard-8) instead of family.size names.
Pricing summary
Pricing models only. No prices are quoted because they change by region and over time.
- AWS
- Each instance type has its own per-second On-Demand price per Region and OS. Newer generations are usually cheaper per unit of performance. Amazon EC2 instance types pricing →
- GCP
- Billed per second (1-minute minimum) for vCPUs, memory, and attached resources, by machine type and region. Sustained use discounts apply automatically to some series; committed use discounts and Spot pricing are also available. Compute Engine machine families and machine types pricing →
And on Azure?
Direct match Azure's equivalent is Azure VM sizes (series). AWS vs Azure comparison →
FAQ
What is the Google Cloud equivalent of Amazon EC2 instance types?
EC2 instance types map to Compute Engine machine families, series, and machine types (for example general-purpose N4 and C4, compute-optimized H4D, memory-optimized X4, and accelerator-optimized A-series).
How does pricing compare between Amazon EC2 instance types and Compute Engine machine families and machine types?
AWS: Each instance type has its own per-second On-Demand price per Region and OS. Newer generations are usually cheaper per unit of performance. Google Cloud: Billed per second (1-minute minimum) for vCPUs, memory, and attached resources, by machine type and region. Sustained use discounts apply automatically to some series; committed use discounts and Spot pricing are also available. Check the official pricing pages for current rates.
What is the Azure equivalent?
Azure VM sizes (series) (direct match). EC2 instance types map to Azure VM sizes (series).