Industry & specialized ML · AWS vs Google Cloud
Amazon Forecast / Amazon SageMaker Canvas vs Agent Platform tabular forecasting / BigQuery ML
Amazon Forecast (in maintenance) maps to Agent Platform tabular forecasting and to BigQuery ML forecasting (ARIMA_PLUS and the TimesFM foundation model).
Side-by-side comparison
| Aspect | Amazon Web Services | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Service | Amazon Forecast Maintenance Amazon SageMaker Canvas | Agent Platform tabular forecasting BigQuery ML |
| Lifecycle | No longer available to new customers (announced July 29, 2024). AWS recommends SageMaker Canvas. Generally available | Generally available Generally available |
| What it is | Managed time-series forecasting. No-code ML for analysts. Tabular, time series, text, and image predictions, plus access to foundation models. | AutoML and other tabular workflows for time-series forecasting. Create and run ML models with SQL inside BigQuery, including forecasting (ARIMA_PLUS, TimesFM), anomaly detection, and calls to remote Gemini models. |
| Pricing model | Canvas uses session hours plus training and prediction. Forecast is still available to existing customers at its own rates. | Agent Platform forecasting is billed per node-hour. BigQuery ML is billed through BigQuery compute. |
| Docs | Amazon Forecast docs Amazon SageMaker Canvas docs | Agent Platform tabular forecasting docs BigQuery ML docs |
| Pricing page | Amazon Forecast pricing Amazon SageMaker Canvas pricing | Agent Platform tabular forecasting pricing BigQuery ML pricing |
Key differences
- TimesFM is pretrained, so AI.FORECAST forecasts from SQL without training your own model.
- Forecast is closed to new customers on AWS; SageMaker Canvas is the AWS path.
Pricing summary
Pricing models only. No prices are quoted because they change by region and over time.
- AWS
- Canvas uses session hours plus training and prediction. Forecast is still available to existing customers at its own rates. Amazon Forecast pricing → Amazon SageMaker Canvas pricing →
- GCP
- Agent Platform forecasting is billed per node-hour. BigQuery ML is billed through BigQuery compute. Agent Platform tabular forecasting pricing → BigQuery ML pricing →
And on Azure?
Partial match Azure's equivalent is Azure ML automated ML (AutoML). AWS vs Azure comparison →
FAQ
What is the Google Cloud equivalent of Amazon Forecast and Amazon SageMaker Canvas?
Amazon Forecast (in maintenance) maps to Agent Platform tabular forecasting and to BigQuery ML forecasting (ARIMA_PLUS and the TimesFM foundation model).
How does pricing compare between Amazon Forecast and Amazon SageMaker Canvas and Agent Platform tabular forecasting and BigQuery ML?
AWS: Canvas uses session hours plus training and prediction. Forecast is still available to existing customers at its own rates. Google Cloud: Agent Platform forecasting is billed per node-hour. BigQuery ML is billed through BigQuery compute. Check the official pricing pages for current rates.
What is the Azure equivalent?
Azure ML automated ML (AutoML) (partial match). Amazon Forecast (no new customers since July 2024) maps to Azure Machine Learning AutoML forecasting.