GCP vs AWS in 2024: A Comprehensive Cloud Platform Comparison

As cloud computing continues to evolve, choosing between Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) becomes increasingly complex. This guide provides a detailed comparison to help you make an informed decision in 2024.

$1

``mermaid

graph TB

subgraph "Core Infrastructure"

A1["Compute"]

B1["Storage"]

C1["Networking"]

end

subgraph "Platform Services"

A2["Containers"]

B2["Serverless"]

C2["Databases"]

end

subgraph "Advanced Services"

A3["AI/ML"]

B3["Analytics"]

C3["Security"]

end

A1 --> A2

B1 --> B2

C1 --> C2

A2 --> A3

B2 --> B3

C2 --> C3

classDef aws fill:#FF9900,stroke:#fff,color:#fff

classDef gcp fill:#1a73e8,stroke:#fff,color:#fff

class A1,B1,C1 aws

class A2,B2,C2,A3,B3,C3 gcp

`

$1

Category	AWS	GCP
Compute	EC2	Compute Engine
Containers	EKS/ECS	GKE
Serverless	Lambda	Cloud Functions
Storage	S3	Cloud Storage

$1

$1

`yaml

AWS EC2 Configuration

Resources:

EC2Instance:

Type: 'AWS::EC2::Instance'

Properties:

InstanceType: t3.medium

ImageId: ami-12345678

SecurityGroups:

- !Ref SecurityGroup

UserData:

Fn::Base64: !Sub |

#!/bin/bash

yum update -y

yum install -y httpd

systemctl start httpd

systemctl enable httpd

GCP Compute Engine Configuration

resources:

name: vm-instance

type: compute.v1.instance

properties:

machineType: n1-standard-2

zone: us-central1-a

disks:

- deviceName: boot

type: PERSISTENT

boot: true

autoDelete: true

initializeParams:

sourceImage: projects/debian-cloud/global/images/debian-10

networkInterfaces:

- network: global/networks/default

accessConfigs:

- name: External NAT

type: ONE_TO_ONE_NAT

`

$1

Feature	AWS EKS	GCP GKE
Auto-scaling	Cluster Autoscaler	Autopilot
Node Management	Manual	Automated
Integration	AWS Services	GCP Services

$1

$1

`typescript

// AWS S3 Implementation

import { S3Client, PutObjectCommand } from "@aws-sdk/client-s3";

const s3Client = new S3Client({ region: "us-west-2" });

async function uploadToS3(bucket: string, key: string, body: Buffer) {

const command = new PutObjectCommand({

Bucket: bucket,

Key: key,

Body: body,

});

return await s3Client.send(command);

}

// GCP Cloud Storage Implementation

import { Storage } from "@google-cloud/storage";

const storage = new Storage();

async function uploadToGCS(bucket: string, filename: string, contents: Buffer) {

const bucketObj = storage.bucket(bucket);

const file = bucketObj.file(filename);

await file.save(contents, {

contentType: "application/octet-stream",

});

}

`

$1

Feature	AWS S3	GCP Cloud Storage
Storage Classes	6 tiers	4 tiers
Lifecycle Management	Advanced	Basic
Versioning	Built-in	Built-in

$1

$1

`yaml

AWS RDS Configuration

Resources:

MyDB:

Type: 'AWS::RDS::DBInstance'

Properties:

DBName: mydb

Engine: mysql

MasterUsername: admin

MasterUserPassword: !Ref 'DBPassword'

DBInstanceClass: db.t3.medium

AllocatedStorage: '20'

BackupRetentionPeriod: 7

GCP Cloud SQL Configuration

resources:

name: mysql-instance

type: sqladmin.v1beta4.instance

properties:

settings:

tier: db-n1-standard-2

backupConfiguration:

enabled: true

startTime: '23:00'

databaseFlags:

- name: character_set_server

value: utf8mb4

`

$1

Feature	AWS	GCP
SQL	RDS	Cloud SQL
NoSQL	DynamoDB	Firestore
In-Memory	ElastiCache	Memorystore

$1

$1

Category	AWS	GCP
ML Platform	SageMaker	Vertex AI
Vision API	Rekognition	Vision AI
Speech	Transcribe	Speech-to-Text

$1

$1

`typescript

interface ComputePricing {

provider: string;

instanceType: string;

vCPUs: number;

memory: number;

pricePerHour: number;

}

const computePricing: ComputePricing[] = [

{

provider: "AWS",

instanceType: "t3.medium",

vCPUs: 2,

memory: 4,

pricePerHour: 0.0416

},

{

provider: "GCP",

instanceType: "n1-standard-2",

vCPUs: 2,

memory: 4,

pricePerHour: 0.0475

}

];

`

$1

Storage Type	AWS (per GB/month)	GCP (per GB/month)
Standard	$0.023	$0.020
Infrequent Access	$0.0125	$0.010
Archive	$0.004	$0.004

$1

$1

`typescript

// AWS IAM Policy

const awsPolicy = {

Version: "2012-10-17",

Statement: [

{

Effect: "Allow",

Action: [

"s3:GetObject",

"s3:PutObject"

],

Resource: "arn:aws:s3:::my-bucket/*"

}

]

};

// GCP IAM Policy

const gcpPolicy = {

bindings: [

{

role: "roles/storage.objectViewer",

members: [

"user:jane@example.com"

]

}

]

};

`

$1

Feature	AWS	GCP
Identity	IAM	Cloud IAM
Network Security	Security Groups	Firewall Rules
Key Management	KMS	Cloud KMS

$1

$1

1. Lift and Shift

`yaml

# AWS CloudFormation

Resources:

MigrationInstance:

Type: 'AWS::EC2::Instance'

Properties:

InstanceType: m5.large

ImageId: ami-migration-tools

# GCP Deployment Manager

resources:

- name: migration-instance

type: compute.v1.instance

properties:

machineType: n1-standard-2

metadata:

items:

- key: startup-script

value: |

#!/bin/bash

# Install migration tools

apt-get update

apt-get install -y cloud-migrate

`

2. Re-platforming

`yaml

# AWS Elastic Beanstalk

Resources:

Application:

Type: 'AWS::ElasticBeanstalk::Application'

Properties:

Description: Migration application

# GCP App Engine

runtime: python39

env: standard

instance_class: F2

automatic_scaling:

target_cpu_utilization: 0.65

min_instances: 1

max_instances: 10

``

$1

$1

Pattern	AWS Implementation	GCP Implementation
Microservices	ECS/EKS + API Gateway	GKE + Cloud Run
Serverless	Lambda + DynamoDB	Cloud Functions + Firestore
Data Lake	S3 + Athena	Cloud Storage + BigQuery

$1

$1

Use Case	Recommended Platform	Reason
Enterprise	AWS	Mature ecosystem
ML/AI	GCP	Advanced AI capabilities
Hybrid Cloud	GCP	Anthos platform

$1

1. [AWS Documentation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/)

2. [GCP Documentation](https://cloud.google.com/docs)

3. [AWS Pricing Calculator](https://calculator.aws/)

4. [GCP Pricing Calculator](https://cloud.google.com/products/calculator)

5. [Cloud Migration Guide](https://cloud.google.com/solutions/migration-center)

6. [AWS vs GCP Services](https://cloud.google.com/docs/compare/aws)

$1

[GCP Vertex AI](/posts/gcp/vertex-ai) - ML capabilities

[GCP Cloud Run Jobs](/posts/gcp/cloud-run-jobs) - Serverless

[GCP Cost Optimization](/posts/gcp/cost-optimization) - Pricing

[GCP Serverless](/posts/gcp/serverless) - Architecture