Amazon EC2 vs Google Compute Engine: General Purpose Pricing (2026)
13 tiersAWSGCP
Winner
GCP
AWS Wins
0
GCP Wins
12
Avg Diff
38.8%
General Purpose Pricing Comparison
Sort by:
| Category | AWS Amazon EC2 | GCP Google Compute Engine | Diff | Cheapest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
General Purpose - 8 vCPU, 32 GB RAM | $0.7276/hr im4gn.2xlarge ($531.13/mo) | $0.3080/hr t2a-standard-8 ($224.84/mo) | +57.7% | GCP |
General Purpose - 16 vCPU, 64 GB RAM | $1.4552/hr im4gn.4xlarge ($1,062.27/mo) | $0.6160/hr t2a-standard-16 ($449.68/mo) | +57.7% | GCP |
General Purpose - 2 vCPU, 8 GB RAM | $0.1819/hr im4gn.large ($132.79/mo) | $0.0971/hr n2-standard-2 ($70.90/mo) | +46.6% | GCP |
General Purpose - 4 vCPU, 16 GB RAM | $0.3638/hr im4gn.xlarge ($265.57/mo) | $0.1540/hr t2a-standard-4 ($112.42/mo) | +57.7% | GCP |
General Purpose - 2 vCPU, 7.5 GB RAM | $0.1750/hr m1.large ($127.75/mo) | $0.0845/hr n2d-standard-2 ($61.68/mo) | +51.7% | GCP |
General Purpose - 1 vCPU, 3.75 GB RAM | $0.0870/hr m1.medium ($63.51/mo) | $0.0335/hr e2-medium ($24.46/mo) | +61.5% | GCP |
General Purpose - 2 vCPU, 7.5 GB RAM | $0.1330/hr m3.large ($97.09/mo) | $0.0907/hr n4-standard-2 ($66.21/mo) | +31.8% | GCP |
General Purpose - 1 vCPU, 3.75 GB RAM | $0.0670/hr m3.medium ($48.91/mo) | $0.0422/hr t2d-standard-1 ($30.84/mo) | +36.9% | GCP |
General Purpose - 2 vCPU, 8 GB RAM | $0.1000/hr m4.large ($73.00/mo) | $0.0845/hr t2d-standard-2 ($61.68/mo) | +15.5% | GCP |
General Purpose - 2 vCPU, 8 GB RAM | $0.0960/hr m5.large ($70.08/mo) | $0.0770/hr t2a-standard-2 ($56.21/mo) | +19.8% | GCP |
General Purpose - 1 vCPU, 4 GB RAM | $0.0385/hr m6g.medium ($28.11/mo) | $0.0385/hr t2a-standard-1 ($28.11/mo) | 0.0% | Tie |
General Purpose - 12 vCPU, 96 GB RAM | $1.1160/hr z1d.3xlarge ($814.68/mo) | $0.7395/hr a2-highgpu-1g ($539.82/mo) | +33.7% | GCP |
General Purpose - 24 vCPU, 192 GB RAM | $2.2320/hr z1d.6xlarge ($1,629.36/mo) | $1.4790/hr a2-highgpu-2g ($1,079.64/mo) | +33.7% | GCP |
FAQ
Which provider is cheaper for General Purpose instances, Amazon EC2 or Google Compute Engine?
GCP is cheaper for General Purpose instances, winning 12 of 13 comparisons with an average price difference of 38.8%.
How many General Purpose instance types are compared?
We compare 13 General Purpose instance tiers between Amazon EC2 and Google Compute Engine, covering configurations from entry-level to high-performance.
What are General Purpose instances used for?
General Purpose instances provide a balance of compute, memory, and networking. Ideal for web servers, small databases, and development environments.
Other Instance Families
Full Comparison
Amazon EC2 vs Google Compute Engine
View all 49 tiers across all instance families