My co-founder Danny and I build the first version of Google Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL. If you have ever wondered what the heck cloudsqlsuperuser is, that was Danny's legacy:) While I make PostgreSQL buildgreat again in Blaze (Google's internal build system), which is the hardest job I ever did at Google after the interview. Occasionally, we get asked about AlloyDB for PostgreSQL and whether it's worthwhile to migrate from Cloud SQL. Below I collect some pricing notes.
AlloyDB is Google Cloud's fully managed PostgreSQL—compatible database service. It's positioned as the upgrade version of Google Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL.
For customers using Google Cloud SQL or coming from other similar products such as AWS Aurora, the very first task is to understand the AlloyDB pricing.
Summary
Different tiers in us-east1 according to Google Cloud pricing calculator:
| Tier | Spec | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Low-end | Cloud SQL Enterprise, 1c3.75G, 100 GB storage, HA | $130 |
| Middle-end | Cloud SQL Enterprise, 2c16G, 100 GB storage, HA | $315 |
| Middle-end | Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus, 2c16g, 100 GB storage, HA, Data Cache | $521 |
| Middle-end | AlloyDB, 2c16g, 100 GB storage, HA | $546 |
| High-end | Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus, 96c768g, 1000 GB storage, HA, Data Cache | $19,966 |
| High-end | AlloyDB, 96c768g, 1000 GB storage, HA | $24,977 |
AlloyDB pricing is as predictable as Cloud SQL. It's charged by computing (vCPU/memory), storage and networking respectively. It adds a markup over Cloud SQL for the enhanced performance.
AlloyDB doesn't have budgeting option. On the other hand, when the business demands a more powerful database, AlloyDB pricing is competitive. The markup over Cloud SQL is insignificant compared to the added benefits.
Unlike AWS Aurora, AlloyDB does not provide less-predictable, more-granular request-based pricing (e.g. $xx per million requests).
Now let's check the pricing details between AlloyDB and Cloud SQL.
vCPU and Memory
| USD per month (us-east1) | AlloyDB | Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus | Cloud SQL Enterprise | GCE N2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per vCPU | $54.5091 | $39.201 | $30.149 | $23.07603 |
| Per GB memory | $9.2418 | $6.643 | $5.11 | $3.09301 |
- Both AlloyDB and Cloud SQL have the same committed use discounts. 1-year commitment with 75% of the normal price, 3-year commitment with 48% of the normal price.
- AlloyDB has a 39% markup over Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus, Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus has a 30% markup over Cloud SQL Enterprise.
- Cloud SQL Enterprise has 30% markup for vCPU and 65% markup for memory over the underlying GCE N2 instance type.
- HA mode costs 2x for both products.
Storage
AlloyDB log-based architecture contains transaction log as part of the backup.
| USD per month (us-east1) | AlloyDB | Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus | Cloud SQL Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per GB data | $0.338939 | $0.17 SSD, $0.09 HDD (2x for HA) | Same as Plus |
| Per GB backup | $0.113004 | $0.08 | Same as Plus |
| Per GB transaction log | $0.113004 (first 7 days free) | N/A | N/A |
Networking
Networking is always consumption based, which is inherently less predictable for both AlloyDB and Cloud SQL.
Customers should pay more attention to AlloyDB because they are more likely to use cross-region replication. Cloud SQL supports cross-region replication as well, however, it's not as performant as AlloyDB, which discourages usage at all.
Networking price diverges. I personally don't see a reason why GCP couldn't unify this between AlloyDB and Cloud SQL.
Ingress
Free for both AlloyDB and Cloud SQL.
Egress (Same Region)
Free for both AlloyDB and Cloud SQL.
Egress (Cross Region between Google Products)
AlloyDB provides more granular pricing among different regions.
| Northern America | Europe | Asia | Indonesia & Oceania | Middle East | Latin America | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern America | $0.02/GB | $0.05/GB | $0.08/GB | $0.10/GB | $0.11/GB | $0.14/GB |
| Europe | $0.05/GB | $0.02/GB | $0.08/GB | $0.10/GB | $0.11/GB | $0.14/GB |
| Asia | $0.08/GB | $0.08/GB | $0.08/GB | $0.10/GB | $0.11/GB | $0.14/GB |
| Indonesia & Oceania | $0.10/GB | $0.10/GB | $0.10/GB | $0.10/GB | $0.11/GB | $0.14/GB |
| Middle East | $0.11/GB | $0.11/GB | $0.11/GB | $0.08/GB | $0.11/GB | $0.14/GB |
| Latin America | $0.14/GB | $0.14/GB | $0.14/GB | $0.14/GB | $0.14/GB | $0.14/GB |
Cloud SQL:
- Free if it's intra-continental from Cloud SQL to Google Products other than Compute Engine or cross-region Cloud SQL replicas.
- $0.12/GB otherwise.
Egress (To internet outside of Google)
AlloyDB provides more granular pricing among different regions.
| Outbound traffic source and destination pairs | Monthly Usage 0-1 TB | 1-10 TB | 10+ TB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Within North America, Europe, or Asia | $0.12 | $0.11 | $0.08 |
| Between Asia, Europe and North America | $0.12 | $0.11 | $0.085 |
| Within Africa; Between Africa and North America, Europe or Asia | $0.13 | $0.12 | $0.085 |
| Within Middle East; Between Middle East and Africa | $0.13 | $0.12 | $0.09 |
| Within Indonesia or Oceania; Between Indonesia and Oceania; Between Middle East and North America, Europe or Asia | $0.15 | $0.14 | $0.11 |
| Between Middle East or Africa and Indonesia, Oceania or Latin America | $0.18 | $0.17 | $0.14 |
| Within Latin America; Between Indonesia, Oceania or Latin America and North America, Europe, or Asia; Between Latin America and Indonesia or Oceania | $0.19 | $0.18 | $0.15 |
Cloud SQL:
- $0.05/GB for Cloud Interconnect. AlloyDB hasn't supported this.
- $0.19/GB otherwise.
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