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Amazon EC2 vs Google App Engine comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon EC2
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Compute Service (5th)
Google App Engine
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
PaaS Clouds (15th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Cloud Services solutions, they serve different purposes. Amazon EC2 is designed for Compute Service and holds a mindshare of 6.3%, down 6.8% compared to last year.
Google App Engine, on the other hand, focuses on PaaS Clouds, holds 2.3% mindshare, up 2.1% since last year.
Compute Service
PaaS Clouds
 

Featured Reviews

KatlegoMabila - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers customization and flexibility with great support
Scalability depends on whether the client wants to scale up or scale down. It decreases resources based on demand. The great aspect of scalability is the flexibility to allow business success to optimize resource solutions and cost efficiency. Another crucial aspect of scalability is auto-scaling. When you have the opportunity to auto-scale, it can't always be available for everything. If you have chosen to integrate with auto-scaling, it's marvellous and doesn't require additional effort. Auto-scaling gives you the edge by using the capacity you have efficiently, scaling up or down as needed. These flexibilities within the EC2 feature instances of AWS play a crucial role in helping me utilize AWS EC2 Intelligent efficiently.
OmkarPatil - PeerSpot reviewer
Simplifies app development process for businesses
The product simplifies app development processes since once the local development is completed, my company has a common configuration in place where we can specify the requirements to run an application, after which we need to do a one-click GCP deployment for the entire application. In general, the two offer managed deployment options, so we don't have to worry about deployment. In my company, we just configure the servers and check if anything needs to be containerized, after which GCP handles everything for us. A project where Google App Engine scalability was essential was when, recently, my company was involved with Golang to build a web application, after which deploying that application on Google App Engine was really easy. In my company, we also had a Django application in Python, and it was easy to deploy. As my company deals with small-scale projects, the automated scaling feature of Google App Engine is not something we thought about. I wouldn't recommend the product to others unless the potential end users use GCP and have a word with their vendors about their plans. One specific recommendation from me would be that the product's potential uses should stick with a particular vendor. If someone wants a product that is easy to deploy and scalable, then multiple options are available in the market. The product integrates very well with other Google solutions. I rate the overall solution a ten out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"We find it easy to scale."
"There's a lot of encryption across the setups to ensure that database credentials and everything related to security are well managed."
"The product helps us with scalability. We also need not have data centers."
"Amazon EC2 is really reliable and provides great flexibility."
"Stable, scalable, and simple to implement."
"The most valuable feature of Amazon EC2 is its ability to spin a new virtual machine in a few seconds."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"The scalability and elasticity are helpful."
"The solution is serverless, so we don't have to operate it."
"Its ability to integrate with most devices helps users who have different or old devices."
"It is simple to use. It is much simpler than AWS. It is also very powerful."
"The product's initial setup phase was straightforward, considering that there is good documentation explaining the implementation part of it."
"Google App Engine's most valuable feature is self-management. You do not have to manage the infrastructure underneath where all the functions are happening, such as load balancing deployment and version management, they are managed by the system itself."
"The WhatApp feature is the most valuable."
"The product's setup and deployment phases are easy."
"Seurity features - unauthorized individuals are unable to access certain applications."
 

Cons

"They can build automatic features for ENSS or network drive. They have the Control-M feature. Similarly, they should have a feature for the network drive that can be mapped. I have not seen such a feature. They have a lot of products but those are quite costly. There is no cheaper option available for the EC2 instance for syncing two drives. If these features are available, it would be good."
"Amazon EC2 is very expensive, and it would be helpful if they decreased the pricing."
"The initial setup could be easier because many keys are required for access."
"Amazon EC2 could improve the console view. The ability to see the console view directly would be helpful, similar to what VMware has. Additionally, when the system is rebooting we are able to see a screenshot of the UI, but it would be a lot better if we could interact directly with the console level."
"The only issue with EC2 is that it makes it difficult to install an LLS certificate on your WordPress website that you have deployed inside that virtual machine. That becomes complicated."
"We found Amazon EC2 to be pricey."
"The support could be more responsive."
"It is a little too expensive."
"The only concern is that there is a number of the offerings which are built on their own proprietary technologies. With some of the offerings in Google Cloud, it's difficult to have a path to migrate to other cloud providers."
"I think there's still a lot that can be done with Google Meet and the video conferencing part of it. It could be more dynamic in terms of what can be done with it."
"Difficult to assess how pricing is managed."
"I would like a simpler deployment tool on laptops. It is a bit complicated at the moment. We know how to do it, but it could be easier to deploy it on laptops."
"The support for the Indian region is not as good as compared to the support that is offered to the regions in Europe."
"Data consumption of the device could be improved."
"There needs to be more directions in terms of how to use the solution."
"The product's price is an area of concern where improvements are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing of Amazon EC2 is expensive. Microsoft Windows Servers are expensive to license."
"We are using a pay-as-you-go model."
"The price of Amazon EC2 could improve. The Google Cloud Platform is more cost-effective."
"It's expensive, and it could be cheaper."
"It is not an expensive solution."
"The solution has different pricing models, and its cost differs when you purchase it for one year or three years."
"The price can be improved."
"The tool's pricing is not cheap."
"If we don't know how to work with the tool, we might have some spikes in price."
"We pay the license yearly. It's about $6 a month, which is $72 a year per person, so it's about $500."
"I would like to have more free application with it. Some of the applications, I am paying more for them. I think that they must be free."
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Comparison Review

it_user8586 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 14, 2013
Amazon vs Rackspace vs Microsoft vs Google: Cloud Hosting Services Comparison
Amazon Web Services, Rackspace OpenStack, Microsoft Windows Azure and Google are the major cloud hosting and storage service providers. Athough Amazon is top of them and is oldest in cloud market, Rackspace, Microsoft and Google are giving tough competition to each other and to Amazon also for…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Retailer
6%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Educational Organization
16%
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon EC2?
The scalability and elasticity are helpful.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon EC2?
I'm going to mention again that there is quite a bit of complexity within the pricing of EC2 instances. I'm just going to give it six out of ten since there are various standards, upfront and commi...
What needs improvement with Amazon EC2?
There is not much to be improved or enhanced. One of the things that need to be looked into is the complex pricing, which is rather intense. Sometimes, clients don't understand the structures. Thes...
What do you like most about Google App Engine?
The product's setup and deployment phases are easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google App Engine?
If we don't know how to work with the tool, we might have some spikes in price. It will increase a lot of our bill. I rate the pricing a six out of ten.
What needs improvement with Google App Engine?
The product's price is an area of concern where improvements are required.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, EC2
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Netflix, Expedia, TimeInc., Novaris, airbnb, Lamborghini
Khan Academy, Best Buy, Gigya, MetOffice, Getaround, Mimiboard, NewsLimited, WebFilings, and CloudLock.
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