We use it for our database applications.
IT Infrastructure Manager at Linuxfault
Handles the management, which allows us to concentrate on our applications.
Pros and Cons
- "What I like the most about Google Cloud SQL is that it handles the management, which allows us to concentrate on our applications."
- "The only thing that could be better is the pricing."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
What I like the most about Google Cloud SQL is that it handles the management, which allows us to concentrate on our applications.
What needs improvement?
We have not had any major issues with the solution. The only thing that could be better is the pricing. The best features of the solution are too expensive for our company's budget. Additionally, adding AI integration to Google Cloud SQL would be valuable, especially for security like fraud detection and monitoring login activities in the database. These features could boost data security.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Google Cloud SQL for a year.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Google Cloud SQL is scalable and user-friendly for scaling, thanks to its menu options and graphical interface. It is suitable for medium-sized businesses.
How are customer service and support?
I have not had any reason to contact technical support so far.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used Alibaba Cloud for SQL two years ago. We moved from Alibaba Cloud to Google Cloud SQL for better technology support. Hosting OpenShift was difficult on Alibaba, so we switched to Google Cloud.
How was the initial setup?
It is very easy to install because it is only using the graphical user interface. The deployment only takes a few minutes. Maintenance is required mostly on the backup file, not the SQL instance itself.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
When it comes to pricing and licensing for Google Cloud SQL we obtain licenses separately from third-party vendors for our application, while our database uses community-source licensing. The solution is paid for on a monthly basis.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to people who are considering using Google Cloud SQl is to consider your budget and performance needs when picking Google Cloud services. If you have a big budget and need high performance, go for Google Cloud SQL. But if you're a small company with budget constraints, use VM instances with databases inside to save money. Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Technical Architect at HCL Technologies
Issue-free, easy to maintain, and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "It supports different databases, like Postgres and MySQL."
- "The monitoring part could be better."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case is for lift and shift migrations. For example, from on-prem MySQL to the cloud.
What is most valuable?
It supports different databases, like Postgres and MySQL. It allows you even to migrate data from one DB to another one, for example, from MySQL to Postgres, et cetera.
The solution is stable and reliable.
It's a scalable product.
The solution has been issue-free.
What needs improvement?
We haven't had any issues and have not come across missing features.
The monitoring part could be better. People who are not very, very technical and who may be more on the business side, find that it can be a little difficult to understand the metrics. That probably can be simplified.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've only used the solution for four or five months. It hasn't been that long just yet. It's been much less than a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's quite stable. It's reliable. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze. The performance is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We can easily scale the product as needed. It's not a problem.
We have eight to ten users at this time.
We don't have any plans to scale at this time, however, it may be something we consider in the future.
How are customer service and support?
We've had no issues so far. We have not required technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used Postgres. Managing the DBs was a little tedious, so we migrated them to Cloud SQL.
How was the initial setup?
There is no setup process per se. It's on the cloud and therefore there is nothing to upload or download.
We do have a technical team involved in the product, however, we don't have to worry about deployment or maintenance tasks.
What about the implementation team?
We have not needed any outside assistance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The is no license required.
What other advice do I have?
As a cloud product, we're always on the latest version of the solution. it self-updates.
I'd recommend the solution. It is well suited for this lift and shift migration, especially if you are accessing everything within your VM. They have a Cloud SQL proxy and those things. It's easier to maintain and you don't really have to worry about the operation side of it.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Google Cloud SQL
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Google Cloud SQL. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Director at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
Scalable and cost effective solution for data analysis
Pros and Cons
- "Its most valuable feature is that it's scalable. I can start off with a base of a lot of data and move as much as I want and it's the same as if asked to do a lot of infrastructure changes."
- "Google Cloud SQL still needs better connectivity to outside, existing data sources."
What is our primary use case?
I primarily use it for marketing data and marketing analytics.
How has it helped my organization?
This version of Cloud SQL becomes a part of our larger data warehouse, which is just a part that the SQL manages. I work on the visualization part. So I usually already have all my data coming into my dashboard and that's where I get my insights from. I don't dig it out from the SQL.
What is most valuable?
Its most valuable feature is that it's scalable. I can start off with a base of a lot of data and move as much as I want and it's the same as if asked to do a lot of infrastructure changes. I can start a release model experiment on a thousand people, and if that experiment is a success I can run it on a million people, and the whole analysis doesn't require any changes so it's scalable that way. It's much more cost-sensitive. It's not that costly for me to do it.
What needs improvement?
The only room for improvement here is that they need to connect to more existing data sources so that it becomes easier for a layman to get a more realistic understanding of what's happening. They don't put data outside of the cloud storage. If I can query and there is some way for me to ingest it with various query cells, that would be great.
Better connectivity with other marketing tools would be helpful. Right now it's limited in scope relative to the other connectors. So they should build more connectors, making it easier to connect the data.
There's no standalone application that I could just click and start shooting it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Google Cloud SQL for the last two months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In terms of stability, Google Cloud SQL is very stable. There are stability issues but they get fixed when I'm running it for the smaller experiments or the smallest subset. So whatever code outlier situations exist, we are able to understand that it's a smaller subset and when we scale it back it is not really an issue.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
As I mentioned above in the features section, Google Cloud SQL's scalability is one of its best features.
How are customer service and technical support?
We get very good support from Google. If we have any questions at all we talk to them and they work it out. So it's very good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used a different solution for our marketing database, but it was very limited in scope. Moving forward, Google Cloud SQL is the only data warehouse I will ever use.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. Our deployment took around two months.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented it ourselves. We are a consultancy company, so I asked my engineer to build it for us.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The advice I would give before starting up is to have a small interactive introductory session with some domain experts because even though it looks quite similar to MySQL and all the other SQL solutions out there, Google Cloud SQL lets me do a lot more. And it offers a lot of perks if you know how exactly to handle the product. So even if it is with a small, introductory session of two hours or three hours long, where the experts tell me that, "Hey, this is the whole scope of this solution or the product but it will be scaled up," it will help the end-users a lot because the documentation itself is not that extensive.
What other advice do I have?
We have 11 - 12 people working with it - all marketing people.
On a scale from 1 to 10, 1 is the lowest and 10 the highest, I'd give it an 8.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Google
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Cloud Data Engineer at Programmads
Easy to use, efficient, simple, and user-friendly
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are that it's easy to use, simple, and user-friendly."
- "I would like to see better integration with all the different tools on the platform."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case of this solution is to have it run as a database for an application and to store data. We are using the public deployment model of this solution. It runs really well, it's cheap, it's efficient, it's user-friendly,
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are that it's easy to use, simple, and user-friendly.
What needs improvement?
Better integration with other tools could improve this solution. For example, data analytics is very important, so that's why I go to BigQuery. They should make things more user-friendly, not technically on the use of SQL but when it comes to integrating it with other tools, it could be like dashboards or business intelligence. I believe Google is already working on that as well because they bought Looker about a month ago. I would like to see better integration with all the different tools on the platform.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's very stable, we haven't had any issues at all.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It does have good scalability. We haven't had any problems with that.
We have ten users using this solution. Those users are clients who we provide services for. We do have plans to increase usage.
In terms of how many staff are required for the maintenance of this solution, in our team, we are eight. We do many things. Our focus now is on BigQuery, so data warehousing.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have previously worked with Microsoft and Amazon AWS. I switched because I just like Google. I think it's a great platform.
The two main competitors are Microsoft and Amazon Web Services. Out of these three, Google is the smallest when it comes to cloud in general, but I am pretty happy with how things are moving. I've been using Google for many years now and the services and it runs very well. I also use G Suite, Google Docs, you name it. It all works really well. It's user-friendly, to the point, it's not complicated. Whereas with Microsoft and some Amazon services can get quite complicated.
Although, maybe some of their services are more expanded, and maybe you can do some more. From a technical point, they are more advanced sometimes. You could say that for Amazon. My experience is that if a tool is easy to use and you get the job done in the fastest way possible, that tool has a great chance of becoming the leader because it's about user-friendliness. With Google, you get the job done and that's why you use these companies.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. It took around ten minutes.
What about the implementation team?
I deployed this solution myself.
What was our ROI?
We have seen an ROI from this solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's really cheap. It wouldn't be more than, I believe it's around 50 euro per month for running a cloud SQL.
There aren't any additional costs that I'm aware of.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I used Microsoft and Amazon and I also looked at Oracle, which is also an extraordinary company. When it comes to databases Oracle is very good. The problem with Oracle is that they're a bit of a world of their own. Whereas with Google, they're pretty open-source and open-minded, so they embrace the multi-cloud and hybrid cloud. That's what makes Google attractive.
What other advice do I have?
Go for this solution because it gets the job done and it's cheap. You're up and running fast. That's what you want.
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. Not a perfect ten because nothing is perfect.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
SCRUM Master at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Fast with easy backup capabilities and a low learning curve
Pros and Cons
- "It's SQL. SQL is so easy if you know something about databases. It's easy to learn."
- "In the case of Google, they need to work on a more easy interface for users."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution due to the fact that our server instance, the data center instance, is in GCP.
What is most valuable?
The speed is very good.
It's useful in terms of the simplicity of doing backups.
You can have redundant databases for reports, for posts, for example.
It's SQL. SQL is so easy if you know something about databases. It's easy to learn.
I like the cloud aspect.
The pricing of the solution seems reasonable.
The solution is stable.
Google seems to be working on a data lake solution, and we are happy with that.
What needs improvement?
Other clouds, like Azure, have some specific products, and Google doesn't have something like that. For example, if you work in Google, you can use Dialogflow to make a chatbot. However, the Azure methodology or system is more powerful for those chatbots.
In the case of Google, they need to work on a more easy interface for users.
Azure is easier to learn. I don't know why. I like the Azure system, even though I'm a user of Google. I don't like it when on the screen you can't follow the steps clearly. The user interface just isn't as intuitive. When it comes to Google Cloud, in order to do something, you need to read more maybe. It requires more research and learning.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for two to three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable, however, maybe they need support for more databases. I remember some problems with the PostgreSQL integration with BigQuery or something like that. I don't remember now, however, from what I recall, we needed more support for other databases in GCP SQL.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have maybe 200 people using the solution right now in our organization.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We also use PostgreSQL in GCP and BigQuery too for extract information from Jira.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing is charged yearly, however, I don't manage the cost of the cloud in my company. I only work with Atlassian products. We are users of GCP for our instance. When I work with data in Google Cloud, our data people say the cost is not a problem. I can make a dump of databases daily and store extractions in buckets, for example, every day, full data, all days. And it's not a problem, cost-wise.
What other advice do I have?
We are a customer and an end-user.
I'd rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Consultant at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
A perfect solution with perfect support and good security, storage, stability, and scalability
Pros and Cons
- "I found its storage and security to be the most valuable. It was a good experience. It is also very stable and scalable, and its support is perfect."
- "I am yet to explore a lot of features that are present in this solution. However, it would be good if more documentation is available for this solution. This would help us in preparing for the certification exam and understand it better. Currently, we don't have much documentation. We do the labs for 20 or 25 minutes, but we can't capture and download anything."
What is our primary use case?
I am using it for database purposes. I am learning it to prepare for my certification. I have done a few big uploads, which I have removed later on.
What is most valuable?
I found its storage and security to be the most valuable. It was a good experience.
It is also very stable and scalable, and its support is perfect.
What needs improvement?
I am yet to explore a lot of features that are present in this solution. However, it would be good if more documentation is available for this solution. This would help us in preparing for the certification exam and understand it better. Currently, we don't have much documentation. We do the labs for 20 or 25 minutes, but we can't capture and download anything.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have started to use it very recently. It has been three-plus months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Based on my experience so far, it has been very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is very scalable. We can add and remove the nodes and other things. We can also add servers and other patches as per the requirement.
We have a team of seven people who are using it currently. We are preparing for our certifications. Very soon, we will get some projects in our company, and at that time, we will use it officially.
How are customer service and technical support?
They are perfect. I would rate them a 100 out of 100. Whenever I have faced an issue, I got full support from their side, irrespective of whether it was a small or big issue. They're really good people, and they helped me a lot. Their support is wonderful.
How was the initial setup?
It was easy to set up.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution. It has a lot of good features. It is easily scalable.
I would rate Google Cloud SQL a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Google
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
Chief Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Stable database management solution that offers good performance and scalability
Pros and Cons
- "This is a stable solution and offers good performance."
- "To create a seamless data integration, the title integration of these databases with the data integration platforms is essential. This is what we would like to have in a future release."
What is most valuable?
We are focusing on data pipeline creation and data migration. It involves continuous streaming of data from one place to Google Cloud to be analyzed immediately.
What needs improvement?
Knowledge graphs and data integration is very important for distribution for our business. To create a seamless data integration, the title integration of these databases with the data integration platforms is essential. This is what we would like to have in a future release.
We would also like to have artificial intelligence capabilities. We are exploring the leverage of Machine Learning Algorithms for workload prediction and AI capabilities would assist in this regard.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This is a stable solution and offers good performance.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
As this product is cloud based, it is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not that complex.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
From a financial perspective, Google Cloud SQL is on the cheaper side.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did compare it with other solutions from Amazon and Microsoft. We received a special incentive from Google. That's why we went for Google Cloud SQL.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Commercial and Operations Director at SygmaTel, BlaBla Connect, KnowMe Solutions
Easy to manage and has the ability to oversee the statistics of your SQL
Pros and Cons
- "Ease of management and the ability to oversee the statistics of your SQL."
- "Google's technical support is good, but they tend to never reopen a case and to send us snippets from the publicly available documentation. It's not as helpful as you would expect, not just for Google Cloud SQL but for all of Google Cloud products."
What is our primary use case?
GCP hosts our entire infrastructure, both internally used systems, and externally-facing ones. Back to back this means that Google Cloud SQL is used for all SQL related requirements by our systems.
How has it helped my organization?
The main benefit to our organization is the fact that we no longer need DB admins that take care of the physical servers, backups etc... All this is managed by GCP.
What is most valuable?
In terms of most valuable features - its ease of management and the ability to oversee the statistics of your SQL, and obviously its availability all the time.
What needs improvement?
In my humble opinion, nothing can be improved. It's a good solution as it is.
What could be refined however is the ability to have more than just one secondary/replication site. At the moment you can have a primary DB and a replica one, but having the option to add a third or fourth replication site would be fantastic.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using it for around 2 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Google Cloud SQL is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is highly scalable. You can quickly add the disc space and you can quickly add different discs and nodes.
Everyone in our company is using Google. Emails are Google. Everyone's using Google. All infrastructure for our operation is on Google. The more business we have the higher the usage.
How are customer service and technical support?
Google's technical support is good, but they tend to never reopen a case and to send us snippets from the publicly available documentation. It's not as helpful as you would expect, not just for Google Cloud SQL but for all of Google Cloud products.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was quite simple. It took maybe 10, 20 minutes
What other advice do I have?
On a scale of 10, I'd give it a 10.
I would recommend everyone to check all of Google's Cloud portfolio and give it a shot.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Google
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Updated: January 2025
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