AWS Lambda vs Google App Engine

AWS Lambda9.4Visit Google App Engine9.1Visit

Higher score AWS Lambda #1 in Serverless Hosting 9.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 1 of 2 features Visit AWS Lambda

vs

Google App Engine #4 in Serverless Hosting 9.1/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 2 features Visit Google Cloud

• AWS Lambda fits best

  Teams needing broad, mature serverless functions

• Google App Engine fits best

  Managed apps needing networking and database connections

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Side by side

Feature	AWS Lambda 9.4/10 Visit ↗	Google App Engine 9.1/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	9.1
Ranking	#1 in Serverless Hosting	#4 in Serverless Hosting
Best for	Teams needing broad, mature serverless functions	Managed apps needing networking and database connections
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free plan + paid
Starting price	$0.20/unit usage-based	—
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Integrations	9 integrations	10 integrations
Features AWS Lambda 1/2 · Google App Engine 0/2
Custom domains	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Preview deployments	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Specs
Execution model	Request_based	Not checked yet
Max execution time	900 sec	Not checked yet
Deployment methods	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Runtime languages	Node.js, Python, Java, C# (.NET), Ruby, Go, custom runtimes, and container images	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Scales automatically from zero to peak demand. Supports managed and custom runtimes, ZIP packages, and container images. Connects with AWS services and supports durable multi-step functions.	Standard environment includes a free daily usage tier. Choose automatic, basic, or manual scaling in the standard environment. Connect to Cloud SQL, Firestore, and private networking services.
Cons	Execution duration and other AWS services can add charges. Custom domains require API Gateway rather than Lambda function URLs. Maximum execution time is 900 seconds.	Flexible environment has no free tier. Usage-based hourly pricing can vary with resource consumption. Flexible deployments use virtual machines rather than the standard environment.
Our verdict	AWS Lambda runs functions and applications without requiring teams to provision servers. It is aimed at teams building event-driven workloads, HTTP endpoints, and real-time data processing, especially those working with AWS services. The… Read the review →	Google App Engine is a managed platform for deploying web applications and services without managing servers. It supports web and API workloads, with standard and flexible environments, multiple programming languages, and custom runtimes.… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• AWS Lambda — where it wins

  • Scales automatically from zero to peak demand.
  • Supports managed and custom runtimes, ZIP packages, and container images.
  • Connects with AWS services and supports durable multi-step functions.

  Where it doesn't

  • Execution duration and other AWS services can add charges.
  • Custom domains require API Gateway rather than Lambda function URLs.
  • Maximum execution time is 900 seconds.

• Google App Engine — where it wins

  • Standard environment includes a free daily usage tier.
  • Choose automatic, basic, or manual scaling in the standard environment.
  • Connect to Cloud SQL, Firestore, and private networking services.

  Where it doesn't

  • Flexible environment has no free tier.
  • Usage-based hourly pricing can vary with resource consumption.
  • Flexible deployments use virtual machines rather than the standard environment.

• AWS Lambda9.4/10 · Free plan

  A mature, broad serverless compute service with usage-based pricing and AWS integrations.

  Visit AWS LambdaFull verdict →
• Google App Engine9.1/10 · Free plan

  A managed hosting platform with autoscaling, networking, and Google Cloud service connections.

  Visit Google CloudFull verdict →