What is the Always Free tier and what products does it cover?
The Always Free tier is a valuable offering provided by Google Cloud Platform (GCP) that allows users to explore and experiment with various GCP products at no cost. It is designed to give developers and organizations an opportunity to experience the benefits of the cloud without incurring any charges. The Always Free tier covers a range of products and services, enabling users to build and deploy applications, store and analyze data, and utilize other essential cloud functionalities.
Under the Always Free tier, GCP offers a set of free resources that are available to users on an ongoing basis. These resources include:
1. Compute Engine: Users can run virtual machines (VMs) in the cloud with the usage of one f1-micro instance per month in the US regions, excluding Northern Virginia. Additionally, users receive a certain amount of regional outbound network traffic per month.
2. App Engine: Users can deploy applications on a fully managed serverless platform. The Always Free tier provides 28 instance hours per day, 5 GB of Cloud Storage, and 1 GB of outbound network traffic per day.
3. Cloud Functions: Users can run event-driven code in a serverless environment. With the Always Free tier, users receive 2 million invocations, 400,000 GB-seconds, and 200,000 GHz-seconds of compute time per month.
4. Cloud Storage: Users can store and access data in the cloud. The Always Free tier includes 5 GB of regional storage, 1 GB of regional Class B operations, and 1 GB of outbound network traffic per month.
5. Cloud Pub/Sub: Users can build scalable messaging systems. The Always Free tier provides 10 GB of messages per month and 1 GB of message delivery.
6. Cloud Firestore: Users can store and sync data in real-time for client-server and mobile applications. The Always Free tier includes 1 GB of stored data, 50,000 reads, 20,000 writes, and 20,000 deletes per day.
7. Cloud Functions for Firebase: Users can extend Firebase applications with serverless functions. The Always Free tier offers 125,000 invocations, 40,000 GB-seconds, and 40,000 GHz-seconds of compute time per month.
8. Cloud Monitoring: Users can gain insights into the performance and availability of their applications. The Always Free tier provides 10 free uptime checks per month and 1 free month of metric data retention.
9. Cloud Run: Users can deploy and manage containerized applications. The Always Free tier includes 2 million requests and 360,000 GB-seconds of compute time per month.
10. Cloud Build: Users can build, test, and deploy applications on GCP. The Always Free tier offers 120 build minutes per day.
These are just some of the products and services covered by the Always Free tier. It is important to note that while the usage of these resources is free, there may be additional charges for certain operations, such as egress network traffic beyond the allocated limits.
The Always Free tier provided by Google Cloud Platform offers users an excellent opportunity to explore and utilize a wide range of cloud services without incurring any costs. By providing access to essential GCP products, it enables developers and organizations to experiment, learn, and innovate in the cloud environment.
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