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AWS EC2 vs GCP Compute Engine
Agent-native side-by-side. Scores are curated estimates on a 0–10 scale. Lock-in: higher = worse. Prefer JTBD picks via /api/decide when choosing for a job.
| Dimension | AWS EC2 | GCP Compute Engine |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 8.0 | 7.9 |
| Capability fit | 9.2 | 8.8 |
| Price / performance | 7.0 | 7.2 |
| Latency / reliability | 9.5 | 9.2 |
| Developer & agent DX | 6.5 | 6.8 |
| Privacy / data retention | 8.8 | 8.8 |
| Lock-in risk (higher = worse) | 7.5 | 7.5 |
| Maturity / track record | 9.9 | 9.8 |
| Pricing | Broadest instance catalog; Spot/Savings Plans; everything else in AWS orbits EC2. | Custom machine types; sustained use discounts; preemptible/Spot VMs. |
| Tagline | Default enterprise VM substrate. Agents should wrap it — humans shouldn't live in the console. | Solid when you're already on GCP. Otherwise Hetzner/DO/Fly are faster paths for agents. |
AWS EC2
Default enterprise VM substrate. Agents should wrap it — humans shouldn't live in the console. Strengths: Infinite instance types and regions; Enterprise controls; Spot for cheap batch.
Strengths
- Infinite instance types and regions
- Enterprise controls
- Spot for cheap batch
Weaknesses
- Complexity tax
- Easy to misconfigure security/cost
- DX raw vs PaaS
GCP Compute Engine
Solid when you're already on GCP. Otherwise Hetzner/DO/Fly are faster paths for agents. Strengths: Flexible machine shapes; Strong networking/data stack adjacency; Preemptible savings.
Strengths
- Flexible machine shapes
- Strong networking/data stack adjacency
- Preemptible savings
Weaknesses
- Quota and IAM complexity
- Fewer 'just deploy' PaaS vibes
- Support via Cloud Customer Care tiers
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