10 Methods of Reducing Cloud Costs on Google Cloud

Through effective cloud cost management, cloud optimization, and cloud cost analysis, businesses can significantly reduce their cloud spend.

This article explores five methods to effectively reduce cloud waste and optimize cloud spend on Google Cloud.

1. Utilize Google Cloud’s Cost Management Tools

Google Cloud provides a range of cost management tools designed to help you analyze and control your cloud costs. These tools include the Google Cloud Console, Cloud Billing reports, and BigQuery, which allow for extensive cloud cost analysis. By using these tools effectively, you can gain valuable insights into your cloud usage patterns, identify inefficiencies, and take steps to reduce unnecessary spending.

For more information, see our Guide to Google Cloud’s Cost Management Tools

2. Leverage the Google Cloud Free Tier

Google Cloud offers a generous free tier, which includes access to many services at no charge up to certain usage limits. If your usage is low, or you’re developing and testing new applications, the free tier can help to reduce costs.

3. Implement Instance Scheduling

For workloads that do not need to run 24/7, instance scheduling can be a great way to save costs. By turning off instances during periods of low demand (like nights or weekends), you can avoid paying for unnecessary compute time.

4. Opt for Committed Use Contracts

If you have predictable, steady-state workloads, opting for Google Cloud’s Committed Use Contracts can lead to significant cost reductions. By committing to using certain resources for a period of one or three years, you can get discounts that can substantially reduce your cloud spend.

For more information, see our Google Cloud’s Committed Use Contracts

5. Use Preemptible VMs for Non-Critical Workloads

Preemptible VMs are Google Cloud’s short-lived compute instances that offer a lower cost than standard instances. If you have non-critical, fault-tolerant workloads, or batch jobs that can be interrupted, using preemptible VMs can provide significant cost savings.

6. Take Advantage of Google’s Sustained Use Discounts

Google Cloud automatically provides Sustained Use Discounts when you use specific resources for a significant portion of the billing month. This means the longer you run your instances, the more you can save. By planning your workloads effectively, you can take full advantage of these automatic discounts.

7. Leverage Cloud Functions for Event-Driven Workloads

Google Cloud Functions is a serverless execution environment for building and connecting cloud services. With Cloud Functions, you can write single-purpose functions that respond to cloud events without needing to manage a server or a runtime environment. This can reduce costs as you only pay for the compute time you consume, and there is no charge when your code is not running.

8. Use Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) Autopilot

GKE Autopilot is a new mode of operation in Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) that is designed to reduce the operational cost of managing clusters, optimize your cluster resources, and provide you with the best security and compliance. By leveraging GKE Autopilot for deploying containerized applications, you can efficiently manage resources and reduce costs.

9. Implement Budget Alerts

One of the effective ways to manage your cloud cost is to keep a close watch on your spending. Google Cloud allows you to set custom budget thresholds and send alerts via email or Pub/Sub notifications when your spending exceeds the set limit. This can help you monitor your cloud costs closely, identify any unexpected increases in usage, and take immediate action to prevent overspending.

10. Utilize Custom Machine Types

With Google Cloud’s Custom Machine Types, you can create an instance with the exact amount of CPU and memory you need. This allows you to pay for precisely what you require, reducing waste and potentially saving costs compared to using predefined machine types with excess capacity.

Bonus: Use Cloud Storage Classes Effectively

Google Cloud Storage offers different storage classes aimed at different use cases: Standard, Nearline, Coldline, and Archive. By moving infrequently accessed data to one of the cheaper, lower-access tiers, you can make significant savings while still keeping your data accessible when needed.

Managing cloud costs effectively requires a comprehensive and proactive approach. By making full use of Google Cloud’s cost management tools and features, and continually monitoring and optimizing your usage, you can ensure that you’re getting the maximum value for your cloud spend.