AWS EC2 P5 vs Google Cloud A3
Google Cloud A3 is cheaper across every workload modelled here.
List prices checked
Rate cards side by side
Only the axes at least one of them bills on. A dash means that provider does not charge for it.
| Billing axis | AWS EC2 P5 | Google Cloud A3 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | No | No | — |
Source: Amazon Web Services pricing (May 2026) · Google pricing (May 2026). Published list prices only — committed-use discounts, regional variation, and per-request charges are not included. Not yet independently re-checked against the vendor’s page.
Monthly cost for three real workloads
The rate cards applied to identical usage. This is where the winner changes.
| Workload | AWS EC2 P5 | Google Cloud A3 | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side projectA personal site or small app with modest traffic, a few gigabytes of assets, and one small always-on process. | $5,526 | $5,095 | Google Cloud A3saves $431/mo (8%) |
| Growing SaaSA funded product serving a few thousand daily users, with an image-heavy frontend and two application servers. | $11,052 | $10,191 | Google Cloud A3saves $861/mo (8%) |
| Media-heavy siteA publisher or video product where delivery dominates the bill and compute is almost an afterthought. | $5,526 | $5,095 | Google Cloud A3saves $431/mo (8%) |
Workload definitions are identical on every comparison page, so figures here can be read against any other pair in the same category.
What each one is for
AWS EC2 P5
by Amazon Web Services
Eight H100s per instance on demand, at roughly four times the specialist rate. Savings plans and capacity blocks are how this comes down; the list price is a starting point for negotiation.
Google Cloud A3
by Google
H100 instances on Compute Engine with fast interconnect, priced in line with the other hyperscalers and well above the specialists.
Common questions
- Is AWS EC2 P5 or Google Cloud A3 cheaper in 2026?
- Google Cloud A3 is cheaper in all 3 modelled workloads.
- Which has the better free tier, AWS EC2 P5 or Google Cloud A3?
- Neither publishes a free tier; both bill from the first unit of usage.
- What do these estimates not include?
- Committed-use and reserved discounts, regional price variation, per-request API charges, support plans, and minimum retention periods. All of those move real invoices, sometimes by a lot. These figures compare published list prices for the same workload, which is the comparison the rate cards alone cannot give you.