AWS Amplify vs Google App Engine (2026): Pricing, Features & Verdict
AWS Amplify is our pick, scoring 7.2/10 against 7.1/10 for Google App Engine on our Hosting & Infrastructure criteria. Its biggest advantage: higher Customization score (7/10 vs 5/10). For 10 users, AWS Amplify and Google App Engine are both free; both AWS Amplify and Google App Engine have a free plan.
Last updated: November 2026
A
AWS Amplify
7.2/10
AWS Amplify is a pay-as-you-go platform from Amazon Web Services for hosting web apps from Git and building full-stack backends on AWS.
G
Google App Engine
7.1/10
Google App Engine is a fully managed platform for deploying web apps and APIs on Google Cloud, with automatic scaling and no server management.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | A AWS Amplify | G Google App Engine |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 7.2/10 | 7.1/10 |
| Integration | 9/10 | 8/10 |
| Support | 5/10 | 5/10 |
| Cost | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 5/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Reliability | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Analytics | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 9/10 | 9/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | Contact for pricing |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Free Tier | Free Standard environment free quota |
| Features | ||
| API and CLI | ||
| Free SSL Certificates | ||
| Managed Databases | ||
| Multiple Regions | ||
| Serverless Functions | ||
| Content Delivery Network | Not listed | |
| Dedicated Servers | Not listed | |
| Git Deployments | Not listed | |
| Managed WordPress | Not listed | |
| Object Storage | Not listed | |
| Shared Hosting | Not listed | |
| Uptime SLA | Not listed | |
AWS Amplify vs Google App Engine cost by team size
AWS Amplify and Google App Engine cost the same at every team size we checked.
| Team size | AWS Amplify | Google App Engine |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeFree Tier | FreeStandard environment free quota |
| 5 users | FreeFree Tier | FreeStandard environment free quota |
| 10 users | FreeFree Tier | FreeStandard environment free quota |
| 25 users | FreeFree Tier | FreeStandard environment free quota |
| 50 users | FreeFree Tier | FreeStandard environment free quota |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Who AWS Amplify and Google App Engine suit
| Audience | AWS Amplify | Google App Engine |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | 7/10Compliance programs including SOC, PCI, ISO and HIPAA, WAF integration and IAM controls suit organisations standardised on AWS. | 6/10It offers IAM and Identity-Aware Proxy, but reviewers raise concerns about lock-in and slow support. |
| Startups | 7/10No seat fees and a 12-month free tier help early teams, but reports of surprise charges call for watching billing closely. | 8/10The daily free F1 quota and scale-to-zero billing keep costs low for small apps, and reviewers call it a good fit for startups. |
| Developers | 8/10Built for front-end and full-stack developers, with a TypeScript backend, framework libraries and Git-based CI/CD, though it takes AWS knowledge. | 8/10Developers push code and Google handles scaling, patching, and load balancing. |
| SaaS Companies | 7/10Wildcard subdomains, Cognito auth and real-time AppSync data support multi-tenant SaaS apps on AWS. | 7/10Autoscaling, traffic splitting, and close links to Google Cloud data services support customer-facing SaaS backends. |
| Small Business | 4/10Setup and IAM complexity make it harder for non-technical small teams than simpler hosts. | Not rated |
Which One Should You Choose?
AWhy choose AWS Amplify
- Higher Customization score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Integration score (9/10 vs 8/10)
GWhy choose Google App Engine
- Higher Ease of Use score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Analytics score (7/10 vs 6/10)
Pros & Cons
AAWS Amplify
Pros
- No per-seat fees: team access is free and you pay only for builds, storage, transfer and SSR usage.
- Gen 2 lets developers define Cognito auth, AppSync and DynamoDB data and Lambda functions in TypeScript, then extend them with any AWS resource through the CDK.
- Git branches map to environments, pull requests can get preview deployments, and deployments are atomic.
- AWS publishes a 99.95% monthly uptime SLA with tiered service credits.
- Amplify is in scope for SOC, PCI, ISO, HIPAA, HITRUST and other AWS compliance programs, and integrates with AWS WAF.
Cons
- Reviewers on G2 and Capterra say the learning curve is steep and debugging complex apps is hard.
- Comparison articles say IAM setup and configuration are much heavier than on Vercel or Netlify.
- Next.js support has documented gaps: no on-demand ISR, no Edge API routes, a 5.72 MB response size cap and a 220 MB build output limit for SSR apps.
- Bills spread across many AWS services are hard to predict, and some users report unexpected charges from resources left running.
- Some reviewers find Gen 2 restrictive when an app strays from its expected path, and the Gen 1 versus Gen 2 split confuses them.
GGoogle App Engine
Pros
- The standard environment scales to zero and includes 28 free F1 instance hours a day, so low-traffic apps can run very cheaply.
- Built-in versioning and traffic splitting make canary releases, A/B tests, and rollbacks simple to run.
- Reviewers value that there is no infrastructure to manage, since Google handles load balancing and security patches.
- Native links to Cloud SQL, Firestore, Cloud Storage, and Pub/Sub.
- The flexible environment runs any language in Docker containers and allows requests up to 60 minutes.
Cons
- The standard sandbox does not allow WebSockets, background processes, or SSH.
- The flexible environment cannot scale to zero and has no free tier.
- Reviewers say pricing is hard to forecast and some were surprised by cost changes.
- Code written for App Engine is hard to move to other clouds.
- Some reviewers report slow support for critical issues, especially in some regions.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
AWS Amplify scores higher on our Hosting & Infrastructure criteria: 7.2/10 against 7.1/10 for Google App Engine. The largest gap is in Customization: 7/10 for AWS Amplify and 5/10 for Google App Engine.
Both are free for 10 users.
Yes, both AWS Amplify and Google App Engine have a free plan.
