In the past, Google Compute Engine (GCE) was only available by invitation, but now any Google Cloud Platform Gold Support customer can use the service. An infrastructure as a service offering, GCE competes with Amazon’s well-known EC2. Until now, Google has been better known for its App Engine cloud development platform.
In addition to opening up GCE to more customers, Google has also dropped prices by 4 percent across the board. In addition, it added several new features.
Shortly after Google made its announcement, Amazon announced it was also lowering its cloud computing prices.