Google Cloud Run vs AWS Lightsail

Head-to-head, indicative as of Oct 2026. Prices change — always confirm on the vendor page.

Verdict

Quick read: pick Google Cloud Run if your workload is any container without rewrite; gpu jobs available and its pricing model fits your traffic shape; pick AWS Lightsail if you need simple sites that still want the aws backbone. For anything latency-sensitive at the edge, cold start row is the tiebreaker.

Side by side

Google Cloud RunAWS Lightsail
TypeContainer-as-a-Service (serverless)Simplified VPS
Free tier2M requests/month3 months free on first instances
Paid pricing (indicative)~$0.40 per vCPU-hr + memory, scale to zeroFlat from ~$5/mo (1GB)
Egress~$0.12/GB (billed)1-5TB included by plan
Cold start~1-5s cold, ~0 warmN/A (always-on)
Regions40+ regionsMajor AWS regions
Best forAny container without rewrite; GPU jobs availableSimple sites that still want the AWS backbone

Where to start

Try Google Cloud Run Try AWS Lightsail

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