GCP egress costs too high? We compare traffic allowances, overage charges and the current invoice before quantifying savings potential. Cloud exit assessment for a full move · Free initial consultation
Price basis: Hetzner values checked on 3 August 2026, net and excluding VAT. Hyperscaler plans, regions and exchange rates can change; validate every example against current calculators and the actual invoice before making a decision.
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) has the most complex egress pricing of the three major hyperscalers. Particularly important: GCP calculates in GiB, not GB. In this article, we analyze the GCP egress pricing structure and compare it with Hetzner.
Table of Contents
- What Counts as GCP Egress?
- GCP Egress Pricing Structure
- GiB vs GB: The Hidden Cost Trap
- Hetzner Traffic Comparison
- Calculation Examples
- How to Reduce GCP Egress?
- Conclusion
What Counts as GCP Egress?
GCP distinguishes several traffic categories. Here we focus on Internet Egress:
What counts:
- Compute Engine to Internet
- Cloud Storage to Internet
- Cloud SQL to external clients
- Cloud Run to Internet
- GKE to Internet
What does NOT count (here):
- Inter-Region Traffic (separate pricing)
- Intra-Zone Traffic (free)
- Traffic to Google Services
- Cloud CDN Delivery (separate pricing)
GCP Egress Pricing Structure
In the Premium Tier, only 1 GiB/month is free – significantly less than AWS/Azure with 100 GB. The Standard Tier includes 200 GiB per month and account.
Internet Data Transfer (Premium Tier, to Europe)
| Volume per Month | Price per GiB |
|---|---|
| 0–1 GiB | Free |
| 1 GiB – 1 TiB | $0.12 |
| 1 TiB – 10 TiB | $0.11 |
| From 10 TiB | $0.085 |
Source: GCP VPC Network Pricing. Values from the default view of the pricing page, as of October 2026. Prices differ by source region; select your own region on the pricing page for a calculation.
Standard Tier (Cheaper Alternative)
GCP also offers a Standard Tier with cheaper prices but worse network performance:
| Volume per Month | Price per GiB |
|---|---|
| 0–200 GiB | Free (per account, across all regions) |
| 200 GiB – 10 TiB | $0.085 |
| 10 TiB – 150 TiB | $0.065 |
| From 150 TiB | $0.045 |
Again values from the default view; depending on the source region, prices are higher.
Disadvantage: Traffic leaves Google's network earlier, which can lead to higher latency.
Important Note: Price Change February 2024
Google adjusted Premium Tier prices as of February 1, 2024. Old calculations may be outdated.
GiB vs GB: The Hidden Cost Trap
Attention: GCP calculates in GiB (Gibibyte), not GB (Gigabyte)!
| Unit | Bytes | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | 1,000,000,000 | Base |
| 1 GiB | 1,073,741,824 | +7.37% |
What this means:
- 10 TB (decimal) = 9.31 TiB (binary)
- If you think you're transferring 10 TB, GCP charges you only ~9.31 TiB
- Sounds positive, but the prices per GiB are also higher
Effective price comparison:
- AWS: $0.09/GB = $0.09/GB
- GCP: $0.12/GiB = $0.112/GB (converted)
GCP is thus the most expensive of the three hyperscalers for egress.
Hetzner Traffic Comparison
Hetzner Cloud Server (EU)
| Volume | Price |
|---|---|
| At least 20 TB included (EU locations) | €0 |
| Each additional TB | €1.00/TB net |
The Hetzner Principle
"We calculate monthly traffic only using outgoing traffic. We do not count incoming and internal traffic." – Hetzner Docs
Calculation Examples
Scenario 1: Small Web App (500 GB/month)
| Provider | Calculation | Cost/Month |
|---|---|---|
| GCP (Premium) | 465 GiB × $0.12 | $56 |
| Hetzner | Included | €0 |
Hetzner egress line item in this example: €0
Scenario 2: E-Commerce (5 TB/month)
| Provider | Calculation | Cost/Month |
|---|---|---|
| GCP (Premium) | 1 TiB × $0.12 + 3.66 TiB × $0.11 | ~$522 |
| Hetzner | Included | €0 |
Hetzner egress line item in this example: €0
Scenario 3: SaaS Platform (25 TB/month)
| Provider | Calculation | Cost/Month |
|---|---|---|
| GCP (Premium) | 1 TiB × $0.12 + 9 TiB × $0.11 + 12.7 TiB × $0.085 | ~$2,245 |
| Hetzner | 5 TB overage × €1.00 | ~€5 |
Savings: 99.7%
Scenario 4: Video Streaming (100 TB/month)
| Provider | Calculation | Cost/Month |
|---|---|---|
| GCP (Premium) | 1 TiB × $0.12 + 9 TiB × $0.11 + 80.9 TiB × $0.085 | ~$8,180 |
| Hetzner | 80 TB overage × €1.00 | ~€80 |
Savings: 98.8%
How to Reduce GCP Egress?
If migration isn't (yet) possible:
1. Use Standard Tier
If latency isn't critical, the Standard Tier is roughly 25% cheaper than the Premium Tier in the examples below.
2. Deploy Cloud CDN
Cloud CDN has its own (cheaper) egress prices for caching.
3. Enable Compression
gzip/brotli for Cloud Run and API responses.
4. Cloud Storage Classes
Nearline/Coldline have different egress structures – check for archiving.
5. Regional Buckets
Traffic from the "wrong" bucket location costs extra.
6. Migrate to Hetzner
For traffic-intensive workloads, the most effective solution.
GCP vs AWS vs Azure Egress
GCP Premium is the most expensive hyperscaler for egress at 10 TB and 100 TB; at 50 TB all three are close:
| Volume | AWS | Azure | GCP (Premium) | GCP (Standard) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 TB | ~$890 | ~$860 | ~$1,035 | ~$775 |
| 50 TB | ~$4,290 | ~$4,180 | ~$4,225 | ~$3,215 |
| 100 TB | ~$7,810 | ~$7,700 | ~$8,180 | ~$6,240 |
Calculated with 1 TB = 1,000 GB (converted to GiB for GCP) after the free allowances, prices as of October 2026.
All three remain 80-100x more expensive than Hetzner.
When is Migration Worth It?
Migration to Hetzner is particularly worthwhile for:
- >1 TB egress/month: Savings become significant from here
- No GCP-specific services: If primarily using Compute/Cloud SQL/Storage
- EU-focused users: Latency to DE data centers acceptable
- Predictable traffic: No extreme burst peaks
For the move itself, Google Cloud waives egress charges after an exit notice if all workloads and data are migrated. The EU Data Act has also applied since 12 September 2025, and switching charges are prohibited from 12 January 2027. Details are in the guide Cloud exit for SMEs.
Still unsure which route fits? The orientation workshop sorts out your requirements and delivers a prioritised topic list with a recommendation per topic. From €1,490 excl. VAT, remote.
Conclusion
GCP has the most complex and expensive egress pricing of the three major hyperscalers. The combination of GiB calculation and higher base prices makes GCP Premium the most expensive of the three providers in most volume tiers.
Hetzner offers an alternative that can be substantially cheaper depending on the traffic profile with 20 TB included and €1.00/TB net overage – the actual savings depend on the current plan and traffic profile.
Next Steps
We analyze your GCP bill and show you specifically how much you can save through migration.
Request a cloud exit assessment
Related Articles
- Public Internet Egress Costs: AWS vs Azure vs GCP vs Hetzner
- AWS Egress Fees vs Hetzner
- Azure Egress Fees vs Hetzner
Sources
Data transfer is covered in the guides Cloud SQL to PostgreSQL and Google Cloud Storage to Hetzner.
