What is included in the Cloud Functions free tier?

Cloud Functions provides 2 million invocations, 400,000 GB-seconds of compute, 200,000 GHz-seconds of CPU, and 5 GB of outbound networking per month free. This generous free tier often covers development and low-volume production workloads entirely.

What is the difference between 1st gen and 2nd gen Cloud Functions?

2nd gen Cloud Functions are built on Cloud Run, offering longer timeouts (up to 60 minutes), larger instances (up to 16 GB RAM, 4 vCPU), concurrency (up to 1,000 per instance), and traffic splitting. 2nd gen pricing follows Cloud Run's model. 1st gen is simpler but limited to 9 minutes timeout and single concurrency.

How does memory allocation affect CPU and pricing?

Cloud Functions allocates CPU proportional to memory. At 256 MB you get 0.167 GHz, at 1 GB you get 0.4 GHz, and at 2 GB you get 1 GHz. Higher memory means more CPU and higher per-second cost, but CPU-bound functions run faster, potentially offsetting the increased rate with shorter duration.

GCP Cloud Functions Cost Estimator

ServerlessGCP

Estimate monthly Cloud Functions costs including compute, invocations, and networking.

Last verified: April 2026

Cloud Functions Configuration

Invocations per Month

Free tier includes 2M invocations/month

Average Duration (ms)

Memory (MB)

CPU (GHz)

Free tier includes 200K GHz-seconds/month

Network Egress (GB)

Free tier includes 5 GB egress/month. Billed at $0.12/GB after.

Generation

2nd gen runs on Cloud Run and supports concurrency, traffic splitting, and longer timeouts

Include Free Tier (2M invocations + 400K GB-sec + 200K GHz-sec + 5 GB egress/month)

Raw Output

Output will appear here...

See It in Action

Your data team deploys a 1st gen Cloud Function with 512 MB memory to process Pub/Sub messages at 2 million invocations per month, averaging 800ms each. The estimator shows this fits within the free tier. When traffic grows to 10 million invocations, you switch to 2nd gen with concurrency set to 50. The tool shows that concurrency reduces billable instance-seconds by 40x, keeping costs under $15/month instead of the $150 you would pay without concurrency.

What This Tool Does

The GCP Cloud Functions Cost Estimator calculates monthly costs including invocations, compute time (GB-seconds and GHz-seconds), and networking charges. It supports both 1st and 2nd generation Cloud Functions with their different pricing models. The tool accounts for the free tier and helps you compare configurations across memory and CPU allocation settings.

Technical Details

The estimator computes invocation costs at the per-million rate, then calculates GB-seconds by multiplying memory allocation by average duration by invocation count, and GHz-seconds similarly with CPU allocation. It subtracts the free tier grants from each dimension independently, then sums the billable amounts. Networking egress is added based on outbound data volume beyond the 5 GB free allowance.

Common Use Cases

1Estimating monthly costs for an event-driven Cloud Function processing Pub/Sub messages at a known rate.
2Comparing 1st gen vs. 2nd gen Cloud Functions pricing for equivalent workloads.
3Calculating whether a function's usage will stay within the generous Cloud Functions free tier.
4Modeling the cost impact of increasing memory allocation (which also increases allocated CPU) on total bill.

Common Questions

What is included in the Cloud Functions free tier?: Cloud Functions provides 2 million invocations, 400,000 GB-seconds of compute, 200,000 GHz-seconds of CPU, and 5 GB of outbound networking per month free. This generous free tier often covers development and low-volume production workloads entirely.
What is the difference between 1st gen and 2nd gen Cloud Functions?: 2nd gen Cloud Functions are built on Cloud Run, offering longer timeouts (up to 60 minutes), larger instances (up to 16 GB RAM, 4 vCPU), concurrency (up to 1,000 per instance), and traffic splitting. 2nd gen pricing follows Cloud Run's model. 1st gen is simpler but limited to 9 minutes timeout and single concurrency.
How does memory allocation affect CPU and pricing?: Cloud Functions allocates CPU proportional to memory. At 256 MB you get 0.167 GHz, at 1 GB you get 0.4 GHz, and at 2 GB you get 1 GHz. Higher memory means more CPU and higher per-second cost, but CPU-bound functions run faster, potentially offsetting the increased rate with shorter duration.

Expert Tips

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2nd gen Cloud Functions are built on Cloud Run and support concurrency up to 1,000 requests per instance. If your function handles I/O-bound work, enabling concurrency can reduce the number of instances needed and dramatically cut costs compared to 1st gen's single-concurrency model.

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Cloud Functions bills CPU and memory separately as GHz-seconds and GB-seconds. The free tier covers 400,000 GB-seconds and 200,000 GHz-seconds, but these deplete at different rates depending on your memory/CPU ratio. Monitor both meters independently to avoid surprise charges.

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For functions that need consistent low latency, set a minimum instance count on 2nd gen functions. This keeps warm instances ready and eliminates cold starts, but you pay for idle time. It is the GCP equivalent of AWS provisioned concurrency.

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