What is a processing unit in Cloud Spanner?

A processing unit is the smallest compute increment in Spanner. One node equals 1,000 processing units. You can provision in increments of 100 processing units (minimum) for small workloads, or in full nodes for larger ones. Each processing unit provides a baseline of reads, writes, and storage capacity.

Why is multi-region Spanner more expensive?

Multi-region configurations replicate data across three or more regions with synchronous writes, providing 99.999% availability and global strong consistency. This requires significantly more infrastructure than a regional deployment, resulting in approximately 3x the cost per node-hour compared to regional configurations.

What are Committed Use Discounts for Spanner?

Google offers Committed Use Discounts (CUDs) of up to 20% for 1-year commitments and higher for 3-year commitments on Spanner compute. Unlike on-demand pricing, you commit to a minimum capacity for the term. The estimator calculates savings so you can evaluate the commitment tradeoff.

Cloud Spanner Cost Estimator

StorageGCP

Estimate Cloud Spanner costs for regional and multi-region instances with processing units, storage, and capacity recommendations.

Cloud Spanner Configuration

Example Presets

Instance Configuration

Single region. Min 100 PU. $0.90/node/hr ($657/node/mo).

Processing Units (PU)

= 1 node (1 node = 1000 PU). Increments of 100 up to 1000 PU, then 1000.

Estimated Capacity at 1000 PU

Reads10,000 reads/sec

Writes2,000 writes/sec

Storage

Database Storage (GB)

$0.30/GB/month

Backup Storage (GB)

$0.30/GB/month

Raw Output

Output will appear here...

About This Tool

The Cloud Spanner Cost Estimator models monthly costs for Google Cloud Spanner instances based on configuration type (regional or multi-region), processing unit count, and storage volume. Spanner charges by node-hour (or processing unit-hour) and GB-month of storage, with higher rates for multi-region configurations that provide global strong consistency. The calculator helps you understand Spanner's unique pricing structure where one node equals 1,000 processing units, and includes recommendations for minimum instance sizes based on your throughput and storage requirements. It also shows how Committed Use Discounts of up to 20% can reduce costs for steady-state workloads.

When to Use This Tool

•Estimating monthly costs for a regional Spanner instance powering a financial ledger system with strict consistency requirements.
•Comparing regional versus multi-region Spanner costs for a global application requiring 99.999% availability.
•Calculating the processing units needed for a target throughput of 10,000 reads per second and 2,000 writes per second.
•Modeling Committed Use Discount savings for a Spanner deployment expected to run continuously for three years.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a processing unit in Cloud Spanner?: A processing unit is the smallest compute increment in Spanner. One node equals 1,000 processing units. You can provision in increments of 100 processing units (minimum) for small workloads, or in full nodes for larger ones. Each processing unit provides a baseline of reads, writes, and storage capacity.
Why is multi-region Spanner more expensive?: Multi-region configurations replicate data across three or more regions with synchronous writes, providing 99.999% availability and global strong consistency. This requires significantly more infrastructure than a regional deployment, resulting in approximately 3x the cost per node-hour compared to regional configurations.
What are Committed Use Discounts for Spanner?: Google offers Committed Use Discounts (CUDs) of up to 20% for 1-year commitments and higher for 3-year commitments on Spanner compute. Unlike on-demand pricing, you commit to a minimum capacity for the term. The estimator calculates savings so you can evaluate the commitment tradeoff.

Disclaimer: This tool runs entirely in your browser. No data is sent to our servers. Always verify outputs before using them in production. AWS, Azure, and GCP are trademarks of their respective owners.

Cloud Spanner Cost Estimator

StorageGCP

Estimate Cloud Spanner costs for regional and multi-region instances with processing units, storage, and capacity recommendations.

Cloud Spanner Configuration

Example Presets

Instance Configuration

Single region. Min 100 PU. $0.90/node/hr ($657/node/mo).

Processing Units (PU)

= 1 node (1 node = 1000 PU). Increments of 100 up to 1000 PU, then 1000.

Estimated Capacity at 1000 PU

Reads10,000 reads/sec

Writes2,000 writes/sec

Storage

Database Storage (GB)

$0.30/GB/month

Backup Storage (GB)

$0.30/GB/month

Raw Output

Output will appear here...

About This Tool

When to Use This Tool

•Estimating monthly costs for a regional Spanner instance powering a financial ledger system with strict consistency requirements.
•Comparing regional versus multi-region Spanner costs for a global application requiring 99.999% availability.
•Calculating the processing units needed for a target throughput of 10,000 reads per second and 2,000 writes per second.
•Modeling Committed Use Discount savings for a Spanner deployment expected to run continuously for three years.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a processing unit in Cloud Spanner?: A processing unit is the smallest compute increment in Spanner. One node equals 1,000 processing units. You can provision in increments of 100 processing units (minimum) for small workloads, or in full nodes for larger ones. Each processing unit provides a baseline of reads, writes, and storage capacity.
Why is multi-region Spanner more expensive?: Multi-region configurations replicate data across three or more regions with synchronous writes, providing 99.999% availability and global strong consistency. This requires significantly more infrastructure than a regional deployment, resulting in approximately 3x the cost per node-hour compared to regional configurations.
What are Committed Use Discounts for Spanner?: Google offers Committed Use Discounts (CUDs) of up to 20% for 1-year commitments and higher for 3-year commitments on Spanner compute. Unlike on-demand pricing, you commit to a minimum capacity for the term. The estimator calculates savings so you can evaluate the commitment tradeoff.