What is the difference between Google Cloud and Thunder Compute?

Google Cloud and Thunder Compute are both cloud GPU providers offering different pricing models, features, and GPU availability. Use our comparison tool to see real-time pricing and feature differences.

Which is cheaper: Google Cloud or Thunder Compute?

Pricing varies by GPU model and usage requirements. Check our real-time comparison table to find the best deals for your specific needs.

Can I switch between Google Cloud and Thunder Compute?

Yes, both providers offer flexible cloud GPU services. However, consider factors like data transfer costs, setup time, and specific features when switching between providers.

How many GPU models are available for comparison?

We track pricing for 9 different GPU models across both Google Cloud and Thunder Compute, with 0 models available from both providers.

Google Cloud vs Thunder Compute

Compare GPU and LLM inference API pricing between Google Cloud and Thunder Compute. Find the best rates for AI training, inference, and ML workloads.

Google Cloud

Provider 1

GPUs Available

Visit Website

Thunder Compute

Provider 2

GPUs Available

Visit Website

Comparison Overview

Total GPU Models

Google Cloud GPUs

Thunder Compute GPUs

Direct Comparisons

Average Price Difference: $1.95/hour between comparable GPUs

GPU Pricing Comparison

Total GPUs: 9Both available: 1Google Cloud: 6Thunder Compute: 4

Showing 9 of 9 GPUs

Last updated: 10/2/2026, 5:08:03 PM

GPU Model ↑	Google Cloud Price	Thunder Compute Price	Price Diff ↕	Sources
A100 SXM 80GB VRAM • Google CloudThunder Compute	$3.04/hr	$1.09/hr★ Best	↑+$1.95(+179.0%)	Google Cloud Thunder Compute
A100 SXM 80GB VRAM • Google Cloud $3.04/hour Updated: 10/2/2026 Thunder Compute $1.09/hour Updated: 9/29/2026 ★Best Price Price Difference:↑+$1.95(+179.0%) Google Cloud Thunder Compute
A100 SXM 40GB 40GB VRAM • Google Cloud	$1.22/hr★ Best 16x GPU	Not Available	—	Google Cloud
A100 SXM 40GB 40GB VRAM • Google Cloud $1.22/hour 16x GPU configuration Updated: 10/2/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Google Cloud
B200 180GB VRAM • Google Cloud	$4.95/hr★ Best 8x GPU	Not Available	—	Google Cloud
B200 180GB VRAM • Google Cloud $4.95/hour 8x GPU configuration Updated: 10/2/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Google Cloud
H100 PCIe 80GB VRAM • Thunder Compute	Not Available	$3.20/hr★ Best	—	Thunder Compute
H100 PCIe 80GB VRAM • Not Available Thunder Compute $3.20/hour Updated: 9/29/2026 ★Best Price Thunder Compute
H200 141GB VRAM • Google Cloud	$4.65/hr★ Best 8x GPU	Not Available	—	Google Cloud
H200 141GB VRAM • Google Cloud $4.65/hour 8x GPU configuration Updated: 10/2/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Google Cloud
L4 24GB VRAM • Google Cloud	$0.45/hr★ Best 2x GPU	Not Available	—	Google Cloud
L4 24GB VRAM • Google Cloud $0.45/hour 2x GPU configuration Updated: 9/29/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Google Cloud
L40 40GB VRAM • Thunder Compute	Not Available	$0.79/hr★ Best	—	Thunder Compute
L40 40GB VRAM • Not Available Thunder Compute $0.79/hour Updated: 9/29/2026 ★Best Price Thunder Compute
RTX A6000 48GB VRAM • Thunder Compute	Not Available	$0.35/hr★ Best	—	Thunder Compute
RTX A6000 48GB VRAM • Not Available Thunder Compute $0.35/hour Updated: 9/29/2026 ★Best Price Thunder Compute
RTX PRO 6000 96GB VRAM • Google Cloud	$1.68/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Google Cloud
RTX PRO 6000 96GB VRAM • Google Cloud $1.68/hour Updated: 10/2/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Google Cloud

A100 SXM 80GB VRAM • Google CloudThunder Compute	$3.04/hr	$1.09/hr★ Best	↑+$1.95(+179.0%)	Google Cloud Thunder Compute
A100 SXM 80GB VRAM • Google Cloud $3.04/hour Updated: 10/2/2026 Thunder Compute $1.09/hour Updated: 9/29/2026 ★Best Price Price Difference:↑+$1.95(+179.0%) Google Cloud Thunder Compute
A100 SXM 40GB 40GB VRAM • Google Cloud	$1.22/hr★ Best 16x GPU	Not Available	—	Google Cloud
A100 SXM 40GB 40GB VRAM • Google Cloud $1.22/hour 16x GPU configuration Updated: 10/2/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Google Cloud
B200 180GB VRAM • Google Cloud	$4.95/hr★ Best 8x GPU	Not Available	—	Google Cloud
B200 180GB VRAM • Google Cloud $4.95/hour 8x GPU configuration Updated: 10/2/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Google Cloud
H100 PCIe 80GB VRAM • Thunder Compute	Not Available	$3.20/hr★ Best	—	Thunder Compute
H100 PCIe 80GB VRAM • Not Available Thunder Compute $3.20/hour Updated: 9/29/2026 ★Best Price Thunder Compute
H200 141GB VRAM • Google Cloud	$4.65/hr★ Best 8x GPU	Not Available	—	Google Cloud
H200 141GB VRAM • Google Cloud $4.65/hour 8x GPU configuration Updated: 10/2/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Google Cloud
L4 24GB VRAM • Google Cloud	$0.45/hr★ Best 2x GPU	Not Available	—	Google Cloud
L4 24GB VRAM • Google Cloud $0.45/hour 2x GPU configuration Updated: 9/29/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Google Cloud
L40 40GB VRAM • Thunder Compute	Not Available	$0.79/hr★ Best	—	Thunder Compute
L40 40GB VRAM • Not Available Thunder Compute $0.79/hour Updated: 9/29/2026 ★Best Price Thunder Compute
RTX A6000 48GB VRAM • Thunder Compute	Not Available	$0.35/hr★ Best	—	Thunder Compute
RTX A6000 48GB VRAM • Not Available Thunder Compute $0.35/hour Updated: 9/29/2026 ★Best Price Thunder Compute
RTX PRO 6000 96GB VRAM • Google Cloud	$1.68/hr★ Best	Not Available	—	Google Cloud
RTX PRO 6000 96GB VRAM • Google Cloud $1.68/hour Updated: 10/2/2026 ★Best Price Not Available Google Cloud

LLM API Pricing Comparison

Total models: 13Both available: 0Google Cloud: 13Thunder Compute: 0

Showing 13 of 13 models

Prices per 1M tokens · Last updated: 10/2/2026, 5:08:03 PM

Model ↑	Google Cloud	Thunder Compute	Input Diff ↕
Gemini 2.0 Flash Google	$0.150 in $0.600 out	Not available	—
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite Google	$0.075 in $0.300 out	Not available	—
Gemini 2.5 Flash Google	$0.300 in $2.50 out	Not available	—
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite Google	$0.100 in $0.400 out	Not available	—
Gemini 2.5 Pro Google	$1.25 in $10.00 out	Not available	—
Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Google	$0.500 in $3.00 out	Not available	—
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Google	$0.250 in $1.50 out	Not available	—
Gemini 3.1 Pro Google	$2.00 in $12.00 out	Not available	—
Gemini 3.5 Flash Google	$1.50 in $9.00 out	Not available	—
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite Google	$0.300 in $2.50 out	Not available	—
Gemini 3.6 Flash Google	$0.750 in $3.75 out	Not available	—
Gemini 3.7 Flash Google	$0.750 in $3.75 out	Not available	—
Gemini 3.8 Flash Google	$0.750 in $3.75 out	Not available	—

Features Comparison

Google Cloud

Compute Engine
Scalable virtual machines with a wide range of machine types, including GPUs.
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
Managed Kubernetes service for deploying and managing containerized applications.
Cloud Functions
Event-driven serverless compute platform.
Cloud Run
Fully managed serverless platform for containerized applications.
Vertex AI
Unified ML platform for building, deploying, and managing ML models.
Spot VMs
Spare compute capacity at discounted Spot prices, suitable for fault-tolerant workloads that can be interrupted.

Thunder Compute

Rapid deployment
Spin up a dedicated cloud GPU in seconds.
Flexible configurations
Customize vCPUs, RAM, and storage.
Networking
Supports 7-10 Gbps networking speeds.
Development tools
Integrated VS Code extension for easier development.
Snapshot capabilities
Ability to take snapshots for later use.

Pros & Cons

Google Cloud

Advantages

Flexible pricing options, including sustained use discounts
Strong AI and machine learning tools (Vertex AI)
Good integration with other Google services
Mature managed Kubernetes offering (GKE)

Considerations

Limited availability in some regions compared to AWS
Complexity in managing resources
Support can be costly

Thunder Compute

Advantages

User-friendly interface
Quick scaling options
Integrated development environment

Considerations

Limited availability in regions
Potential performance variability depending on load

Compute Services

Google Cloud

Compute Engine

Offers customizable virtual machines running in Google's data centers.

Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)

Managed Kubernetes service for running containerized applications.

Automated Kubernetes operations
Integration with Google Cloud services

Cloud Functions

Serverless compute platform for running code in response to events.

Automatic scaling and high availability
Pay only for the compute time consumed

Thunder Compute

Pricing Options

Google Cloud

On-Demand

Pay for vCPUs, GPUs, and memory with a one-minute minimum and per-second billing thereafter, with no long-term commitments.

Sustained Use Discounts

Automatic discounts for running instances for a significant portion of the month.

Resource-based Committed Use Discounts

Discounted rates in exchange for a 1-year or 3-year commitment to a minimum level of resource usage in a region, and combinable with reservations.

Compute Flexible Committed Use Discounts

Spend-based commitments that apply across eligible machine families and regions rather than to specific resources.

Spot VMs

Spare capacity at discounted Spot prices for fault-tolerant workloads that can be preempted.

Thunder Compute

Getting Started

Google Cloud

Get Started

1
Create a Google Cloud project
Set up a project in the Google Cloud Console.
2
Enable billing
Set up a billing account to pay for resource usage.
3
Choose a compute service
Select Compute Engine, GKE, Cloud Functions, or Cloud Run based on your needs.
4
Create and configure an instance
Launch a VM instance, configure a Kubernetes cluster, or deploy a function/application.
5
Manage resources
Use the Cloud Console, command-line tools, or APIs to manage your resources.

Thunder Compute

Get Started

1
Create an account
Sign up for an account on the Thunder Compute platform.
2
Choose a template
Select a pre-built template for your AI workflow.
3
Customize your setup
Adjust the vCPUs, RAM, and storage as necessary.
4
Launch your instance
Start your GPU instance with a single click.
5
Connect to your environment
Use the VS Code extension to access your persistent environment.

Support & Global Availability

Google Cloud

Global Regions

40+ regions and 120+ zones worldwide.

Support

Role-based (free), Standard, Enhanced and Premium support plans. Comprehensive documentation, community forums, and training resources.

Thunder Compute

Global Regions

Available in the US and possibly other regions.

Support

24/7 support via email and chat.