Google App Engine: Google's monthly 322.50 USD gift to you

As you've probably noticed from my previous posts I'm really thrilled by the Google App Engine/J platform. Thanks to some clever architectural decisions GAE/J gives a properly written Java application near infinite scalability. So from a technical perspective I believe that the GAE/J is a slam dunk. But what about the economics?

The quotas of a free GAE account has been really really generous. The free quotas will be adjusted downwards on May 25, 2009 but the quotas will remain very generous.

These are the changes that will be made on May 25, 2009 (the quotas are on a per application basis):

• Outgoing bandwidth: The current 10 GB per day will be decreased to 1 GB per day.
• Incoming bandwidth: The current 10 GB per day will be decreased to 1 GB per day.
• CPU time: The current 46 CPU-hours per day will be decreased to 6.5 CPU-hours per day.
• Stored data: The current quota of 1 GB space is left unchanged.
• E-mail recipients: The current quota of 2000 e-mail recipients per day is left unchanged.

What are the values of these free quotas before and after these quota changes?

The current per unit price of billable Google App Engine resources:

• Outgoing bandwidth: 0.12 USD per gigabyte
• Incoming bandwidth: 0.10 USD per gigabyte
• CPU time: 0.10 USD per CPU-hour (measured in 1.2 GHz Intel x86 CPU time)
• Stored data: 0.15 USD per GB and month
• E-mail recipients: 0.0001 USD per recipient

The current free quotas (before May 25, 2009) translate into the following theoretical dollar values:

• Outgoing bandwidth: 10 GB/day * 30 days per month * 0.12 USD/GB = 36.00 USD
• Incoming bandwidth: 10 GB/day * 30 days per month * 0.10 USD/GB = 30.00 USD
• CPU time: 46 CPU-hours/day * 30 days per month * 0.10 USD/CPU-hour = 138.00 USD
• Stored data: 1 GB * 0.15 per GB and month = 0.15 USD
• E-mail recipients: 2000 recipients/day * 30 days per month * 0.0001 USD/recipient = 6.00 USD

Total value of free quota: 210.15 USD per month and application. Each GAE-account has a maximum of 10 applications, so the theoretical value of one GAE-account with 10 fully utilized applications is 2101.50 USD per month. This is before the free quota change on May 25, 2009.

The new free quotas (from May 25, 2009 and onwards) translate into the following theoretical dollar values:

• Outgoing bandwidth: 1 GB/day * 30 days per month * 0.12 USD/GB = 3.60 USD
• Incoming bandwidth: 1 GB/day * 30 days per month * 0.10 USD/GB = 3.00 USD
• CPU time: 6.5 CPU-hours/day * 30 days per month * 0.10 USD/CPU-hour = 19.50 USD
• Stored data: 1 GB * 0.15 per GB and month = 0.15 USD
• E-mail recipients: 2000 recipients/day * 30 days per month * 0.0001 USD/recipient = 6.00 USD

Total value of free quota: 32.25 USD per month and application. Each GAE-account has a maximum of 10 applications, so the theoretical value of one GAE-account with 10 fully utilized applications is 322.50 USD per month. This is after the free quota change on May 25, 2009.

In summary: The current enormously generous quota allocation worth 2101.50 USD per month is reduced to the still extremely generous new free quota worth 322.50 USD per month on May 25, 2009. Thanks Google!

Sure - the value calculations are a bit theoretical, but my point is that the basic price tag (free!) for a GAE/J account is very generous - before and after May 25, 2009!