Understanding GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained is essential for anyone running Redis or Memcached on Google Cloud. Memorystore offers managed caching services with predictable pricing based on tiers like Basic and Standard. These tiers differ in features, performance, and costs, helping you choose the right fit for your workload.
This comprehensive GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained guide breaks down every aspect. You’ll learn capacity-based rates, regional variations, discounts, and comparisons to alternatives. Whether scaling for high traffic or starting small, mastering these tiers ensures cost efficiency.
Understanding GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained
At its core, GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained revolves around provisioned capacity and service type. Memorystore for Redis offers Basic and Standard tiers, each with memory capacity tiers from M1 to M5. Pricing is per GiB per hour, billed in one-second increments from instance creation.
Basic Tier suits development or low-availability needs with no replicas. Standard Tier provides high availability via replicas and failover. Larger capacity tiers unlock better throughput and lower per-GB rates, making GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained scale economically.
Provisioned memory determines your tier. For instance, 1-4 GB falls into M1, while over 100 GB hits M5. This structure ensures costs align with performance needs in GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained.
Key Components of Pricing
Pricing factors include node type, capacity, persistence options like AOF, region, and replicas. You pay for the instance regardless of usage, switching rates instantly upon scaling completion. This predictability defines GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained.
Basic vs Standard Tiers in GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained
Basic Tier in GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained is entry-level, ideal for non-critical apps. It lacks automatic failover but offers lower costs. An 8 GB M2 Basic instance in Iowa costs $0.027 per GB/hour, totaling $0.22/hour or $160.60/month.
Standard Tier adds redundancy with replicas, suiting production. A 20 GB M3 Standard instance at $0.046/GB/hour for 90 minutes costs $1.38. Scaling to 50 GB M4 drops it to $0.035/GB/hour post-scaling. This flexibility shines in GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained.
Choose Basic for cost savings on dev environments. Opt for Standard when uptime matters, as GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained shows higher base rates but better reliability.
Performance Differences
Basic Tier maxes at single node limits, while Standard supports clustering. Network throughput improves with larger tiers in both, per GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained.
Capacity Tiers and Costs in GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained
Capacity tiers (M1-M5) drive GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained. In Johannesburg, rates are:
| Tier | Capacity | Basic ($/GB/hr) | Standard ($/GB/hr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | 1–4 GB | $0.06409 | $0.08371 |
| M2 | 5–10 GB | $0.03532 | $0.07063 |
| M3 | 11–35 GB | $0.03008 | $0.06017 |
| M4 | 36–100 GB | $0.02485 | $0.04578 |
| M5 | >100 GB | $0.02093 | $0.03924 |
Larger tiers reduce per-GB costs significantly in GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained.
For Redis Cluster, node types like redis-standard-small (6.5 GB) cost $0.1425/hour on-demand in some regions. Highmem options add more memory at higher rates.
Cluster pricing includes AOF persistence extras. A 1 GiB-hour base might be $0.00054795 on-demand, dropping with CUDs in GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained.
Cluster-Specific Tiers
Redis Cluster uses small/medium/large node types with GiB-based rates varying by region, like $0.02-$0.14/GB in Europe or Asia setups.
Regional Pricing Variations in GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained
GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained varies by region. Iowa Basic M2 is cheaper than Johannesburg M1. Asia-east1 (Taiwan) charges $0.058/vCPU, $0.0051/GB up to 4 GB, $0.0103 beyond.

Europe rates: $0.05/GB base, up to $0.14. Asia: $0.08-$0.14/GB. Always check the GCP calculator for your zone in GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained.
Cross-region access adds egress fees. Private Service Connect charges $0.01/GiB for inter-zone data.
Committed Use Discounts for GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained
CUDs slash costs in GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained. 1-year commitment gives 20% off; 3-year 40%. For Valkey/Redis, a $5.77/hour on-demand becomes $3,369.68/month with 1-year CUD, saving $10,109/year.
CUD applies to eligible instances over M1 (5 GB+). Hourly committed spend covers usage across Memorystore services. This makes long-term GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained highly affordable.
| Term | Discount | Example Monthly Savings |
|---|---|---|
| 1-Year | 20% | $842.42 |
| 3-Year | 40% | Higher (calculate via tool) |
Additional Fees in GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained
Beyond capacity, GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained includes networking and persistence. AOF adds per-GiB costs. Replicas multiply node fees in Standard/Cluster.
Networking: $0.01/GiB via Private Service Connect inter-zone. No ingress fees, but egress applies cross-region. Factor these into total GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained.
Backup and Persistence Costs
AOF persistence incurs extra based on capacity. Backups are free up to limits, but extras add up.
Memorystore vs Compute Engine Redis Costs
Is Memorystore the cheapest for Redis on GCP? GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained often beats self-managed on Compute Engine for managed simplicity. Compute Engine: e2-medium (2 vCPU, 4 GB) at ~$0.033/hour plus Redis install/maintenance.
Memorystore 5 GB Basic: ~$0.17/hour. But no ops overhead. For larger, Memorystore M5 tiers undercut equivalent VM+Redis setups long-term, per GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained.
Self-managed saves on tiny workloads but scales poorly. Memorystore wins for HA and ease.
Scaling Tips for GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained
Scale vertically by resizing to higher tiers for instant rate drops in GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained. Monitor via Cloud Monitoring to right-size.
Enable autoscaling in Cluster for traffic spikes. Use CUDs for steady loads. Migrate step-by-step: backup Redis, create Memorystore, import via redis-cli.
For GKE, Memorystore outperforms self-hosted Redis pods due to managed scaling, though costs compare via GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained.
Migration Steps
- Export Redis data with RDB/AOF.
- Create Memorystore instance matching tier.
- Import and test connectivity.
- Update app configs.
Expert Takeaways on GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained
Start with Basic M1-M2 for testing. Move to Standard M3+ for prod. Lock in CUDs for 40% savings. Always model costs regionally. Troubleshoot outages by checking replicas and networking in GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained.
For high traffic, Cluster with replicas scales best. Compare to Compute Engine: Memorystore cheaper managed option above 10 GB.
Key tip: Use GCP Pricing Calculator. Provision only needed capacity—overprovisioning inflates bills despite tier discounts in GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained.
In summary, GCP Memorystore Pricing Tiers Explained empowers smart Redis hosting. Basic for cheap starts, Standard/Cluster for scale, CUDs for savings. Optimize via right-sizing and monitoring for peak efficiency.