No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Google App Engine vs VMware Tanzu Platform comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Google App Engine
Ranking in PaaS Clouds
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VMware Tanzu Platform
Ranking in PaaS Clouds
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Build Automation (17th), Cloud Management (33rd), Development Platforms (5th), Container Management (9th), Service Mesh (8th), Agile and DevOps Services (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the PaaS Clouds category, the mindshare of Google App Engine is 2.2%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Tanzu Platform is 4.0%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
PaaS Clouds Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Google App Engine2.2%
VMware Tanzu Platform4.0%
Other93.8%
PaaS Clouds
 

Featured Reviews

RK
Senior Engineer at Brillio
Have managed resources seamlessly thanks to robust platform capabilities
The areas of Google App Engine that I would to improve or enhance include its allowance for complete end-to-end deployment and scalability; however, it is manageable only for a few languages. For instance, it doesn't support languages C and C++, only basic support for Node.js, Java, and Ruby. It's not a comprehensive solution for all scenarios. Moreover, the security feature is based on IAM roles, but it should ideally be based on Active Directory (AD) roles. For IAM-based roles, we need to add the proper users and provide all security permissions manually. In an AD-based model, we would simply add users to a specific group, and all permissions would be inherited.
ErmiasGirma - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Infrastructure Engineer at Safaricom Ethiopia plc
Has supported container-based deployments and improved infrastructure visibility through monitoring tools
Aria Operations, formerly known as VMware vRealize Operations, has been renamed to vROps. We are currently using this for monitoring purposes. For orchestration, we are using VCD to automate Telco Cloud. VCD is an automation tool, and we are also using VMware Tanzu Platform for the Kubernetes environment, alongside TKG, Tanzu Kubernetes Grid. These are also other solutions for the Tanzu Kubernetes environment. For Telco Cloud, we are using it to automate our company's operations, which is for a telecom company. We are familiar with these products, especially vCenter, ESXi, VCD, vCF, and vROps. It is very easy to integrate applications when we deploy vCenter and ESXi since we can enable vSphere with Tanzu feature. We can build namespaces and provide application developers the platform to deploy their applications on pods within containerization. We can easily manage, pull results, and create containers efficiently, making it a simple way to handle applications. We provide namespace labels for application developers, and we can manage their resources along with other aspects easily. Regarding security, we use many tools such as CDX and LDAP, AD for integrating our Kubernetes cluster with the developer teams. We can manage roles and permissions simply. It is very straightforward to integrate with EDX and other third-party tools, Active Directory, to the Kubernetes cluster, allowing easy access and management.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The initial setup is okay. It's not too complex. Deployment took about one day."
"The functions and features of Google App Engine that I have found most valuable are that it is serverless, and the learning curve is easy to follow."
"Administering App Engine from a user's perspective is simple with their very intuitive dashboards."
"The product's initial setup phase was straightforward, considering that there is good documentation explaining the implementation part of it."
"The auto-scaling feature helped us significantly in our fast-paced environment where the number of users was increasing rapidly."
"Easy to upload from IDE."
"Google App Engine is highly scalable and can integrate easily with other applications."
"Free Tier is basic if you simply want to test your development or if you are not sure whether the product you are trying to launch will be successful."
"With Tanzu Mission Control, you get a total solution with only one provider."
"The Day 2 operations support is the most vital feature"
"The solution is integrated very well with a lot of other systems. Also, its GUI is very good."
"Defining security metrics has proven beneficial for customers in maintaining a safe environment."
"The Tanzu platform is highly available, scalable, and flexible."
"The initial setup is easy."
"We can build namespaces and provide application developers the platform to deploy their applications on pods within containerization, and we can easily manage, pull results, and create containers efficiently, making it a simple way to handle applications."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ability to check the flow of all the different variants within our applications."
 

Cons

"I think there's still a lot that can be done with Google Meet and the video conferencing part of it. It could be more dynamic in terms of what can be done with it."
"Some features of runtime don't work well in App Engine."
"The initial setup is complex as it is customized based on different clients, and it can range from one to three years, requiring niche-specific technical resources."
"Currently, we have to use Google CLI and utilize Google App CLI SDKs for deployment. If options were available to enable these SDKs for Terraform and CloudFormation, it would be more helpful for executing one-click deployments."
"The main challenge with Google App Engine is the lack of UI deployment options, requiring deployment through Cloud Shell."
"More expensive than the alternate options if a product/service has a lot of users."
"Some clients don't use it because Google is very unstable with their products. Google has terminated many promising products in the past, and some clients have stated, 'This is from Google, we don't trust it because Google can change their mind any day.'"
"The main drawback with Google App Engine's standard environment was its restrictions. We could not work with file systems, run shell scripts from the environment, or use WebSockets."
"The installation of VMware Tanzu Service Mesh is very complex."
"The infrastructure is quite challenging."
"Tanzu provides better manageability as compared to OCP, but when it comes to tagging it with other products, it's a bit rigid. If I have to bring in any new product or something out of the box from a different vendor, working with Tanzu becomes a little difficult. For example, if I want to use the F5 services, I have to add one more layer of Avi, but I don't want to do that. If I have a list of the products that I want to use, such as for firewall services, with Tanzu, I will have to go through another layer, which creates complexity."
"The solution's initial setup process was complex...The solution could benefit from improved customization and visibility for its users."
"The solution is currently focused on VMware infrastructure and I would like to see more options made available."
"The product should support integration with Google Cloud Platform (GCP)"
"We want to see a new feature that helps build more security architecture like Zero Trust Security or shifting left in Kubernetes."
"The implementation is not easy, it is very complex and can take a day or two to complete."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would like to have more free application with it. Some of the applications, I am paying more for them. I think that they must be free."
"If we don't know how to work with the tool, we might have some spikes in price."
"We pay the license yearly. It's about $6 a month, which is $72 a year per person, so it's about $500."
"There are different licenses available. You have to upgrade your license if you want to scale the solution more."
"Since we were at a large data center, the price might not have been a concern for us."
"The licensing cost is expensive."
"VMware Tanzu Mission Control is cheaper than Red Hat OpenShift."
"The solution is bundled in with Cloud Foundry so the pricing is not independent."
"I would recommend that businesses look into the full price for their requirements. The price is high, but there are some open-source add-ons that can be used for customization while keeping costs down, although these might not be suitable for everyone."
"The solution is only for large or medium size enterprises because it is expensive."
"One of our Spanish customers told us that VMware Tanzu Service Mesh is a very expensive product for their data center."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which PaaS Clouds solutions are best for your needs.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user8586 - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Aug 14, 2013
Amazon vs Rackspace vs Microsoft vs Google: Cloud Hosting Services Comparison
Amazon Web Services, Rackspace OpenStack, Microsoft Windows Azure and Google are the major cloud hosting and storage service providers. Athough Amazon is top of them and is oldest in cloud market, Rackspace, Microsoft and Google are giving tough competition to each other and to Amazon also for…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Construction Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google App Engine?
I believe it is reasonably priced. I've never heard anyone express that the licenses are too expensive.
What needs improvement with Google App Engine?
The error logging system in Google App Engine could be enhanced. While there are troubleshooting documents with Google-defined error logs, identifying the exact root cause can be challenging. Often...
What is your primary use case for Google App Engine?
My primary use case for Google App Engine is within the finance industry, dealing with enterprise-scale businesses.
Which is better - OpenShift Container Platform or VMware Tanzu Mission Control?
Red Hat Openshift is ideal for organizations using microservices and cloud environments. I like that the platform is auto-scalable, which saves overhead time for developers. I think Openshift can b...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Concourse for VMware Tanzu?
The least expensive licensing cost for VMware is around $350 per core. Pricing varies based on commitment and volumetric, with discounts provided for long-term commitments. VMware sells directly or...
What needs improvement with Concourse for VMware Tanzu?
The price is very high compared to other Kubernetes environments because Kubernetes is open source. We can easily work with Docker, and when we compare it with OpenShift, the price is very high. We...
 

Also Known As

GAE
Tanzu Application Catalog, Application Platform, Application Service, Hub, Mission Control, Service Mesh, Build Service, Concourse for VMware Tanzu
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Khan Academy, Best Buy, Gigya, MetOffice, Getaround, Mimiboard, NewsLimited, WebFilings, and CloudLock.
Verizon, Cerner, Zipcar, Avarteq
Find out what your peers are saying about Google App Engine vs. VMware Tanzu Platform and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.