# Google Cloud Managed Service for Apache Kafka pricing The table below offers a rough idea of the total monthly cost of running a cluster. The table compares the cost of running open source code yourself with the cost of the managed service. | Producer bandwidth | Estimated monthly price (USD) | | | | Apache Kafka on Compute Engine | Managed Service for Apache Kafka (see [pricing calculator](https://cloud.google.com/products/calculator?dl=CjhDaVJoWWpKa1pUZzBOeTAxTm1FNUxUUmhOVFF0T1dJMFppMWlOMkkxWlRObU5UTTRPVFlRQVE9PRA8GiQ2MDk1QjcxRC02RDQ0LTQ1MDctQUFGQy02MjM3MEYzRUFDMTQ&e=48754805&hl)) | | 10 MiB/s | $0.9K | $1.1K | | 100 MiB/s | $9.1K | $11K | This estimate assumes the following: - Three replicas distributed across three zones - 4 GiB of RAM per vCPU - RAM and vCPU utilization of 50% - Storage of 24 hours - Consumers configured to use local follower replica to minimize cross-zone data transfer - Consumer bandwidth equal to the producer bandwidth - N2 CPU family for the Compute Engine clusters. - Prices for us-central1 in thousands of US dollars per month, so that "$1.0K" means "$1000 per month." In general, the total cost of running a Managed Service for Apache Kafka cluster depends on the size of the cluster, the volume of data you publish and consume, as well as the duration for which you store the data. As a rough guide, you can assume that a single vCPU can handle 20MiB/s of publish traffic and 80MiB/s of consumer traffic. In addition, an important parameter to consider is the average utilization of RAM and vCPU capacity. Unpredictable and variable traffic requires low average utilization to accommodate the peaks in producer or consumer bandwidth. For clusters with utilization above 20%, the cost of data transfer between zones is the largest component of the total cost. This cost comes from replication of data between leader and follower brokers as well as data transfer traffic between clients and brokers. You can reduce this cost by configuring your consumer clients to use local replicas, compressing your data. If high availability and durability of storage is not critical for a topic, you can also reduce the number of replicas stored for a given topic to reduce replication charges. ## Pricing details The cost of operating a Managed Service for Apache Kafka consists of charges related to running Kafka clusters, Connect clusters, and Private Service Connect (PSC) fees for access to the cluster. You can calculate your Managed Service for Apache Kafka costs using the [pricing calculator](https://cloud.google.com/products/calculator?dl=CjhDaVJoWWpKa1pUZzBOeTAxTm1FNUxUUmhOVFF0T1dJMFppMWlOMkkxWlRObU5UTTRPVFlRQVE9PRA8GiQ2MDk1QjcxRC02RDQ0LTQ1MDctQUFGQy02MjM3MEYzRUFDMTQ&e=48754805&hl). To learn how you can save 40% with a three-year commitment or 20% with a one-year commitment on compute, review our [committed use discounts (CUDs)](https://cloud.google.com/managed-service-for-apache-kafka/docs/cuds) page. CUDs do not apply to Connect clusters. ## Cluster charges To size or scale a Managed Service for Apache Kafka cluster, you must set the total vCPU count and RAM size for the Kafka cluster. To do so, you must first understand the throughput that your Kafka cluster can handle. For more information on how to estimate the throughput, see [Estimate vCPUs and memory for your cluster](https://docs.cloud.google.com/managed-service-for-apache-kafka/docs/plan-cluster-size). Cluster charges are billed using the three SKUs in the region where you run the cluster: - Compute, covering vCPU and RAM - Connect Compute, covering vCPU and RAM - Storage, including local storage of data on brokers (Persistent Disk) and long term storage. - Networking, covering charges for inter-zone data transfer for replication of data within a cluster. ### Pricing Components | Component | Price (USD) | | Inter-zone data transfer | $0.01 / 1 gibibyte, per 1 month / account | ### Compute charges The vCPU and RAM usage is reported in terms of abstract units called **Data Compute Units** (DCUs). A simple way to think about this unit is that a single vCPU with 4 GiB of RAM corresponds to 1 DCU. For example, a cluster with 6 vCPUs and 4 GiB of RAM per vCPU consumes 6 DCU. The cost of this cluster is 6 DCU \* 9 cents / hour / DCU = 54 cents / hour in us-central1. You can, however, use different amounts of RAM per vCPU in your clusters. The conversion factors from compute resources to DCUs are described in the following table: | Compute resources | Equivalent DCU amounts | | 1 vCPU | 0.6 | | 1 GiB RAM | 0.1 | When you use 1 GiB of RAM for an hour, you pay for 0.1 DCUs for that hour. ### Storage charges You are billed for local persistent disk storage provision for every broker as well as long term storage used by the tiered storage system. You are billed for 100 GB of local storage per CPU in each cluster. Long term storage is used when the tiered storage system moves data from local disk. You pay for storage of a single replica of each topic in long term storage. ### Inter-zone network charges A Managed Service for Apache Kafka cluster replicates data across multiple zones. You are charged for inter-zone data transfer within the cluster. The cost is $0.01 per 1 gibibyte. By default, the [replication factor](https://cloud.google.com/managed-service-for-apache-kafka/docs/create-topic#replication-factor) for a cluster is 3. This means you pay for inter-zone data transfer for replicating data to 2 out of the 3 zones. ### Private Service Connect charges Managed Service for Apache Kafka service sets up all Private Service Connect (PSC) endpoints for your service. These endpoints are resources in a project you own and are billed separately. You can read more about how PSC is used [here](https://cloud.google.com/managed-service-for-apache-kafka/docs/networking-kafka). The PSC charges include the following components: - [VPC consumer data processing charges](https://cloud.google.com/vpc/network-pricing#psc-consumer-data-processing). Data transfer between clients and brokers in different zones costs between $0.004 to $0.01 per gigabyte (GiB). Data transfer between clients and brokers in the same zone does not incur this charge. ## Request a custom quote With Google Cloud's pay-as-you-go pricing, you only pay for the services you use.