Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Google Cloud Functions VS Cast.ai

Compare Google Cloud Functions VS Cast.ai and see what are their differences

Google Cloud Functions logo Google Cloud Functions

A serverless platform for building event-based microservices.

Cast.ai logo Cast.ai

CAST AI is an AI-driven platform designed to optimize cloud usage and reduce costs by over 60%. It is an all-in-one solution for Kubernetes monitoring, automation, optimization, and security.
  • Google Cloud Functions Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-25
  • Cast.ai Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-25

CAST AI is driven by a vision of decentralizing the cloud industry to free innovators from the limitations of cloud service providers. Our AI-powered cloud optimization engine delivers a cost-efficient, high-performing, and resilient infrastructure for every Kubernetes workload. Its unique blend of automation and optimization algorithms empowers innovators to build future-ready products and embrace the autonomous cloud. No more vendor lock-in or downtime, the cloud just got solved.

Cast.ai

Website
cast.ai
$ Details
freemium
Platforms
Browser Azure AWS Cloud Web
Release Date
2020 November

Google Cloud Functions features and specs

  • Scalability
    Google Cloud Functions automatically scale up or down as per demand, allowing you to handle varying workloads efficiently without manual intervention.
  • Cost-effectiveness
    You only pay for the actual compute time your functions use, rather than for pre-allocated resources, making it a cost-effective solution for many use cases.
  • Easy Integration
    Seamless integration with other Google Cloud services like Cloud Storage, Pub/Sub, and Firestore simplifies building complex, event-driven architectures.
  • Simplified Deployment
    Deploying functions is straightforward and does not require managing underlying infrastructure, reducing the operational overhead for developers.
  • Supports Multiple Languages
    Supports various programming languages including Node.js, Python, Go, and Java, offering flexibility to developers to use the language they are most comfortable with.

Possible disadvantages of Google Cloud Functions

  • Cold Start Latency
    Functions may experience cold start latency when they have not been invoked for a while, leading to higher initial response times.
  • Limited Execution Time
    Cloud Functions have a maximum execution timeout (typically 9 minutes), making them unsuitable for long-running tasks or processes.
  • Vendor Lock-In
    Heavily relying on Google Cloud Services can make it difficult to migrate to other cloud providers, leading to potential vendor lock-in.
  • Complexity in Local Testing
    Testing cloud functions locally can be challenging and may not fully replicate the cloud environment, complicating the development and debugging process.
  • Limited Customization
    Less control over the underlying infrastructure might pose challenges if you require specific customizations that are not supported by Cloud Functions.

Cast.ai features and specs

  • Monitoring
  • Analytics and Reporting
  • Analytics dashboards
  • Managed Services
  • Cloud Technology

Google Cloud Functions videos

Google Cloud Functions: introduction to event-driven serverless compute on GCP

More videos:

  • Review - Building Serverless Applications with Google Cloud Functions (Next '17 Rewind)

Cast.ai videos

Ep 160 Cast.ai and Kubernetes Challenges with Leon Kuperman, CTO and Co-Founder of Cast.AI

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Google Cloud Functions and Cast.ai)
Cloud Computing
83 83%
17% 17
Cloud Hosting
88 88%
12% 12
Developer Tools
48 48%
52% 52
Backend As A Service
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Google Cloud Functions and Cast.ai

Google Cloud Functions Reviews

Top 7 Firebase Alternatives for App Development in 2024
Google Cloud Functions is a natural choice for those looking to migrate from Firebase while staying within the Google Cloud ecosystem.
Source: signoz.io

Cast.ai Reviews

We have no reviews of Cast.ai yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Google Cloud Functions should be more popular than Cast.ai. It has been mentiond 47 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Google Cloud Functions mentions (47)

  • Exploring Serverless APIs: A Guide for Developers
    Google Cloud Functions bases pricing on Invocations, runtime, and memory with competitive free tier options. - Source: dev.to / 22 days ago
  • Get Started with Serverless Architectures: Top Tools You Need to Know
    Google Cloud Functions Google Cloud Functions is a scalable serverless execution environment for building and connecting cloud services. It provides triggers automatically, with out-of-the-box support for HTTP and event-driven triggers from GCP services. There are two types of Google Cloud Functions: API cloud functions and event-driven cloud functions. The API cloud functions are invoked from standard HTTP... - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Stay Compliant, Mitigate Risks: Understanding AML/KYC as a technologist
    Ensure that the processing and throughput requirements of your AML/KYC solutions can handle appropriately sized volumes of data and transactions for your organization’s needs efficiently. A microservices architecture using tools like Docker or Kubernetes for proprietary systems can help to ensure scalability, allowing you to scale individual components as needed. Exploit load balancing and caching mechanisms to... - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Next.js Deployment: Vercel's Charm vs. GCP's Muscle
    Data-Driven Projects: Seamless integration with Google's data and AI/ML services (like Cloud Functions and Cloud SQL) streamlines development workflows for data-driven applications. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Is Serverless Architecture Right For You?
    The first reason is that serverless architectures are inherently scalable and elastic. They automatically scale up or down based on the incoming workload without requiring manual intervention through serverless compute services like AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, or Google Cloud Functions. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
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Cast.ai mentions (24)

  • What is the role of QoS for Pods?
    There are tools CastAI (https://cast.ai/) and KubeCost (https://www.kubecost.com/) which helps you get these values. I haven't tried it personally, but they are promising. There are other tools as well. One of the approach OP suggested, monitor the values over a period of time to determine the right requests value, is really good one. I would modify it a bit. Generally take the p95 value for requests and 1.5-2x... Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Kubernetes Cost Monitoring
    Not sire if this helps but someone just showed me this free tool that looks at cost for Kube https://cast.ai/. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Is k8s Kops preferable than eks?
    Curious about what about cast.ai sets it apart for you? I went with spot because it is owned by a big company and knew it wasn't going to disappear. I think cast was still in invite only mode, as well. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Scheduled spindown/up of clusters?
    I found that cast.ai seems to have this functionality but am wondering if there is a free option. Also pursuing gMaestro but they're not available on arm64 yet. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Reducing AWS costs?
    If you're using Kubernetes, CAST AI is the fastest way to significantly reduce your compute bill and keep it there. It manages compute capacity automatically and has dedicated support to get you started even faster. The best part - Kubernetes cost monitoring and security insights are free. Source: over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Google Cloud Functions and Cast.ai, you can also consider the following products

Google App Engine - A powerful platform to build web and mobile apps that scale automatically.

OpenShift - OpenShift gives you all the tools you need to develop, host and scale your apps in the public or private cloud. Get started today.

Salesforce Platform - Salesforce Platform is a comprehensive PaaS solution that paves the way for the developers to test, build, and mitigate the issues in the cloud application before the final deployment.

CloudStack - Apache's CloudStack is a Project backed by Citrix and designed to be a direct competitor to...

AWS Lambda - Automatic, event-driven compute service

Docker Compose - Define and run multi-container applications with Docker