title: Google Cloud Functions
category: page
slug: google-cloud-functions
sortorder: 0541
toc: False
sidebartitle: Google Cloud Functions
meta: Google Cloud Functions is a serverless compute service.


[Google Cloud Functions](https://cloud.google.com/functions/docs/concepts/overview) 
is a [serverless](/serverless.html) compute service that executes arbitrary 
code. However, at this time Google Cloud Functions is a beta service that 
does not work with Python. 

[Amazon Web Services (AWS) Lambda](/aws-lambda.html) is currently a good 
alternative until Google Cloud Functions supports Python.

<div class="well see-also">The Google Cloud Functions service is an implementation of the <a href="/serverless.html">serverless</a> concept. Learn how these pieces fit together in the <a href="/deployment.html">deployment</a> chapter or view the <a href="/table-of-contents.html">table of contents</a> for all topics.</div>


### Google Cloud Functions resources
* [Serverless Cost Calculator](http://serverlesscalc.com/) estimates
  the amount that AWS would charge based on Lambda exeuctions, 
  average execution time and memory needed per execution. 

* [Microsoft Azure Functions vs. Google Cloud Functions vs. AWS Lambda](http://cloudacademy.com/blog/microsoft-azure-functions-vs-google-cloud-functions-fight-for-serverless-cloud-domination-continues/)
  gives an overview of these three serverless cloud platforms and
  compares their current capabilities.

* [Getting Started With Google Cloud Functions and MongoDB](https://thecodebarbarian.com/getting-started-with-google-cloud-functions-and-mongodb.html)
  explains how to connect a
  [Google Cloud Function](/google-cloud-functions.html) to a persistent
  [MongoDB](/mongodb.html) data store.

* [Running End to End tests as Google Cloud Functions](https://hackernoon.com/running-end-to-end-tests-as-google-cloud-functions-f5e34ffc3984)
  provides the code and a walkthrough for running a headless Chrome 
  instance in a serverless Cloud Function to perform browser-based tests.
