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Earthly vs Google Cloud SQL

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit EarthlyFull review
Google Cloud SQL logo

Google Cloud SQL

Databases

Fully managed relational database service for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit Google Cloud SQLFull review

The short version

  • Earthly is free; Google Cloud SQL starts at $25/mo.
  • Only Earthly lists policy as code; only Google Cloud SQL lists high Availability.
  • Where Earthly falls short: pricing model not published; requires sales contact.
  • Where Google Cloud SQL falls short: locked into Google Cloud ecosystem with limited cross-cloud portability.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and Google Cloud SQL actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and Google Cloud SQL differ
AttributeEarthlyGoogle Cloud SQL
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websiteUsage-based
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsDatabases
Founded20202008

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Earthly

  • Policy as code
  • Multi-stage enforcement
  • AI agent governance
  • Repository-wide policies
  • Incident response automation
  • Compliance management
  • Earthfiles build tool
  • Satellites

Only in Google Cloud SQL

  • High Availability
  • Automated Backups
  • Point-in-time Recovery
  • Encryption
  • Regional/Zonal Instances
  • Read Replicas
  • Private IP
  • BigQuery

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Earthly

  • Enforcing engineering standards across AI and human developersnot Google Cloud SQL
  • Automating incident response procedures across all repositoriesnot Google Cloud SQL
  • Embedding compliance requirements into development workflowsnot Google Cloud SQL
  • Standardizing build processes with Earthfilesnot Google Cloud SQL

Google Cloud SQL

  • Transaction processingnot Earthly
  • Data storagenot Earthly
  • Application backendnot Earthly
  • Reportingnot Earthly
  • Data analyticsnot Earthly

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Earthly

  • Pricing model not published; requires sales contact
  • Earthly Lunar is a recent launch (2025) with limited track record
  • Primarily GitHub-focused; limited integration with other platforms
  • No public documentation on pricing or feature tiers

Google Cloud SQL

  • Locked into Google Cloud ecosystem with limited cross-cloud portability
  • Pay-as-you-go pricing can become expensive with unpredictable workloads
  • Limited customization options compared to self-managed databases

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

Google Cloud SQL

Free
  • Free TierFree
    • db-f1-micro instance
    • 30GB storage
    • Limited usage
  • Standard$25/mo
    • High availability
    • Automated backups
    • Point-in-time recovery

Which should you pick?

Choose Earthly if

  • You need policy as code.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want multi-stage enforcement.
Earthly review

Choose Google Cloud SQL if

  • You need high availability.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want automated backups.
Google Cloud SQL review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or Google Cloud SQL better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and Google Cloud SQL at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or Google Cloud SQL?
Earthly starts at Free and Google Cloud SQL at Free.
Does Earthly or Google Cloud SQL run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, API. Google Cloud SQL runs on Web.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Earthly best used for?
Earthly is most often used for enforcing engineering standards across ai and human developers, automating incident response procedures across all repositories, embedding compliance requirements into development workflows, standardizing build processes with earthfiles. Of those, enforcing engineering standards across ai and human developers and automating incident response procedures across all repositories are not what Google Cloud SQL is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that Google Cloud SQL cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. Google Cloud SQL covers High Availability, Automated Backups, Point-in-time Recovery, Encryption.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Earthly: What is the difference between Earthfiles and Earthly Lunar?

Earthfiles is an open-source build tool that reached 12,000 GitHub stars and is used by companies like NVIDIA, Intel, and Databricks. Earthly Lunar is a separate governance platform launched in 2025 for enforcing standards across development workflows.

Source
Google Cloud SQL: What database engines does Google Cloud SQL support?

Google Cloud SQL supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server. Users can choose their preferred engine when provisioning an instance and Google handles automated backups, replication, patching, and scaling.

Source
Earthly: How does Earthly Lunar enforce standards?

Lunar converts engineering standards, compliance requirements, and processes documented in AGENTS.md files, wikis, and incident postmortems into enforceable guardrails that apply consistently across repositories and development stages.

Source
Google Cloud SQL: Does Google Cloud SQL have a free tier?

Google Cloud SQL does not have a free tier, though new users receive free trial credits from Google Cloud Platform. Pricing is based on compute resources (CPU and memory) and storage used, with options for committed use discounts.

Source
Earthly: What is the pricing for Earthly Lunar?

Pricing is not published on the website. Interested customers should contact Earthly's sales team for current pricing and feature tiers.

Source
Google Cloud SQL: Can Google Cloud SQL scale automatically?

Yes. Cloud SQL automatically scales database storage and compute resources to handle increased workloads without manual intervention, and includes automated backups and high availability configurations.

Source
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