What do you like best about Google Cloud Storage?
✅ Storage classes and lifecycle policies
The tiering model is pragmatic and maps cleanly to access patterns: Standard for hot paths, Nearline for monthly access, Coldline for annual or less frequent access, and Archive for long‑term retention, with lifecycle rules to automate transitions and expiration by object age or version state.
✅Predictable, transparent pricing pages
The public pricing documentation is clear, consistently updated, and granular by region, storage class, operations, and egress, which simplifies forecasting and chargeback conversations compared with opaque request‑based models elsewhere.
✅ Security by default at the storage layer
Server‑side encryption for all objects before write, with per‑chunk DEKs (typically AES‑256) and key rotation on updates, reduces blast radius and aligns with common compliance expectations; integration with Cloud KMS covers CMEK and per‑bucket or per‑object key strategies.
✅ IAM and policy control surface
Fine‑grained IAM roles on buckets and objects, organization policies, and auditability via Cloud Audit Logs make access reviews and least privilege enforcement practical; the model is mature and well documented across Google Cloud’s security corpus.
✅ Ecosystem integrations
Seamless use with services like BigQuery external tables, Dataflow, Vertex AI, Cloud Functions, and load‑balanced static sites simplifies pipelines without extra glue layers; Google Workspace tooling often reduces friction for operational teams.
✅ Free program and on‑ramp
The Free Tier and trial program provide a low‑risk path to prototype storage patterns and validate lifecycle rules before committing larger footprints, which helps control surprises in early stages.
✅ Documentation quality
The official docs for pricing, encryption options, and operational characteristics are thorough and consistent, which speeds troubleshooting and design reviews in multi‑team environments. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.