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SPECIFICTION
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Google Cloud Pub/Sub

cloud.google.com

From $40/mo Free plan WebAPI
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Spec score 8.1 #7 of 26 in Schema Registry Software

What it is

Google Cloud Pub/Sub is a cloud messaging service for asynchronous communication between services that produce messages and those that process them. It is intended for service-to-service use, including streaming analytics, data integration, middleware, and parallel task queues, rather than direct communication with end users or IoT clients. Communication typically has latency around 100 milliseconds. Synchronous cross-zone replication and per-message receipt tracking provide at-least-once delivery; Dataflow supports exactly-once processing of Pub/Sub streams. There are no shards or partitions, and provisioning scales automatically after quota is set. Message controls include seek and replay, dead letter topics, and attribute-based filtering. Pub/Sub offers fine-grained access controls, end-to-end encryption, and HIPAA compliance. It supports REST and gRPC APIs and client libraries for seven languages; API keys are not supported for authentication. The maximum message size is 10 MB. The free monthly tier is free for the first 10 GB of data per month. Pay-as-you-go is $40 a month beyond 10 GB, with throughput listed at $40 per TB and storage at $0.27 per GiB-month.

Spec sheet

Intended users
Pub/Sub is intended for service-to-service communication rather than direct communication with end-user or IoT clients.Read 1 Oct 2026 · docs.cloud.google.com
Integrations
Google Cloud integrations include Dataflow, BigQuery, Cloud Storage, Cloud Functions, Cloud Run, App Engine, Cloud Logging, Cloud Monitoring, Workflows, and Eventarc.Read 1 Oct 2026 · cloud.google.com
Security
Pub/Sub offers fine-grained access controls, end-to-end encryption, and HIPAA compliance.Read 1 Oct 2026 · cloud.google.com
Headquarters
Mountain View, California, United StatesRead 28 Sep 2026 · cloud.google.com
Founded
1998Read 28 Sep 2026 · cloud.google.com
APIs and libraries
Pub/Sub uses standard gRPC and REST APIs and provides client libraries for several languages, with the product page stating seven languages.Read 1 Oct 2026 · docs.cloud.google.com
Authentication
Pub/Sub supports client libraries, the Google Cloud CLI, and REST, and does not support API keys as an authentication method.Read 1 Oct 2026 · docs.cloud.google.com
Automatic scaling
Pub/Sub has no shards or partitions and uses automatic provisioning after you set your quota.Read 1 Oct 2026 · cloud.google.com
Delivery reliability
Synchronous cross-zone message replication and per-message receipt tracking provide at-least-once delivery at any scale.Read 1 Oct 2026 · cloud.google.com
Exactly-once processing
Dataflow supports reliable exactly-once processing of Pub/Sub streams.Read 1 Oct 2026 · cloud.google.com
Latency
Pub/Sub communication typically has latencies on the order of 100 milliseconds.Read 1 Oct 2026 · docs.cloud.google.com
Message controls
Pub/Sub supports seek and replay, dead letter topics, and attribute-based message filtering.Read 1 Oct 2026 · cloud.google.com
Messaging service
Pub/Sub is an asynchronous and scalable messaging service that decouples services producing messages from services processing them.Read 1 Oct 2026 · docs.cloud.google.com
Support resources
Google Cloud provides Pub/Sub documentation, community forums, support, release notes, and system status resources.Read 1 Oct 2026 · docs.cloud.google.com
Third-party integrations
Listed third-party integrations include Splunk, Datadog, Informatica, Confluent Cloud, Apache Kafka, Elastic, Databricks, and ServiceNow.Read 1 Oct 2026 · cloud.google.com
Use cases
Pub/Sub is used for streaming analytics, data integration pipelines, service integration middleware, and parallel task queues.Read 1 Oct 2026 · docs.cloud.google.com

Plans and prices

Free usage allowance Free 10 GiB throughput Read 20 Sep 2026 · cloud.google.com
Pay-as-you-go throughput $40 a month After the first 10 GiB per calendar month Standard message delivery throughput Read 20 Sep 2026 · cloud.google.com
Free monthly tier Free monthly First 10 GB of data per month Read 1 Oct 2026 · cloud.google.com
Pay-as-you-go $40 a month usage-based monthly Beyond 10 GB: $40 per TB · storage $0.27 per GiB-month Read 1 Oct 2026 · cloud.google.com

Every Google Cloud Pub/Sub plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • At-least-once delivery uses cross-zone replication and receipt tracking.
  • No shards or partitions; provisioning scales automatically after quota setup.
  • Supports REST and gRPC APIs with seven-language client libraries.
  • Includes replay, dead letter topics, and attribute-based filtering.
  • Offers fine-grained access controls and end-to-end encryption.

Limits

  • Not intended for direct end-user or IoT communication.
  • API keys are not supported for authentication.
  • Maximum message size is 10 MB.
  • Throughput is listed at $40 a month beyond 10 GB.

Who it suits

Pub/Sub suits teams connecting backend services, analytics, integration pipelines, or task queues. It is not intended for direct communication with end-user or IoT clients.

Verdict

Pub/Sub specifies delivery, scaling, message controls, supported protocols, and a maximum message size. Its listed free tier covers the first 10 GB monthly, with paid throughput and storage charges also stated.

Where Specifiction places it

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