Sustained Use Discount (SUD)
An automatic discount for running eligible VMs for a large share of the month — up to 20% on N2, N2D and C2, applied with no commitment.
Sustained Use Discounts apply automatically as a VM runs longer in a billing month: the more of the month it runs, the deeper the effective discount, up to a series maximum. They require no commitment and no action.
SUD is not in the pricing catalog — it is a billing rule. Among current-generation series, only N2, N2D and C2 (and older N1/M1/M2 at up to 30%) earn it; the flat series — E2, N4, C3, C3D, C4, C4A — have lower on-demand rates instead and no SUD. This explorer labels the SUD-adjusted column "at 100% monthly use", the maximum a full-month VM reaches.
FAQ
Do I need to do anything to get sustained use discounts?
No. On eligible series (N2, N2D, C2) the discount applies automatically based on how much of the month the VM runs. The "effective at 100% monthly use" column shows the maximum.
Why do E2 and C4 show no sustained use discount?
Those series use flat on-demand pricing instead — the rate is already lower, so there is no separate sustained-use discount to apply.
More GCP pricing terms
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