Google Cloud Datastream

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Score6.8

Rank#6 of 28

From$0.40/mo

Free planYes

Runs onAPI, Web

Summary

Google Cloud Datastream is a serverless service for capturing and replicating data changes, with streams able to copy ongoing updates and backfill historical data. It scales automatically without requiring users to provision or manage resources. Documented sources include Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, AlloyDB, SQL Server, MongoDB, Spanner, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Workday, and Microsoft Dataverse, with some sources marked as preview. Destinations include BigQuery, Cloud Storage, and Apache Iceberg tables. Datastream also works with Dataflow templates to load Cloud Storage data into services such as BigQuery, Cloud SQL, and Spanner. Connectivity options include IP allowlisting, an SSH tunnel, and private VPC peering. Buffered data is encrypted at rest; replicated data follows destination security controls. Data is charged when processed, idle streams incur no charge, and other Google Cloud resources are billed separately. Events are delivered at least once, but their order is not guaranteed. A free tier covers 100 GiB of eligible CDC data per month per billing account.

Who it is for

Datastream suits teams that need cloud-based one-way change capture, replication, migration, or synchronization across its supported sources and destinations. It can also serve analytics and event-driven use cases.

What is good

Captures ongoing changes and backfills historical data
Scales automatically without managed resources
Supports multiple connectivity methods
Idle streams incur no processing cost

What to know first

Events are not guaranteed to arrive in order
Processed data incurs charges
Other Google Cloud resources are billed separately
Some documented sources are marked as preview

Verdict

Datastream offers automated change capture and replication with a free tier and several connectivity options. Account for processing charges and the lack of event-order guarantees when evaluating it.

Google Cloud Datastream plans and pricing

All plans

Datastream Free Tier Free 100 GiB of CDC data per month per billing account AlloyDB and Spanner sources to BigQuery · 100 GiB shared across eligible streams per billing account cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026

Datastream backfill $0.40/mo Per gibibyte processed, per month, per account First 500 GiB each month free · listed rate applies above 500 GiB · Iowa (us-central1) pricing cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026

Datastream CDC $2/mo Per gibibyte processed, per month, per account; tiered pricing 0–2,500 GiB at listed rate · higher tiers have lower per-GiB rates · pricing beyond 10 TB: contact sales cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026

Compared on database replication software

Free plan: Yescloud.google.com

Facts

Purpose: Datastream is a serverless change data capture and replication service for synchronizing data with minimal latency.docs.cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026
Replication modes: A stream can capture ongoing changes and backfill historical data from its source.cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026
Serverless: Datastream requires no resources to provision or manage and scales up or down automatically.docs.cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026
Sources: Documented sources include Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, AlloyDB, SQL Server, MongoDB, Spanner, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Workday, and Microsoft Dataverse, with some listed as preview.docs.cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026
Destinations: Supported destinations are BigQuery, Cloud Storage, and Apache Iceberg tables.docs.cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026
Integrations: Datastream integrates with Dataflow templates to load data from Cloud Storage into destinations including BigQuery, Cloud SQL, and Spanner.docs.cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026
Connectivity: Connectivity options include IP allowlisting, a forward SSH tunnel, and private connectivity over VPC peering.docs.cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026
Encryption: Buffered data is encrypted at rest, and replicated data is encrypted by default using destination security controls.docs.cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026
Credentials: User metadata is encrypted in transit and at rest, and access to it is tracked and audited.docs.cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026
Processing costs: Datastream charges for processed data; idle streams incur no cost, and other Google Cloud resources used are billed separately.cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026
Event delivery: Events are delivered at least once and their order is not guaranteed.docs.cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026
Event size limits: The documented event size limit is 20 MB for BigQuery destinations and 100 MB for Cloud Storage destinations.docs.cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026
Use cases: Google identifies analytics, database replication, migration, synchronization, and event-driven architectures as Datastream use cases.docs.cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026
Administration: Datastream can be administered through the Google Cloud console, Google Cloud CLI, and REST API.docs.cloud.google.com · 30 Sept 2026