Spanner

Future-proof your applications with a no-compromise database

No more relational versus non-relational. Get high performance and availability at virtually unlimited scale. Remove stress from managing databases with zero-touch maintenance.


Get started with a 90-day Spanner free trial instance.

In addition, new Google Cloud customers get $300 in free credits.


Features

Write and read scalability with no limits

Spanner decouples compute resources from data storage, which makes it possible to transparently scale in and out processing resources. Each additional compute capacity can process both reads and writes, providing effortless horizontal scalability. Spanner optimizes performance by automatically handling the sharding, replication, and transaction processing.


Automated maintenance

Reduce operational costs and improve reliability for any size database. Synchronous replication and maintenance are automatic and built in. 100% online schema changes and maintenance while serving traffic with zero downtime.

PostgreSQL interface

Combine the scalability and reliability of Spanner with the familiarity and portability of a PostgreSQL interface. Use the skills and tools that your teams already know, future-proofing your investment for peace of mind. 


Automatic database sharding

Never worry about manually resharding your database again. Built-in sharding automatically distributes data to optimize for performance and availability. Scale up and scale down without interruption.

Vector search

Search vector embeddings at virtually unlimited scale in Spanner with exact nearest neighbor (KNN) vector search (in preview) for highly partitionable workloads, where each search is constrained to data associated with a particular user. These workloads are a great fit for Spanner’s built-in KNN search capabilities which allow Spanner to efficiently reduce the search space to provide accurate, real-time results with low latencies.

Vertex AI integrations

Perform online inference on embedding, generative AI, or custom models served in Vertex AI using Spanner’s ML.PREDICT SQL function. Use the Spanner to Vertex AI Vector Search Workflow to perform similarity search on your Spanner data with Vertex AI Vector Search.

LangChain integration

Easily build gen AI applications that are more accurate, transparent and reliable with LangChain integration. Spanner has three LangChain integrations—Document loader for loading and storing information from documents, Vector stores for enabling semantic search, and Chat Messages Memory for enabling chains to recall previous conversations. Visit the Github repository to learn more.

High-performance, workload-isolated query processing

Spanner Data Boost enables users to run analytical queries, batch processing jobs, or data export operations faster without affecting the existing transactional workload. Fully managed by Google Cloud, Data Boost does not require capacity planning or management. It is always hot, ready to process user queries directly on data stored in Spanner's distributed storage system, Colossus. This on-demand, independent compute resource lets users easily handle mixed workloads and worry-free data sharing. 

Strong transactional consistency

Rely on industry-leading external consistency without compromising on scalability or availability.

Single-region and multi-region configurations

No matter where your users may be, apps backed by Spanner can read and write up-to-date strongly consistent data globally. Additionally, when running a multi-region instance, your database is protected against a regional failure and offers industry-leading 99.999% availability.


Real-time change data capture and replication

Use Datastream to deliver change data from Oracle and MySQL databases into Spanner for up-to-date information. Use Spanner change streams to capture change data from Spanner databases and integrate it with other systems for analytics, event triggering, and compliance. 

Granular instance sizing

Start with Spanner with a granular instance for only $65/month and scale it based on your needs without downtime and with no need for re-architecting. 

Relational interface

Everything you would expect from a relational database—schemas, SQL queries, and ACID transactions—at any scale. Use Google Standard SQL or a PostgreSQL interface.

AI-powered code assistance

Duet AI in Spanner helps developers write SQL queries faster. It provides code suggestions to structure, modify, or query your data based on natural language prompts. Duet AI in Spanner is currently in Preview.

Rich application and tool support

Meet development teams where they are with native client libraries for Java/JDBC, Go, Python, C#, Node.js, PHP, Ruby, and C++ as well as the most popular ORMs, including Hibernate and Entity Framework.

Observability

Monitor performance of Spanner databases with metrics and stats. Analyze usage patterns in Spanner databases with Key Visualizer, an interactive monitoring tool. Use query insights for troubleshooting query performance issues and quickly diagnose lock contention issues with lock insights and transaction insights.


Enterprise-grade security and controls

Customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK), data-layer encryption, IAM integration for access and controls, and comprehensive audit logging. Support for VPC-SC, Access Transparency, and Access Approval. Fine-grained access control lets you authorize access to Spanner data at the table and column level. 

Backup and restore, point-in-time recovery (PITR)

Backup your database to store a consistent copy of data and restore on demand. PITR provides continuous data protection with the ability to recover your past data to a microsecond granularity.

Database comparison

Database attributeOther Relational DBOther Non-relational DBSpanner

Schema

Static

Dynamic

Dynamic


SQL

Yes

No

Yes

Transactions

ACID

(atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability)

Eventual

Strong-ACID

with TrueTime ordering

Scalability

Vertical 

(use a bigger machine)

Horizontal

(add more machines)

Horizontal

Availability

Failover (downtime)

High

High 99.999% SLA

Replication

Configurable

Configurable

Automatic

Schema

Other Relational DB

Static

Other Non-relational DB

Dynamic

Spanner

Dynamic


SQL

Other Relational DB

Yes

Other Non-relational DB

No

Spanner

Yes

Transactions

Other Relational DB

ACID

(atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability)

Other Non-relational DB

Eventual

Spanner

Strong-ACID

with TrueTime ordering

Scalability

Other Relational DB

Vertical 

(use a bigger machine)

Other Non-relational DB

Horizontal

(add more machines)

Spanner

Horizontal

Availability

Other Relational DB

Failover (downtime)

Other Non-relational DB

High

Spanner

High 99.999% SLA

Replication

Other Relational DB

Configurable

Other Non-relational DB

Configurable

Spanner

Automatic

How It Works

Spanner instances provide compute and storage in one or more regions. A distributed clock called TrueTime guarantees transactions are strongly consistent even across regions. Data is automatically "split" for scalability and replicated using a synchronous, Paxos-based scheme for availability.

Spanner diagram

Common Uses

User profile and entitlements

Manage critical user data securely at any scale

User profile management is a critical function that requires Spanner's scalability, availability, and global consistency. It is the entry point for players across games, platforms, and regions. Similarly financial services companies manage customer information and product offerings using Spanner.

User Profile and Entitlements architecture diagram

Manage critical user data securely at any scale

User profile management is a critical function that requires Spanner's scalability, availability, and global consistency. It is the entry point for players across games, platforms, and regions. Similarly financial services companies manage customer information and product offerings using Spanner.

User Profile and Entitlements architecture diagram

Financial ledger

Gain up-to-date, consistent view of global transactions

Unify financial transactions, trades, settlements, and positions across the globe into a consolidated trade ledger built on Spanner that guarantees external consistency and scalability. Consolidation of data helps in quickly adapting to changing market conditions and regulatory requirements. Similarly retail/ecommerce businesses use Spanner for inventory ledger.

Financial Ledger architecture diagram

Gain up-to-date, consistent view of global transactions

Unify financial transactions, trades, settlements, and positions across the globe into a consolidated trade ledger built on Spanner that guarantees external consistency and scalability. Consolidation of data helps in quickly adapting to changing market conditions and regulatory requirements. Similarly retail/ecommerce businesses use Spanner for inventory ledger.

Financial Ledger architecture diagram

Online banking

Deliver always-on interactivity for digital experiences

Consumers expect access to their critical financial data on their devices outside of regular banking hours. Allow your developers to focus on new experiences rather than operational overhead, such as manual sharding or eventual consistency. Reduce risk and downtime with 99.999% availability and zero maintenance.

Online Banking architecture diagram

Deliver always-on interactivity for digital experiences

Consumers expect access to their critical financial data on their devices outside of regular banking hours. Allow your developers to focus on new experiences rather than operational overhead, such as manual sharding or eventual consistency. Reduce risk and downtime with 99.999% availability and zero maintenance.

Online Banking architecture diagram

Loyalty programs and promotions

Personalize experiences with real-time updates

Track customer participation and preferences in a loyalty program to analyze trends and improve customer satisfaction. Similarly, game companies use Spanner for building personalized leaderboards in games.

Loyalty programs and promotions architecture diagram

Personalize experiences with real-time updates

Track customer participation and preferences in a loyalty program to analyze trends and improve customer satisfaction. Similarly, game companies use Spanner for building personalized leaderboards in games.

Loyalty programs and promotions architecture diagram

Omni-channel inventory management

Provide a consistent view across multiple channels and apps

Spanner provides a high performance, single source of truth for retail inventory and orders across online, in-store, distribution centers, and shipping to match inventory with demand, improving customer experience and profitability. Game companies similarly use Spanner to store in-game inventory data.

Omni-channel inventory management architecture diagram

Provide a consistent view across multiple channels and apps

Spanner provides a high performance, single source of truth for retail inventory and orders across online, in-store, distribution centers, and shipping to match inventory with demand, improving customer experience and profitability. Game companies similarly use Spanner to store in-game inventory data.

Omni-channel inventory management architecture diagram

Pricing

How Spanner pricing worksSpanner pricing is based on compute capacity, database storage, backup storage, and network usage. Committed use discounts reduce the price further.
ServiceDescriptionPrice

Compute capacity

Regional configuration

Compute capacity is provisioned as processing units or nodes (1 node = 1000 processing units). Regional instance pricing includes 3 read-write replicas in a single region.

Starting at

$0.09

per 100 processing units per hour

Multi-region configuration

Compute capacity is provisioned as processing units or nodes. Pricing includes all default replicas (starting at 5) and cross-region replication network usage.

Starting at

$0.30

per 100 processing units per hour

Database storage

Regional configuration

Pricing is based on the amount of data stored in the database and includes the cost of storage in replicas.

Starting at

$0.30

per GB per month

Multi-region configuration

Pricing is based on the amount of data stored in the database and includes the cost of storage in replicas.

Starting at

$0.50

per GB per month

Backup storage

Regional configuration

Pricing is based on the amount of backup storage and includes the cost of storage in replicas.

Starting at

$0.10

per GB per month

Multi-region configuration

Pricing is based on the amount of backup storage and includes the cost of storage in replicas.

Starting at

$0.30

per GB per month

Network

Ingress

FREE

Egress within the same region

FREE

Egress between regions within the same continent

Starting at

$0.10

per GB per month

Learn more about Spanner pricing and committed use discounts.

How Spanner pricing works

Spanner pricing is based on compute capacity, database storage, backup storage, and network usage. Committed use discounts reduce the price further.

Compute capacity

Description

Regional configuration

Compute capacity is provisioned as processing units or nodes (1 node = 1000 processing units). Regional instance pricing includes 3 read-write replicas in a single region.

Price

Starting at

$0.09

per 100 processing units per hour

Multi-region configuration

Compute capacity is provisioned as processing units or nodes. Pricing includes all default replicas (starting at 5) and cross-region replication network usage.

Description

Starting at

$0.30

per 100 processing units per hour

Database storage

Description

Regional configuration

Pricing is based on the amount of data stored in the database and includes the cost of storage in replicas.

Price

Starting at

$0.30

per GB per month

Multi-region configuration

Pricing is based on the amount of data stored in the database and includes the cost of storage in replicas.

Description

Starting at

$0.50

per GB per month

Backup storage

Description

Regional configuration

Pricing is based on the amount of backup storage and includes the cost of storage in replicas.

Price

Starting at

$0.10

per GB per month

Multi-region configuration

Pricing is based on the amount of backup storage and includes the cost of storage in replicas.

Description

Starting at

$0.30

per GB per month

Network

Description

Ingress

Price

FREE

Egress within the same region

Description

FREE

Egress between regions within the same continent

Description

Starting at

$0.10

per GB per month

Learn more about Spanner pricing and committed use discounts.

PRICING CALCULATOR

Estimate your monthly Spanner costs, including region specific pricing and fees.

CUSTOM QUOTE

Connect with our sales team to get a custom quote for your organization.

Start your proof of concept

Create a 90-day Spanner instance for free

Learn how to use Spanner

Create and query a database in console

Get best practices for constructing SQL statements

Dive into coding with examples

Business Case

Explore how other businesses built innovative apps to deliver great customer experiences, cut costs, and increase ROI with Spanner


How does Uber scale to millions of concurrent requests?

How does Uber scale to millions of concurrent requests?

Explore how Uber redesigned its fulfillment platform leveraging Spanner.

Watch the video

Featured benefits and customers

Grow your business with innovative applications that scale limitlessly to meet any demand.

Lower TCO and free your developers from cumbersome operations to dream big and build faster.

Get superior price-performance and pay for what you use, starting at as low as $40 per month.

  • The Home Depot logo
  • Equifax logo
  • Logo for CERC
  • Vimeo logo
  • Niantic logo
  • Colopl logo
  • ShareChat logo

Partners & Integration

Take advantage of partners with Spanner expertise to help you at every step of the journey, from assessments and business case to migrations and building new apps on Spanner.
  • Searce logo
  • Softserve
  • Sada
  • Pythian
  • Cloud Ace
  • Epam
  • Cloud Cover
  • Zencore
  • Indium
  • Persistent logo
  • 66 degrees logo
  • Searce logo
  • Softserve
  • Sada
  • Pythian
  • Cloud Ace
  • Epam
  • Cloud Cover
  • Zencore
  • Indium
  • Persistent logo
  • 66 degrees logo

Want to get more details about which partner or third-party integration is best for your business? Go to the partner directory.

FAQ

Is Spanner a relational or non-relational database?

Spanner is a highly scalable database that combines unlimited scalability with relational semantics, such as secondary indexes, strong consistency, schemas, and SQL providing 99.999% availability in one easy solution. Hence, it’s suitable for both relational and non-relational workloads.

Spanner provides two ANSI-based SQL dialects over the same rich set of capabilities: GoogleSQL and PostgreSQL. GoogleSQL shares syntax with BigQuery for teams standardizing their data management workflows. The PostgreSQL interface provides familiarity for teams who already know PostgreSQL and portability of schemas and queries to other PostgreSQL environments. For more information about the Spanner PostgreSQL interface, see our documentation.

Migration to Spanner can vary widely depending on a number of factors like source database, data size, downtime requirements, application code complexity, sharding schema, custom functions or transformations, failover and replication strategy. The recommended tooling comprises open source tools like HarbourBridge for Schema and Data migration, and third party tools for assessments like migVisor. Learn more about the migration process in our documentation.

Spanner is a fully managed database so it automatically provides comprehensive infrastructure management features, but there are some application-specific management actions that may be required depending on your workload. You will need to make sure that you have set up proper alerting and monitoring and that you are watching those closely to ensure production is always running smoothly. You need to understand what actions to take when traffic grows organically over time, or if there is peak traffic expected, or how to handle data corruption due to application bugs, and last but not least, how to troubleshoot performance issues and understand what components are responsible for increased latencies.


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