Google Developer Program Introduces New Features, But They Come at a Cost

In June, Google announced the Google Developer Program, a free program to give devs access to resources designed to help them build applications using Google services.
Google Developer Program Introduces New Features, But They Come at a Cost

In June, Google announced the Google Developer Program, a free program to give devs access to resources designed to help them build applications using Google services. Now that "millions" of devs have signed up (according to Google), the company is introducing a second, paid tier to commercialize the program.

On Monday, Google debuted Google Developer Program premium membership at $299 a year, as an upgrade from the free Google Developer Program. It offers a few benefits, including one-on-one consultations with Google Cloud experts and e-learning programs in Google's on-demand training program, Google Cloud Skills Boost.

Beyond the consultations and online courses, premium membership of the Google Developer Program offers $500 in annual Google Cloud credits, a certification voucher, and "bonus" Google Cloud credits for devs who pass an annual Google Cloud certification. That's on top of all the free program resources, including AI-powered documentation and coding tools, first dibs on new products, and workspaces in Google's IDX app development platform.

Neither of Google's closest cloud competitors, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Azure, have an individual dev plan like it. Microsoft charges for more extensive versions of its free Microsoft 365 Developer Program, which is roughly equivalent to the Google Developer Program, but is targeted mainly to business users. AWS charges extra for premium support programs that are geared more toward architectural guidance and technical assistance.

Curiously, for customers in the European Economic Region, the U.K., and Switzerland, the Google Developer Program premium membership is “restricted to business or professional use,” according to the fine print. That suggests that it’s not allowed for personal use in those countries; we’ve reached out to Google for clarification.

Assuming one is to take advantage of all benefits, Google's Developer Program premium membership should pay for itself rather quickly. But I have to imagine that some devs will be left more than a little disappointed by seeing new features locked down behind a paid tier after the search giant gave no indication it planned to charge for future enhancements to the original program.

In the coming months, the Google Developer Program will unlock new tools and resources to help you on your development journey, including additional training resources and more ways to connect with the community," Google wrote in a blog post in June. "To access these benefits, you'll just need to sign up to the Google Developer Program.

Google is pitching the Google Developer Program premium membership as a revamp of its now-defunct Cloud Innovators Plus program, which offered comparable benefits at the same $299-per-year price. Notably, Cloud Innovators Plus didn't bundle in Google Cloud Skills Boost, which Google estimates is a $299-per-year value on its own.

[T]his new offering is the next evolution of our commitment to streamlining the developer experience," Google wrote in a post on Monday, "and presents the continued investment in the Google Developer Program as the hub of benefits and resources across Google's many developer products and services.

And yet the developers complain — though it seems they're voting with their wallets, too. In its most recent fiscal quarter, Q3 of 2024, Alphabet's Google cloud business, which encompasses infrastructure as well as software subscriptions, grew 35% year-over-year to $11.35 billion. This was better than Amazon's and Microsoft's cloud businesses, though both are much larger by market share.

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2024-11-26 18:03:45