Google has launched a paid Premium tier for its own Developer Program. This version offers developers several benefits such as access to Google Cloud experts, Google Cloud credits and more. In the EEA, UK and Switzerland, the program is only available to enterprise developers.
Google Cloud recently added a paid Premium tier to its Google Developer Program launched in June this year. At its core, the Google Developer Program is a free development program that gives developers access to various resources for building applications with the tech giant’s tools.
The Premium tier costs $299 per year. Participants do get a lot in return. For example, there are more features than for the standard free program. Additional benefits for developers include one-on-one meetings with Google Cloud experts, access to e-learning programs within Google’s own on-demand training program Google Cloud Skills Boost.
Participants in the paid tier within the development program also receive $500 in Google Cloud credits annually, a certification voucher and, as a bonus, Google Cloud credits for developers who complete an annual Google Cloud certification.
Free options are still available, such as AI-supported documentation and coding tools, first previews of new products and workspaces in Google’s IDX app development platform.
Business users in EEA region only
Yet the Google Developer Program also has some limitations for those who read the fine print. The developer program is only accessible to business users in the European Economic Area – the EU, Norway and Iceland – as well as in the United Kingdom and Switzerland. This means that other developers do not have access. In response to questions from TechCrunch about this, Google has not yet responded.
Although the paid new Premium tier of the Google Developer Program now has many additional features, it also plans to add new capabilities for all participants over time. When exactly these will come is not known.
Rivals have no alternative
The premium version of the Google Developer Program is unique compared to the development programs of other hyperscalers such as Microsoft and AWS. Neither provider has such a highly personalized program. Azure has paid options to the free Microsoft 365 Developer Program, but those are aimed primarily at business end users. AWS also has premium support programs, but these focus mainly on guidance on architectures and technical support.
Also read: Vertex AI vulnerabilities left Google customers exposed