What is Cloud Endpoints?
Cloud Endpoints is Google’s API management service. The platform enables you to develop, deploy, secure, and monitor APIs on Google Cloud backends. Developers define APIs via OpenAPI specifications, or use gRPC or Cloud Endpoints Frameworks for App Engine.
Core Features
- OpenAPI and gRPC integration: API definition via standardized specifications
- Authentication: Built-in support for API keys, OAuth, and JWT
- API monitoring: Logs, metrics, and traces via Cloud Logging and Cloud Monitoring
- Developer portal: Automatically generated API documentation
- Quota management: Quotas and rate limiting per API consumer
Typical Use Cases
Mobile and Web Backends
Provide APIs for mobile apps or single-page applications. Cloud Endpoints handles authentication and protects against abuse.
Partner APIs
Provide APIs for external partners with API keys and quotas. The developer portal documents the API automatically.
Microservice Communication
Secure and monitor gRPC APIs between microservices with Cloud Endpoints. Authentication happens via service accounts.
Benefits
- No separate API gateway to operate
- Native integration with GCP compute services
- Detailed logs and metrics available automatically
- Open standards (OpenAPI, gRPC) for portability
Integration with innFactory
As a certified Google Cloud Partner, innFactory supports you with Cloud Endpoints: API design, authentication strategy, developer portal, and migration from other API gateways.
Available Tiers & Options
Standard
- OpenAPI and gRPC support
- Built-in authentication
- API monitoring via Cloud Logging/Monitoring
- Limited rate limiting features compared to Apigee
Typical Use Cases
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Cloud Endpoints?
Cloud Endpoints is an API management system from Google that helps secure, monitor, analyze, and set quotas on APIs using the same infrastructure Google uses for its own APIs.
Which API specifications are supported?
Cloud Endpoints supports OpenAPI specifications, gRPC APIs, and Cloud Endpoints Frameworks for the App Engine standard environment.
What does Cloud Endpoints cost?
Billing is based on the number of API calls per month, with a free quota for low volume. Details and current prices are available on the official pricing page.
How does Cloud Endpoints differ from Apigee?
Cloud Endpoints is optimized for GCP-native APIs and simpler to set up. Apigee offers advanced features for comprehensive enterprise API management.
Can I use Cloud Endpoints with Cloud Run?
Yes, Cloud Endpoints works with Cloud Run, GKE, App Engine, and Compute Engine as backends.
Note: All product information on this page has been compiled with care, but is provided without guarantee and may be outdated or incomplete. Cloud services evolve rapidly — features, pricing, SLAs, and availability change frequently. Authoritative and up-to-date information can only be found on the official product page of Google Cloud (official documentation). This page does not represent an offer by Google Cloud.
