What is Private Service Connect?
Private Service Connect (PSC) is Google Cloud’s solution for private network access to Google APIs and third-party services, without traffic leaving Google’s network or requiring public IP addresses. Consumers access services via internal IP addresses in their own VPC, as if the services were part of their own network.
The architecture is based on a producer-consumer model: a service producer publishes their service via a service attachment. A consumer creates an endpoint in their own VPC (an internal IP address with a forwarding rule) that references this service attachment. All traffic stays within Google’s network. Besides classic endpoints, PSC also supports interfaces, where the producer initiates the connection to the consumer network, and backends, which let load balancers reach PSC services or Google APIs.
Core Features
- Private endpoints: Internal IP addresses in your own VPC for accessing Google APIs or third-party services
- Service attachments: Mechanism for producers to make services available to consumers in a controlled way
- PSC interfaces: Let producers initiate connections to consumer networks
- PSC backends: Connect load balancers to published services or Google APIs
- Network isolation: Traffic never leaves Google’s network, no internet gateways or public IPs required
Common Use Cases
Private access to Google APIs: Organizations with strict network policies use PSC to reach Google APIs (e.g. BigQuery, Cloud Storage) without internet access or VPC peering.
SaaS and multi-tenant architectures: Providers publish their service once as a producer and make it privately available to many customer VPCs, without overlapping networks or the need for peering.
Zero-trust networking: Since access happens via internal IPs rather than public endpoints, PSC reduces the attack surface and fits zero-trust security models.
VPC Service Controls and compliance: Combined with VPC Service Controls, PSC helps reduce data exfiltration risk since data doesn’t flow over the public internet.
Benefits
- Traffic stays entirely within Google’s network
- No public IP addresses or internet gateways required
- Flexible producer-consumer architecture for SaaS providers and customers
- Reduces attack surface and supports zero-trust approaches
Integration with innFactory
As a certified Google Cloud partner, innFactory supports you with Private Service Connect: network architecture, connecting SaaS and third-party services, securing traffic with VPC Service Controls, and cost optimization.
Contact us for consulting on Private Service Connect and private connectivity on Google Cloud.
Available Tiers & Options
Standard
- Traffic stays within Google's network, no internet access needed
- Uses your own internal IP addresses for external services
- Separate producer and consumer roles for flexible architectures
- Additional costs per endpoint and data volume processed
Typical Use Cases
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Private Service Connect?
Private Service Connect (PSC) lets you privately reach Google APIs or services published by third parties from your own VPC, without traffic leaving Google's network or requiring public IP addresses. Consumers use internal IP addresses within their own VPC.
How does the producer-consumer model work?
A service producer publishes a service via a service attachment. A service consumer then creates an endpoint in their own VPC that references this service attachment through a forwarding rule. All traffic between consumer and producer flows privately over Google's network.
What is the difference between PSC endpoints and PSC interfaces?
PSC endpoints let consumers initiate connections to a producer service. PSC interfaces reverse the direction, letting producers initiate connections to a consumer network. Both variants serve different architecture patterns.
What does Private Service Connect cost?
On the consumer side, an hourly charge applies per endpoint plus a charge for data processed. On the producer side, billing is based solely on data volume processed. When using load balancers, regular load balancing charges apply on top. See the official VPC pricing page for current rates.
What is Private Service Connect typically used for?
Common use cases include private access to Google APIs without the public internet, securely connecting SaaS and third-party services, and multi-tenant architectures where a provider makes a service privately available to multiple customer VPCs.
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.
