Can I use Google API without Google Compute Engine? (Cloud SDK)

Question

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chk2rRjSn5o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMY0qDg16y4&t=491s

These series of videos use Google Compute Engine to access Google Cloud vision API.

But, I only want to use Google cloud vision API on my local computer.

I found Cloud SDK is an option but I don't understand how it works. Does it link my computer to Google Compute Engine? Then, do I still have to pay for the Engine?

To Sum up the question.

Is there any way that I only pay for Google Cloud Vision API without paying for Google Compute Engine?

Answer 1

TL;DR - Yes you can - they are separate services and you can use them either independently or combine them if needed. You pay only for what you use.

Google Compute Engine

The first youtube video link you shared is for using Google Compute Engine (GCE), which is an IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) option in Google Cloud. You can use this to set up VMs, custom networks, instance groups, load balancers and other infrastructure.

Google Cloud Vision

Google Cloud Vision is a more specific service which helps you with just Image analysis. It is a service independent of Google Compute Engine and you need not use Google Compute Engine to use the Cloud Vision APIs (although you can do that too if you wish in the future).

In other words - yes, you need not pay for Google Compute Engine to use just the Cloud Vision APIs.

Both Cloud Vision and Google Compute Engine are cloud services part of Google Cloud Platform. Both of them require first creating a project (using Google Cloud Console) and setting up billing before you can use either of those services (or in fact any of the Google Cloud services).

Trying the Cloud Vision API

• Here is a quickstart tutorial with detailed steps to try Cloud Vision API directly in the browser.

• If you prefer using Cloud SDK and the Cloud client libraries, here is a detailed example with steps.