title: How does Google App Engine compare to web hosting plans?
body: <p>Google App Engine offers free quotas of 1 GB outbound traffic per day and 6.5 CPU-hours (based on a 1.2 GHz Intel x86 processor) per day.</p>
  
  <p>How do those free quotas compare to web hosting plans? For example, the traffic supported by the free quotas -- is that generally higher or less than the traffic supported by a typical $5/mo shared hosting account?</p>
  
  <p>Above the free quotas, Google charges $0.12 per GB outgoing traffic, $0.10 per GB incoming traffic, $0.10 per CPU-hour, $0.15 per GB storage per month.</p>
  
  <p>How do those numbers translate to normal web hosting plans? For example, the traffic that can be supported by a $40/mo VPS plan and $200/mo dedicated server plan, what would they cost on Google App Engine?</p>
  
  <p>I know it depends on a lot of factors, but if anyone has any ballpark estimates or experiences they're willing to share I'd really appreciate it.</p>
  
  <p>I'm trying to decide between App Engine and standard web hosting for a DB-backed Python site. The site will start small, but if the traffic grows I want to see which would be a better option long term.</p>