Freedom251 › IT Asset Discovery Software

Google Cloud Asset Inventory

Free plan APIWeb

Visit Google Cloud Asset Inventory Alternatives Pricing

What Google Cloud Asset Inventory is

Google Cloud Asset Inventory is a cloud service for viewing, searching, exporting, monitoring, and analyzing metadata about Google Cloud assets. It supports resource management, compliance tracking, scheduled audits, analytics, and security or cost audits through web access and an API. Filters can narrow resources by location, creation time, tags, and status, and inventory data can help identify over-permissioned, publicly exposed, or unused resources. Users can search resources and IAM allow policies, query assets with BigQuery SQL, and export metadata to BigQuery or Cloud Storage. To track changes, they can set up and subscribe to a feed, with Pub/Sub used for monitoring. Asset creation, update, and deletion history is retained for up to 35 days. Access uses IAM and requires suitable permissions, such as Cloud Asset Viewer and Service Usage Consumer. Use is free, though storing generated data in services such as Cloud Storage may cost extra. It is not designed for real-time asset queries where stale or missing information could affect production availability or security enforcement.

Who it suits

It suits Google Cloud users handling resource management, compliance, scheduled audits, analytics, or security and cost reviews. It is not suited to real-time production decisions that depend on complete, current inventory data.

What it does well

Filters assets by location, creation time, tags, and status.
Queries assets with BigQuery SQL.
Exports metadata to BigQuery or Cloud Storage.
Retains asset change history for up to 35 days.

What to know first

Not designed for real-time asset queries.
Storage for produced data may incur costs.
Policy Analyzer allows 20 daily queries per organization without specified SCC access.

Limits

Asset creation, update, and deletion history is kept for up to 35 days. Policy Analyzer allows 20 analysis queries per organization per day without organization-level Security Command Center Premium or Enterprise access. Storing produced data, such as in Cloud Storage, may incur storage costs.

Plans

Plan	Billed and limits	Price
Cloud Asset Inventory	All use is free of charge; you are responsible for costs associated with storing data it produces, such as data written to Cloud Storage buckets. · Storage costs may apply	Free

As cloud.google.com lists them, read 8 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.

Getting started

Visit the Google Cloud Asset Inventory website.
Use the web service or API.
Obtain appropriate IAM permissions to view asset metadata.
Set up and subscribe to a feed to monitor asset changes, if needed.
Export metadata to BigQuery or Cloud Storage, if needed.

Verdict

Google Cloud Asset Inventory offers search, exports, and change monitoring for Google Cloud metadata at no charge for the service itself. Account for IAM permissions, possible storage costs, and the stated limit on real-time use.

Questions

Is Google Cloud Asset Inventory free?

Yes. All use is free of charge, though storing produced data, such as in Cloud Storage, may have separate costs.

Which platforms does it support?

Google Cloud Asset Inventory is available through web access and an API.

What can I search or export?

You can search resources and IAM allow policies, query assets with BigQuery SQL, and export metadata to BigQuery or Cloud Storage.

How long is asset history retained?

Asset creation, update, and deletion history is kept for up to 35 days.

What permissions are needed to view metadata?

Viewing asset metadata requires appropriate IAM permissions, such as the Cloud Asset Viewer role and Service Usage Consumer role.

Can it be used for real-time production decisions?

It is not designed for real-time asset queries where missing or stale data could affect production availability or security enforcement.

Facts from Google Cloud Asset Inventory's own pages

Access control: Cloud Asset Inventory uses IAM, and viewing asset metadata requires appropriate permissions such as the Cloud Asset Viewer role and Service Usage Consumer role. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
Change monitoring: You can monitor asset changes by setting up and subscribing to a feed; the documentation describes monitoring with Pub/Sub. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
Consistency limitation: Cloud Asset Inventory is not designed for real-time asset queries where missing or stale data could affect production availability or security enforcement. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
Discovery and audits: You can filter resources by metadata such as location, creation time, tags, and status, and use inventory data to find over-permissioned, publicly exposed, or unused resources. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
History: Asset create, update, and delete history is kept for up to 35 days. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
Integrations: Cloud Asset Inventory provides exports to BigQuery and Cloud Storage and asset change monitoring with Pub/Sub. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
Intended users: Google describes the service for work such as resource management, monitoring, compliance tracking, scheduled audits, analytics, and security or cost audits. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
Purpose: Cloud Asset Inventory lets you view, search, export, monitor, and analyze Google Cloud asset metadata for tasks such as compliance tracking, scheduled audits, and analytics. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
Queries and exports: The service supports searching resources and IAM allow policies, querying assets with BigQuery SQL, and exporting metadata to BigQuery or Cloud Storage. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
Quota limitation: Policy Analyzer allows 20 analysis queries per organization per day without organization-level Security Command Center Premium or Enterprise access. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
Security controls: VPC Service Controls can be used with Cloud Asset Inventory to provide additional security for assets. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
Support: Google Cloud offers support packages with options such as 24/7 coverage, phone support, and access to a technical support manager. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026

Where Google Cloud Asset Inventory stands on Freedom251

IT Asset Discovery Software#9 of 26