Koa.js server with low traffic, flex vs standard env

[Sean D]

Hi, I'm building a koa.js server that will handle Shopify app install requests and also database calls to Cloud Firestore from server side. I recently learned that Firebase Functions is not suitable because it deletes all cookies in Requests outside __server, which interferes which my app's installation/oAuth library.

My main concern is the start time of the server. When it is new it will not have even 1 request per minute. I hope to get it to a point where it has a few hundred requests per minute. I am ok with using an old Node.js version and the other software limitations I saw for the comparison. I am just concerned about instance startup time in low traffic settings vs the cost. I can't let someone wait 2 minutes for the server to initialize, it's too long. I want to keep costs low when the app is new and not getting any traffic. What environment do you guys recommend in this case between standard and flex?

[Jad El Houssami]

The standard environment seems to fit your needs a lot more, though you will have to settle with using Node.js as you mentioned since Koa.js is not supported.

App Engine standard will provide you with a quicker instance startup time (seconds) compared to flex (minutes). It’s also ideal if your app requires rapid scaling to a few hundred requests per minute. Lastly, it’s intended to run at minimal cost when the app is not getting traffic, it can even scale to zero instances. For more information, I invite you to visit this page which compares the two environments and their costs.

I can understand how tricky it may be to decide between the two environments so please feel free to write back if you have any more inquiries.