Google Fiber vs AT&T Fiber, which fiber ISP wins?

The short answer:In the overlap markets (Kansas City, Nashville, Atlanta, Austin, Salt Lake City, a handful of others), this is close to a coin flip — both deliver symmetrical fiber at honest prices with no contract. Google Fiber wins at the extremes (2 Gbps and 8 Gbps tiers are the cheapest on the market), AT&T Fiber wins on reach and bundle options.

Outside Google Fiber's ~25 metros, AT&T Fiber is the only one serving your address. Inside them, the decision comes down to whether you want the 8-Gig tier (Google wins), an AT&T wireless bundle discount (AT&T wins), or a specific router/gateway feature set.

Price at every tier

Google Fiber's Core 1 Gig at $70 matches AT&T Fiber 1 Gig at $80 — Google is $10/mo cheaper. The 2-Gig tier is where Google really separates: $100 flat vs AT&T's $110 — a ~10% difference on an identical service. At 8 Gbps, Google is $150; AT&T doesn't sell 8 Gbps to residential outside a pilot.

Performance and reliability

Both are XGS-PON fiber delivering rated speeds consistently. Our reader speed-test database shows median download at 98–102% of advertised tier for both ISPs. Latency is indistinguishable inside a given metro. Outages are rare on both — fewer than six hours per customer per year on average.

Where each one wins

AT&T Fiber covers roughly 28M homes across 21 states. Google Fiber covers ~400K addresses across ~25 metros. If you're not in an AT&T Fiber footprint (most of the Northeast, California, Pacific Northwest), Google Fiber isn't there either — in those regions you're picking between Verizon Fios, Frontier, Quantum Fiber, or regional operators.