In today’s cloud-driven world, accessing cloud computing resources has become essential for developers, businesses, and individuals alike. Many leading cloud service providers offer Free Cloud Computing Server options, often referred to as “free tiers,” allowing you to explore their platforms, develop and test applications, or even host small projects without initial costs. This guide provides an overview of the free cloud server offerings from major cloud providers, helping you navigate the landscape and find the best fit for your needs.
Leading Cloud Providers Offering Free Tiers
When it comes to free cloud computing servers, several industry giants provide compelling options. Here’s a breakdown of what you can expect from some of the top players:
1. AWS Free Tier
AWS Free Tier is a popular starting point, offering a range of services under its free tier program.
Always Free:
- Amazon DynamoDB (NoSQL): Get started with NoSQL databases using 25 GB of free storage.
- AWS Lambda (FaaS): Ideal for serverless computing, AWS Lambda provides 1 Million free requests per month.
- Amazon SNS: Manage notifications effectively with 1 Million free publishes per month.
2. Azure Free Tier
Azure Free Tier from Microsoft provides a combination of credits and always-free services.
Free for Limited-time:
- Credit: New users often receive a US$200 credit to explore Azure services for 30 days.
- 12 Months Free: Access popular services like virtual machines and storage for 12 months.
Always Free:
- 54+ Services: Beyond the limited-time offers, Azure boasts over 54 services that are always free within defined limits.
3. Google Cloud Free Tier
Google Cloud Free Tier offers both free trial credits and an “Always Free” tier.
Always Free:
- Compute VM: Get a taste of Google Compute Engine with 0.25 vCPU and 1 GB RAM, available in specific US regions (us-west1, us-central1, and us-east1).
- Includes 30 GB of standard persistent disk and 1 GB of network egress (excluding China and Australia, premium tier).
- Also offers 200 GB of network egress to any region in the standard tier (with potentially increased latency).
- BigQuery (SQL): Analyze data with 1 TB of querying and 10 GB of storage each month.
- Cloud Storage: Store your data with 5 GB-months of regional storage (US regions only) per month.
4. Oracle Cloud Free Tier
Oracle Cloud Free Tier stands out with its generous “Always Free” offerings.
Free for Limited-time (30-day free trial):
- Credit: Receive US $300 credit for 30 days to explore a wider range of services.
- Compute Instances: Utilize up to eight instances across all available services.
- Storage: Get up to 5 TB of storage during the trial period.
Always Free:
- Compute:
- AMD-based VMs: 2 AMD-based VMs with 0.25 vCPU and 1 GB RAM each.
- Arm-based VMs: 4 Arm-based VMs with 24 GB RAM total, 3,000 OCPU hours, and 18,000 GB memory hours per month. (Note: 1 Oracle OCPU = 2 vCPUs)
- Storage: 2 Block Volumes Storage, 200 GB total.
- Object Storage: 10 GB Object Storage – Standard, 10 GB Object Storage – Infrequent Access, and 10 GB Archive Storage.
- Network Egress: 10TB of network data egress/month per originating region.
- Database: 2 Oracle Autonomous Databases (including APEX and SQL Developer) with 20GB storage each.
- NoSQL Database: NoSQL Database with 25GB storage per table, up to 3 tables.
- Load Balancing: 4 Load Balancers (1 Flexible (10Mbps) and 3 Network).
- Monitoring and Notifications: Essential tools for managing your cloud resources.
5. Alibaba Cloud Free Trial
Alibaba Cloud Free Trial provides opportunities to test their services, particularly if you are targeting Asian markets.
Try Over 40 Products for Free: Offers worth $450-$1300 USD.
Up to 12 Months Usage: Benefit from up to 12 months of free usage for Elastic Compute Services.
6. IBM Cloud Free Tier
IBM Cloud Free Tier provides credits to explore their platform.
Free for Limited-time:
- Credit: Receive US$200 credit for 30 days to experiment with IBM Cloud services.
7. DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean is known for its simplicity and developer-friendly interface, though specific long-term free tiers are less common. Keep an eye out for promotional offers.
Free for Limited-time: DigitalOcean occasionally offers free credits for new users.
8. Hetzner Cloud
Hetzner Cloud is a European provider known for its competitive pricing.
Free for Limited-time: Hetzner sometimes provides free credits as promotional offers.
9. Render
Render focuses on simplifying web application deployment.
Free for Limited-time: Render occasionally offers free credits.
Always Free:
- Static Site Hosting: Host static websites for free.
- Web Service: Free web service instances with limited resources.
- Redis & PostgreSQL: Free managed Redis and PostgreSQL databases with limitations.
- Resource Limits: 0.1vCPU, 512MB of RAM, 100GB bandwidth, 750 hours of running time per month for free services.
10. Netlify
Netlify is popular for static site hosting and serverless functions.
Free for Limited-time: Netlify sometimes offers free credits.
Always Free:
- Static Site Hosting: Robust free tier for hosting static websites.
11. JFrog
Jfrog Free Tier offers solutions for DevOps and software distribution.
Free for Limited-time: 30-day trial for Self-Hosted options.
Always Free:
- Storage & Transfer: 2GB Storage, 10GB Transfer/month.
- CI/CD Minutes: 2,000 CI/CD Minutes/month.
12. Salesforce
Salesforce Free Tier is a leading CRM platform offering trials.
Free for Limited-time: 30-day free trial of Salesforce.
Always Free (with limitations):
- Listware for Salesforce: 1,000 free credits during a 30-day trial of the Listware app.
13. OpenShift
Interactive Learning Portal by Red Hat offers learning and trial environments.
Try out Openshift 4 cluster for free: Openshift 4 Trial – Explore OpenShift Container Platform.
14. Linode
Linode is known for its developer-focused cloud services.
Free for Limited-time: Linode occasionally offers promotional credits for new users.
15. Container Hosting Service
Container Hosting Service provides specialized container hosting.
Currently Free: Check their website for ongoing free offers.
16. Cloudflare
Cloudflare is a leading provider of CDN, security, and serverless services.
Always free on basic plan:
- DNS & CDN: NS server with DNS delegation and CDN for delegated domains.
- Storage & Database: 10GB R2 (S3 compatible object storage) and D1 (serverless SQL database).
- Security: SSL offloading and Web Application Firewall.
- Serverless: Workers & Pages – serverless functions.
17. OVHcloud
OVHcloud is a European cloud provider with a global presence.
Free for Limited-time:
- Credit: 200€ or equivalent for 30 days on all public cloud resources.
Always free: Check their website for specific always-free offerings.
18. Tencent Cloud
Tencent Cloud is a major cloud provider, particularly strong in Asia, offering multiple server locations in regions like Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and more.
Free for Limited-time: Check their free tier page for current limited-time offers.
Always Free:
- Networking: Elastic Network Interface (ENI) and Virtual Private Cloud (VPC).
- Auto Scaling (AS): Automatically adjust resources based on demand.
- VPN connections: Securely connect to your cloud resources.
19. Vercel
Vercel is optimized for frontend developers and Jamstack architectures.
Always free:
- Framework Support: Supports 35+ frontend frameworks.
- Global Edge Network: Fast content delivery worldwide.
- CI/CD & Git Integration: Automatic deployments from Git repositories.
- Serverless Functions: Functions (Serverless, Edge) for backend logic.
- Starter Database: Basic KV and Postgres databases.
- Web Analytics: Built-in web analytics.
20. Zeabur
Zeabur aims to simplify cloud deployment and hosting.
Always free:
- Serverless & Static Sites: Free hosting for serverless functions and static websites.
- Data Transfer: 10GB outbound data transfer per month.
Always free for developer plan:
- Developer Plan Benefits: 100GB outbound data transfer per month and US$ 5 usage fee per month.
Conclusion
Exploring free cloud computing server options is an excellent way to start your cloud journey, whether you’re learning new technologies, prototyping applications, or hosting personal projects. Each provider offers a unique set of free cloud server services, so carefully review the “Always Free” and “Limited-time” offers to find the best free cloud computing resources to match your specific requirements. Remember to check the terms and conditions of each free tier to understand the limitations and avoid unexpected charges as your usage grows.
