Cloud host with free web services that sleep after 15 minutes, plus free static sites and a 30-day Postgres.
Sniffed 3d agoNo card needed#paas#web-services#static-sites#postgres#free-tier
Free web services spin down after 15 minutes idle and take about a minute to wake. Render hosts web services, static sites, databases and background workers. Static sites are always free to deploy, and Free compute plans cover web services, Key Value instances and Postgres databases. Render's free docs spell out the limits: a Free web service spins down after 15 minutes without inbound traffic and takes about a minute to spin back up, each workspace gets 750 free instance hours a month, there is no persistent disk, no SSH and no scaling past one instance, and outbound SMTP ports 25, 465 and 587 are blocked. Free Postgres has 1 GB of storage, no backups, and expires 30 days after creation with a 14-day grace period. Reddit posters describe cold starts of 30 seconds or more on free services, and G2 reviewers list cold starts on free and lower tiers as a pain point.
Free tier quotas
Static sites
Always free to deploy
Free web service idle behavior
Spins down after 15 minutes without inbound traffic. Spins back up on the next HTTP request or WebSocket connection in about a minute
Instance hours
750 free instance hours per workspace per calendar month. Spun-down services do not use hours
If hours run out
All Free web services are suspended until the start of next month
Free Postgres
1 GB, one per workspace, expires 30 days after creation, 14-day grace period to upgrade, then deleted. No backups
Free Key Value
One per workspace, in memory only. Data is lost when the instance restarts
Not on Free web services
Scaling past one instance, persistent disks, edge caching, one-off jobs and SSH or shell access
Blocked ports
Free web services cannot send outbound traffic on ports 25, 465 or 587
Last sniffed Oct 22, 2026. Always confirm on the official pricing page.
👍 Good boy
+Static sites are always free to deploy, per the pricing page.
+Free web services, Postgres and Key Value are available at no charge, so a small full stack can run for $0 while you prototype.
+The free docs are unusually specific about limits, from the 15-minute spin-down to the 750 instance hours and the 30-day Postgres expiry.
+Spun-down services do not consume the 750 free instance hours, so a low-traffic app can last the month.
+A r/node commenter said they use Render for all their production services and that it has been great, though they noted free machines are much slower than paid ones.
+Free web services stay on a normal Render deploy flow, with outbound bandwidth and build pipeline minutes counted against your monthly included amounts.
👎 Watch out
−Cold starts are the top complaint. The docs say about a minute to spin up, and a r/vibecoding poster reported 30+ seconds to boot a Node process. A G2 reviewer called cold starts on free and lower-tier services their biggest pain point.
−Free Postgres expires 30 days after creation and is deleted after a 14-day grace period unless you upgrade, and it has no backups, per the docs.
−Free Key Value is in-memory only, so a restart or maintenance deletes its data, and upgrading to paid also loses the data.
−Render can restart Free services and databases at any time and may suspend a Free web service that initiates an uncommonly high volume of outbound traffic.
−No persistent disk, SSH or one-off jobs on Free web services, and outbound SMTP ports are blocked, so email-sending apps need an HTTP email API.
−A r/Hosting poster said a FastAPI and Pandas app ran painfully slowly on the free tier compared with local, which matches the 'free machines are much slower' comment.
The catch
Free web services sleep. After 15 minutes without inbound traffic they spin down, and the next request waits about a minute while they start, according to the docs. Reddit posters report 30+ second boots for heavier Node apps.
Free Postgres is a trial database: 1 GB, one per workspace, no backups, and it expires 30 days after creation. After expiry you have a 14-day grace period to upgrade before Render deletes it. Free Key Value instances keep data in memory only.
Free usage also touches bandwidth and build minutes. If you use all of your outbound bandwidth, Render bills a supplementary amount, or suspends Free services for the month if you have not added a payment method. I could not confirm the signup card requirement or commercial terms, and I did not capture Hobby or Professional workspace prices.
What’s included
✓Free static sites
✓Free web services with 750 instance hours
✓Free Postgres (30-day expiry)
✓Free Key Value (in-memory)
✓Git-based deploys
✓Ephemeral filesystem on Free
✓Paid persistent disks
✓Paid scaling beyond one instance
Free tier value
Generosity
B
Estimated value
750 free instance hours, free static sites and a small free Postgres
Feature parity
Paid compute adds scaling, persistent disks, shell access and no spin-down.
Screenshots
HomepagePricing page
Paid plans
Paid compute plans
Remove the Free limits: no spin-down, persistent disks, scaling beyond a single instance, edge caching, one-off jobs and shell access. Instance prices were not captured here.
Paid Postgres
Upgrade a Free database to a paid compute plan to keep it past 30 days. Free databases have no backups and no managed connection pooling.
Workspace plans
The pricing page lists workspace tiers, including a network-isolated environments tier at $30 a month. Check the page for Hobby and Professional prices.
Common questions
Is Render free?
Static sites are always free to deploy, and Free compute plans cover web services, Key Value and Postgres at no charge with limits.
Why is my Render free service slow to respond?
Free web services spin down after 15 minutes without inbound traffic and take about a minute to start again on the next request.
How long does Free Postgres last?
30 days after creation, followed by a 14-day grace period to upgrade before the database and its data are deleted.
How many free instance hours do I get?
750 per workspace per calendar month. Spun-down services do not use hours, and unused hours do not roll over.
Can free services send email over SMTP?
No. Free web services cannot send outbound traffic on ports 25, 465 or 587.
Change history
Checked October 22, 2026
Pricing page and the Free docs read in full. G2 pros and cons theme and Reddit threads read as excerpts. Workspace plan prices, card requirement and commercial terms were not captured.
