Best free tier on an app platform.
prices as of · re-ranked daily · 5 qualifying plans
5 of the 103 rows in this index cost nothing, and they are ranked here by what the zero buys rather than by price, because they all cost the same. A tier that states a memory size comes first, largest first, and a tier that stays on comes before one that stops when nothing calls it. None of these is called cheapest anywhere on this site: free is a limit rather than a price, and the thing a free tier costs you is on the row. Prices are what one month costs in each provider's own currency converted to dollars, excluding tax. Outbound transfer, build minutes, disks and members are metered on top wherever the provider says so, and the provider page carries those rates.
The most generous free tier today is Free web service at Render, read 17 Sept 2026. It costs nothing, which is why this page never calls it cheapest.
- 1
RenderFree web service
sleeps when idle · 512 MB RAM · transfer 5 GB · members not charged · RenderFree web service: it spins down when nothing calls it and the next request waits for it to start · CPU share not stated · no disk included · limits apply, see Render's own page
- 2
NetlifyFree
always on · no size, the compute is metered · transfer not stated · 1 seat · Netlify300 credit limit a month; Netlify meters in credits, so bandwidth, compute and deploys all draw on one allowance · the allowance is a cap, not a credit you can go past
free/mo
- 3Render
Hobby workspace
sleep not stated · no size, the compute is metered · transfer 5 GB · members not charged · RenderWorkspace subscription; every instance above is billed on top of it, which is what Render's own card means by "+ compute" · seats are not charged per head
free/mo
- 4
VercelHobby
always on · no size, the compute is metered · transfer 100 GB · 1 seat · VercelFree forever, for personal and non-commercial use · one member · compute, transfer and builds run against the included allowance and stop at it, with no pay-as-you-go
free/mo
- 5
ZeaburFree
sleeps when idle · no size, the compute is metered · transfer not stated · 1 seat · ZeaburFree tier: projects run on Zeabur's shared capacity and the platform stops a service that nothing calls
free/mo
Every row here costs nothing, so the order is what the zero buys: a stated memory size first, largest first, then a tier that stays on ahead of one that stops when nothing calls it. A free tier is a limit rather than a price, which is why nothing on this site calls one cheapest.
Frequently asked
- Which app platform has the best free tier right now?
- Free web service at Render. It is first because of what the zero buys rather than because of its price: every row on this page costs nothing. Read on 17 Sept 2026.
- Which platform shows up most in this ranking?
- Render holds 2 of the top 5 places here.
- What does the price actually cover?
- One month of the plan, in the provider's own currency converted to dollars, excluding tax. Outbound transfer, build minutes, persistent disks and extra members are metered on top wherever the provider says so, and none of those rates is folded into the figure on the row: each platform's page carries them under "What the invoice adds".
- How is this ranked, and how current is it?
- Prices are read every morning from 9 platforms' own public pages and keyless APIs, and this list recomputes with them. A plan whose provider was last read more than three days ago, or that the provider shows as unavailable, keeps its place but cannot be first. Last refresh: 17 Sept 2026.