Back4App
Managed Parse Server backend (database, auth, cloud code, real-time queries) plus Docker container hosting, both with no-card free tiers.
- Card required
- No
Back4App scores 3.8/10 for free value in Apps. The main constraint: Free BaaS plan (no card): 25,000 requests/month, 250 MB database storage, 1 GB file storage, and 1 GB data transfer; separate free Containers tier gives one 0.25 CPU / 256 MB RAM container with 100 GB transfer.
Free value score
3.8 / 10Show the math
Key metrics
What you get
Open-source Parse Server backend with user auth, ACLs, cloud code functions, and Live Query (WebSocket) real-time subscriptions
No credit card required for either the BaaS free plan or the Containers (CaaS) free tier
Containers free tier deploys directly from GitHub or a custom Dockerfile with 100 GB transfer included
No time limit, no ads, and no forced sleep on the free tiers
Gotchas
- 25,000 requests/month
The free BaaS plan allows 25,000 API requests per month; cloud code function calls and queries made inside them also count toward this quota. Renews monthly.
- 250 MB database storage
Free BaaS plan is capped at 250 MB of database (data) storage.
- 1 GB file storage
Free BaaS plan is capped at 1 GB of file storage.
- 1 GB data transfer/month (BaaS)
Free BaaS plan includes only 1 GB of outbound data transfer per month. Renews monthly.
- Per-app requests/second limit
The free plan enforces a low per-application requests/second rate limit (calculated per-minute); requests beyond the limit are dropped until the trailing average falls back under the cap.
- Shared 0.25 CPU / 256 MB RAM container
The free Containers (CaaS) tier provides only 0.25 of a shared CPU and 256 MB RAM per container, suitable for testing only.
- 1 free container, USA region only
Free Containers tier is limited to a single container deployed in the USA region; no Global CDN, daily backups, or multi-region.
- 100 GB container transfer/month
Free Containers tier includes 100 GB of data transfer per month per container. Renews monthly.
- No backups / CDN / priority support on free
Daily backups, Global CDN, support tickets, and dedicated CPU are reserved for paid plans; free tiers get community/email support only.
Sources
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"Requests/Month | 25 K | 500 K | 5 M | Unlimited ... Data Storage | 250 MB ... Data Transfer | 1 GB ... File Storage | 1 GB (Free column)"
https://www.back4app.com/pricing/backend-as-a-service -
"Free $0 Per container per month: 0.25 CPU, 256 MB RAM, 100 GB Transfer, Shared CPU, Deployment from GitHub, Custom Docker containers, Community support, USA Region"
https://www.back4app.com/pricing/container-as-a-service -
"Is there a cap on the number of projects I have on the free tier? You can have up to five projects on the free tier."
https://www.back4app.com/pricing/backend-as-a-service -
"Back4App earns strong satisfaction ratings, scoring 4.8/5 across 62 G2 reviews. Users consistently highlight the ease and speed of setup, the generosity of the [free tier]"
https://devtune.ai/verticals/backend-as-a-service-realtime/back4app
