Hugging Face Spaces
Python/Gradio/Docker app host that can expose APIs and demos.
- Card required
- No
Hugging Face Spaces scores 4.1/10 for free value in Apps. The main constraint: Free CPU Spaces exist; sleeping/restarts make realtime bots unreliable.
Free value score
4.1 / 10Show the math
Key metrics
What you get
Free CPU Spaces exist; sleeping/restarts make realtime bots unreliable.
User-owned AI backend, demos, batch tools, custom agents.
Gotchas
- Sleeps after inactivity
Free-tier Spaces automatically go to sleep after a period of inactivity and cold-start on the next request, making always-on services unreliable.
- CPU Basic only (2 vCPU / 16 GB)
Free hardware is limited to 2 vCPU and 16 GB RAM; GPU acceleration starts at $0.40/hr and is not available on the free tier.
- No persistent disk
The 50 GB disk attached to free Spaces is ephemeral and wiped on each restart; persistent storage requires a paid add-on.
- No protected/private visibility on free
Protected Space visibility (private source, public app) requires a PRO or Team/Enterprise plan; free users get only public or fully private Spaces.
- Port access restricted to 80/443/8080
Outbound network requests are limited to ports 80, 443, and 8080; other ports are blocked.
- No GPU on free tier
All GPU hardware tiers (T4, L4, A10G, A100) are pay-as-you-go and unavailable on the free CPU Basic plan.
- Unlimited public Spaces
There is no published cap on the number of free CPU Spaces a user can create; usage is effectively unlimited for public demos.
Sources
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"Each Spaces environment is limited to 16GB RAM, 2 CPU cores and 50GB of (not persistent) disk space by default, which you can use free of charge."
https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-overview -
"If your Space runs on the default cpu-basic hardware, it will go to sleep if inactive for more than a set time (currently, 48 hours). Anyone visiting your Space will restart it automatically."
https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-gpus -
"ZeroGPU Spaces are available to use for free to all users. ... | Unauthenticated | 2 minutes | Low | | Free account | 5 minutes | Medium | | PRO account | 40 minutes (extensible) | Highest |"
https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/spaces-zerogpu -
"In 2025, Hugging Face grew to 13 million users, more than 2 million public models, and over 500,000 public datasets."
https://huggingface.co/blog/huggingface/state-of-os-hf-spring-2026