Render
Runs normal web services and background workers.
- Card required
- No
Render scores 4/10 for free value in Apps. The main constraint: Free options may sleep; paid plans are better for always-on agents.
Free value score
4.0 / 10Show the math
Key metrics
What you get
Free options may sleep; paid plans are better for always-on agents.
Simple backend service without managing a VPS.
Gotchas
- Web services sleep when idle
Free web services spin down after inactivity and cold-start on the next request, adding latency and making them unsuitable for always-on workloads.
- 0.1 CPU, 512 MB RAM
Free web services get only 0.1 vCPU and 512 MB RAM, which is severely limited for anything beyond a small hobby service.
- Free Postgres expires after 30 days
The free PostgreSQL database tier has a hard 30-day limit after which the database is deleted unless upgraded to a paid plan.
- No custom domains on free services (HTTP only)
Free services get a render.com subdomain; custom domains require a paid plan.
- No SLA, no HA, no autoscaling
Free tier has no uptime SLA, no high-availability options, and no auto-scaling — paid tiers required for production-grade deployments.
- Free Redis: 25 MB storage, 50 connections
The free Key Value (Redis) instance is capped at 25 MB storage and 50 simultaneous connections, resetting only if the instance is re-created.
- Free Postgres: 256 MB, 100 connections
The free PostgreSQL instance is limited to 256 MB RAM, 0.1 CPU, and 100 connections — sufficient only for light development workloads.
- No private networking on free tier
Private service-to-service networking is unavailable on free compute plans; services communicate over the public internet.
- Shared / deprioritized build pipelines
Free workspaces use shared build infrastructure with lower priority; builds may queue behind paid workspaces.
Sources
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"Render grants 750 Free instance hours to each workspace per calendar month"
https://render.com/docs/free -
"Render spins down a Free web service that goes 15 minutes without receiving any inbound traffic... A Free web service spins back up whenever it next receives an HTTP request or new WebSocket connection. This process takes about one minute."
https://render.com/docs/free -
"Free Render Postgres databases expire 30 days after creation. An expired Free database is inaccessible unless you upgrade it to a paid instance type. After a Free database expires, you have a grace period of 14 days to upgrade it to a paid instance type. After the grace period, Render deletes the database"
https://render.com/docs/free -
"I'm thrilled to announce that Render has raised $100M in an extension of our Series C, valuing the company at $1.5B... brings our total funding to $258M. With 4.5 million+ developers now on Render and more than 250,000 new developers joining every month"
https://render.com/blog/series-c-extension
