Corrected and source-checked: 22 September 2026. The earlier comparison presented several paid services as permanent free VPS plans and included unsupported hardware specifications. Those claims have been removed. The page keeps its original URL.
A free cloud allowance can run a small project, but a signup credit, a recurring free tier and a development terminal solve different problems. Choose the type of service first. Then check the exact resources and conditions in your account before creating anything.
Which option matches your project?
| What you need | Service to investigate | Decisive check |
|---|---|---|
| Practice Linux commands | A local virtual machine or an interactive development environment | Does your work need to keep running after you disconnect? |
| A portfolio or browser calculator | Static hosting when no server-side runtime is needed | Can the project run from HTML, CSS and JavaScript files? |
| A database or scheduled background worker | A VM or managed runtime that explicitly supports the workload | Persistence, process lifecycle, backups and usage charges |
| A short cloud experiment | A time-limited free account plan or promotional credit | Expiry date, eligible services and what happens afterwards |
These are decision criteria, not provider performance rankings. This review did not benchmark servers or verify signup eligibility for every reader.
Verified categories and provider conditions
Google Cloud: a defined Compute Engine allowance
Google documents an eligible non-preemptible e2-micro VM allowance in selected US regions, plus limits on standard persistent disk and outbound transfer. The VM allowance is calculated from eligible instance hours, not an unlimited number of servers. Extra services and usage can be chargeable. Check the billing-account requirements and each attached resource; a free VM allowance does not make an entire deployment free. Google Cloud Free Program documentation.
Oracle Cloud: separate Always Free and trial resources
Oracle separates ongoing Always Free resources from a time-limited trial credit. Its documentation places Always Free compute in the tenancy's home region and says most signups require a phone number and credit card. Trial-funded paid resources are not the same as Always Free resources. Check the current eligible shapes and account conditions in the official documentation rather than copying an old CPU/RAM table. Oracle Free Tier documentation.
AWS: check the account plan and its end condition
The documented AWS Free account plan ends after six months or when its credits are consumed, whichever comes first. It is distinct from the Paid account plan. The free account closes when the plan expires, so plan your export or migration before that happens. Eligibility and offers can differ for existing accounts; inspect the plan actually shown in your billing console. AWS account-plan documentation.
DigitalOcean: signup credit is a promotion
Use the current signup-credit documentation to check the credit, expiry and billing conditions that apply to your account. A promotional balance is temporary assistance with paid services. This guide does not classify a DigitalOcean Droplet as a permanent free VPS or promise a particular promotional amount. DigitalOcean signup-credit documentation.
Akamai / Linode: promotional credit with billing conditions
Akamai's offer page describes credit for eligible new customers and requires a valid payment method. It states that usage beyond the credit is charged at standard rates. Read the offer conditions and record the expiry before deploying; the offer is not an unlimited free server. Akamai's official offer and conditions.
Hetzner and Vultr: remove the assumption of a free plan
Hetzner's cloud product page presents paid cloud hosting. The previous claim that it supplied a permanent free VPS with specified resources was unsupported. Hetzner Cloud product information.
We could not verify the earlier Vultr free-plan claim from a current permanent-free-plan specification. It has been removed. Vultr publishes separate offers and programs; an offer needs its own eligibility and expiry check before you rely on it.
What about a free VPS without a credit card?
Payment verification and hosting capability are different questions. Oracle's current documentation, for example, says most users need a card. We have not verified a universal no-card, always-on VPS offer in this review. Do not enter a made-up billing identity or use repeated trial accounts to work around eligibility rules.
If you only need a terminal for learning, first determine whether an interactive environment is sufficient. Read our Cloud Shell limits and free-VPS distinction. A browser terminal that stops or expires cannot substitute for the persistent worker your application requires.
A small worked cost check
Hypothetical example, not a provider quote: suppose a VM costs $5 per month, storage costs $2, and backups cost $1. The baseline is $8 per month before transfer, addresses or taxes. A $20 credit covers two complete months at that assumed rate, with $4 left. It does not pay for a third complete month.
Record every billable component instead of looking only at the VM price. Use the recurring-cost calculator to compare monthly and annual assumptions. Use the transfer-time calculator to plan how long moving a backup may take; it estimates time, not a provider's transfer bill.
Before deploying an unattended service
- Write down the required runtime, memory, storage, operating system and background-process needs.
- Read the current official offer and save the applicable limits and expiry date.
- Check the selected region, disk type, network transfer, IP addresses and backups individually.
- Inspect the account's billing plan and the behavior at an exhausted allowance. Do not assume an alert is a hard spending cap.
- Try a disposable deployment with no private customer data. Verify restart and persistence behavior.
- Keep an export outside the service. Set a reminder before trial expiry and prepare a destination if the experiment becomes a permanent application.
How this guide is maintained
This correction uses the official pages linked beside the relevant claims and original decision guidance. It was prepared with AI assistance and source checking. It does not claim hands-on benchmarks, guaranteed availability, or financial savings. Terms may change after the review date. Report a correction through our contact page.