Top cloud free tiers compared

About Top cloud free tiers compared

Free cloud offers tend to come with a catch, and the catch is usually what happens after the credit runs out. This ranking covers 36 brands that publish a free plan, a free allowance or trial credits, and it sorts them on what decides a small project: the entry price, the shape of the free offer, and how far the plan reaches. Entry prices in this category spread widely, with the median at €3.68, the lower quartile at €3.07 and the upper quartile at €9.15. The free part differs more than the price does. Some brands hand out a standing plan that stays free, some fund research workloads through grants, some issue a credit with a short life, and some publish an entry price low enough that it works as the free tier on its own. Where each plan can run matters too, because a free allowance in a single market does little for a team spread across several. The ranking sets out what each brand offers, where it operates, and what you pay once the free part is spent.

How we picked

Each brand here is scored on cost, the free offer and trust, weighted at 40%, 40% and 20%. Cost covers the entry price and the price that returns once a free allowance is spent. Offer covers whether a standing free plan exists, what the allowance includes, and how billing behaves afterwards. Trust covers certifications, uptime commitments, support channels and the legal entity behind the brand. Figures come from each vendor's own pricing page, security and trust pages, product documentation, terms and privacy notices, plus corporate records for founding year. Vendor limits are kept in their own words, including qualifiers such as grant funding, an application requirement or an affiliate route. Partners are listed first by default and this ranking follows that rule, though the partner count here is 0, so the order comes from the score. The category covers 36 brands, and the ones shown here sit at the top of that set.

Our top picks

1. 1. Costimizer: best for top-pick

   Costimizer opens this ranking because its Growth plan is listed at $0 with Growth (free, up to 5 users), billed on monthly terms, so nothing is due at renewal for the seats included. A short Premium trial needs no credit card, which keeps the entry cheap to test. Trust marks cover SOC 2, ISO 27001 and GDPR and support reaches you through email, chat and phone, more channels than most of the field. The trade-off is scale, since the free plan sets its own user cap in Growth (free, up to 5 users). e-Science Central / EGI Federated Cloud, the member below, also gives compute away, but through a grant rather than a standing plan.

   • Entry price: $0
   • Entry plan: Growth (free, up to 5 users)
   • Billing models: Monthly

   Pros

   • The Growth plan sits at $0 and is free for a small group of users, so a team can stay on it without touching a paid tier.
   • Billing is monthly, so a flat cycle makes the free tier simple to keep and the next paid step easy to budget.
   • Support runs on email, chat and phone, so phone and chat sit alongside email, a help centre and a community.
   • Compliance covers SOC 2, ISO 27001 and GDPR, which lets a free account answer a vendor check without changing supplier.
   • Against paid entry points, the free Growth plan sits below Alibaba Cloud at $4 and UpCloud at €3 on what a small team pays to start.

   Cons

   • Billing is limited to monthly terms, so work priced by the hour or the second has to go to a different provider.
   • The company was founded in 2025, so a buyer weighing vendor risk has a short record to review.
   • With free tier as the only model, a team that outgrows the free Growth plan has to take the paid Premium plan, and budget entry points elsewhere start at $4 and €3.

2. AC2. Alibaba Cloud

   Alibaba Cloud sits third in this ranking because it pairs an entry price of $4 for 2 vCPU, 0.5 GiB RAM, 20 GiB ESSD system disk with a free credits offer that runs across many Elastic Compute Service products. The footprint is the widest of the group, 31 locations spanning SG, TH and MY, with vps and bare metal server types, linux and windows support and DDoS protection included. Bandwidth is capped at 200 Mbit/s maximum bandwidth, and support runs on email, chat and help centre only, with no phone line. UpCloud, ranked below, keeps a smaller footprint but adds phone support and a published uptime range.

   • Entry price: $4
   • Entry plan: 2 vCPU, 0.5 GiB RAM, 20 GiB ESSD system disk
   • Bandwidth allowance: 200 Mbit/s maximum bandwidth

   Pros

   • The entry server costs $4 and carries 2 vCPU, 0.5 GiB RAM, 20 GiB ESSD system disk, a clear spec for a modest monthly outlay.
   • 31 locations cover Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, far more than the 4 typical count here.
   • Billing runs on monthly and reserved terms, and monthly is the pattern shared by 90.8% of the brands compared.
   • Free credits sit alongside a free tier, so a project can run across products before any charge begins.
   • DDoS protection comes with the compute plans, and object storage is S3-compatible with a free quota for internet egress.

   Cons

   • Support runs on email, chat and help centre only, and phone support is not among that list.
   • Reserved commitments are the least common billing pattern, shared by 15.6% of the brands compared.
   • The entry plan is small, with 200 Mbit/s maximum bandwidth, so transfer-heavy workloads need a larger plan.

3. 4. UpCloud

   UpCloud holds its slot in this ranking on steady entry pricing and support reach: the cheapest plan is €3 for 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 10 GB SSD, billing can run hourly and monthly, and support covers email, chat and phone. A published uptime range of 99.99% to 99.999% and ISO 27001, CISPE Code of Conduct and PiTuKri give it more published detail than most of the field, across 15 locations. The catch sits on the free side, where credits run through the affiliate programme rather than a standing free plan. VPSServer.com, the member below, bundles a short service credit with DDoS protection already included.

   • Entry price: €3
   • Entry plan: 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 10 GB SSD
   • Bandwidth allowance: 250 Mbit/s

   Pros

   • Outbound data costs €0 per GB on every plan, subject to the Fair Transfer Policy, so serving downloads does not add a line to the bill.
   • The entry plan at €3 comes in below Aruba at €1.99 and UCloud at $5.34.
   • Billing runs hourly and monthly with hourly metering, so a test server can be released in the same hour it was created.
   • Servers sit in 15 locations spanning FI, NO and DK, which leaves room to place a box close to its users.
   • The managed Kubernetes control plane is free, and nodes start at €3.

   Cons

   • The highly available control plane option is priced at €60, so a cluster that needs it pays well past the free default.
   • Clusters stop at 120 nodes, a low ceiling for large estates.
   • Server types cover vps only, so dedicated hardware requirements sit outside the range.
   • Object storage at €0.02 per GB per month sits above the site median of €0.01.

4. 6. Cloud.ru (Sber Cloud)

   Cloud.ru (Sber Cloud) joins this ranking on a free balance rather than a free plan: registration credits differ by account type, with more going to legal entities and sole proprietors than to individuals. Its entry spec, 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 30 GB NVMe, 10% guaranteed vCPU share, includes a guaranteed vCPU share, which is unusual for an entry tier, and ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO/IEC 27701:2019 and ISO/IEC 27017:2015 carries a long list that includes a personal data compliance attestation. The limits are geographic, since servers run in RU across 9 locations, with uptime at 99.9%. Evolution Host below keeps DDoS protection inside the free offer itself.

   • Input price from: RUB 96.22 to RUB 829.60
   • Output price from: RUB 175.68 to RUB 288.60
   • Models offered: GigaChat3.5-432B-A28B-Reasoning, Kimi-K2.6, GLM-5.1, and 1 more

   Pros

   • The model catalogue is short and current: GigaChat3.5 432B A28B Reasoning, Kimi K2.6 and GLM 5.1, with recent entries only.
   • Long-context work fits, since the largest context window is 1,048,000.
   • The API is OpenAI-compatible, so an existing client usually needs a base URL change rather than a rewrite.
   • Registration credits offset early prototyping, and a free tier with free egress on object storage lets a small team start on trial budget.
   • Infrastructure sits in a single market, with regions in RU, which keeps data placement and latency simple for a Russia-based team.

   Cons

   • Every region listed is RU, so serving users outside that single market is harder to plan around.
   • The model list is short beside Azure AI Foundry, whose catalogue of gpt 6 astra, gpt 6 luna and gpt 6 sol covers far more families.
   • Input fees of RUB 96.22 to RUB 829.60 sit above the $0.06 entry point Salad charges, so a price-first buyer gets a cheaper start with Salad.
   • Node and storage work stays inside RU, leaving little room for cross-border failover or multi-region latency tuning.

5. 7. NeevCloud

   NeevCloud sits in this ranking on certification depth and credit value: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 9001 and ISO 27001:2022 is one of the longer lists in the group, and a free CPU Cloud credit comes on top of an entry plan of 2 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 20 GB storage. Billing flexibility is the widest here, hourly, per second and monthly, and bandwidth is Unmetered. The catch is that the credit is short lived, and the paid side starts at INR 699 for 2 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 20 GB storage from 1 location, with a 99.9% commitment. Cloud.ru (Sber Cloud), the member below, serves the same market with a smaller memory entry spec.

   • GPU models: Tesla T4, RTX 3090, A30, and 6 more
   • GPU hour from: ₹28.05
   • Billing granularity: Per second

   Pros

   • InfiniBand networking sits inside the hourly GPU price, InfiniBand networking included in the hourly price, so multi-GPU jobs carry no separate fabric charge.
   • Zero egress within the India region keeps training data and served traffic inside the India region off the transfer bill.
   • The starter CPU plan pairs INR 699 with 2 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 20 GB storage and unmetered bandwidth, Unmetered.
   • New accounts receive Rs 15,000 in free CPU Cloud credits, valid for 7 days to run a pipeline before committing spend.
   • Tesla T4, RTX 3090 and A30 covers fine-tuning cards through to H200 training parts under a single account.

   Cons

   • Compute is offered in 1 location, so failover designs need a different provider.
   • Storage types cover object only, object, so workloads that need block volumes look elsewhere.
   • Free model API requests stop at 10,000, well under the site median of 1,000,000, so evaluation traffic is metered early.
   • Tesla T4, RTX 3090 and A30 is a narrower list than SberCloud's B300, H100 and A100, so a job pinned to a part outside this catalogue needs another provider.

6. 8. VPSServer.com

   VPSServer.com earns its place in this ranking by pairing an entry price of $4 for 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 20 GB NVMe SSD with DDoS protection already included and US, CA and GB to place servers in. Transfer allowance is 5 TB/month, support covers email, chat and phone, and locations run 16 to 20. Its uptime commitment reads 99.9% to 99.95%, below UpCloud above it, and the free side is a service credit for a limited window rather than a standing plan. BizFly Cloud, ranked below, lists stronger certifications but far fewer locations.

   • Entry price: $4
   • Entry plan: 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 20 GB NVMe SSD
   • Bandwidth allowance: 5 TB/month

   Pros

   • The bandwidth allowance of 5 TB/month is generous for a VPS at the entry tier.
   • Servers sit in 16 to 20 data centres with country coverage of US, CA and GB, well above the median of 4.
   • DDoS protection is included as standard rather than sold as a separate extra.
   • Support runs on email, chat and phone, including live chat and phone.
   • Linux and Windows images are both listed in linux and windows, so a mixed environment can stay with one provider.

   Cons

   • The server type is vps only, so buyers who want bare metal from the same provider have to look elsewhere.
   • Billing is monthly and hourly, with no per-second rate and no reserved term to lock in a longer commitment.
   • The uptime commitment is 99.9% to 99.95%, a range rather than a single guaranteed figure.
   • The credit offer of Up to USD 100 service credits for 30 days covers a short window, so a longer evaluation ends on the full entry price of $4.

7. 9. Evolution Host

   Evolution Host ranks here because its free offer is generous in size: a much larger VPS with DDoS protection is given away on application, while the paid entry plan is €5 for 1 vCPU, 1 GB DDR5 RAM, 20 GB NVMe SSD with transfer of 10 TB monthly transfer, 1 Gb/s port. The uptime promise reads 100%, the highest stated in this ranking, and 15 locations cover AU, CA and DE. The trade-off is billing and support, since charges are monthly alone and support runs on email, chat and help centre only, with no phone line. AWS below offers far more reach but a thinner entry spec.

   • Entry price: €5
   • Entry plan: 1 vCPU, 1 GB DDR5 RAM, 20 GB NVMe SSD
   • Bandwidth allowance: 10 TB monthly transfer, 1 Gb/s port

   Pros

   • DDoS protection is standard, matching 97.4% of VPS brands in the ranking.
   • Transfer is the standout: 10 TB monthly transfer, 1 Gb/s port, which suits the game server use case listed under game server.
   • The entry plan spec is 1 vCPU, 1 GB DDR5 RAM, 20 GB NVMe SSD, so the cheapest server already has current generation memory and NVMe storage instead of a token starter box.
   • Free credits on application add a no cost route in, and the model is listed as free tier.

   Cons

   • Billing is monthly only, with no hourly cycle, so a short project or a traffic spike still pays for a whole term.
   • Support runs on email, chat and help centre only, with no phone line; phone is the choice for only 43.6% of listed brands, so you trade voice contact for chat.
   • The entry plan ranks 82 of 200 brands on entry price, which leaves the €5 figure in the middle of the field rather than at the cheap end.
   • Free credits are granted on application, so a no cost server comes with an approval step before you get one.

What to look for

Entry price, then the renewal

The cheapest plan in the field is listed at €0 and the dearest at €47.36, with the median at €3.68, the lower quartile at €3.07 and the upper quartile at €9.15. Check what a plan includes before the free allowance ends and again afterwards, because the renewal is where free tiers usually end.

A standing plan or a credit

Free tiers are common in this category at 92.9%, and 86.1% of brands list that as their main model. A plan that stays free is worth more than a credit that expires quickly, so weigh the shape of the offer before the headline price.

Billing cadence

Monthly billing is the most common pattern at 93.3%, with hourly billing at 56.7% and per-second billing at 16.7%. Cadence decides whether a free tier leaves you with nothing owed or with a small line on a larger bill.

Where the plan can run

The median location count is 5, the lower quartile sits at 2.5 and the top end at 39. The smallest footprints in the field sit at 1, which matters for latency and for data residency rules.

Protection and network limits

DDoS protection is included across this ranking at 100%, so treat it as something to confirm rather than assume. Server types split between 100% and 56.7%, and operating systems run 100% against 81.5%.

Support you can actually reach

Email support carries the most weight in this category at 88.9%, phone at 55.6%, community boards at 52.8% and live chat at 44.4%. A free tier with a narrow help channel costs more time than it saves money.

Frequently asked questions

Top cloud free tiers compared by country

• Brazil
• Canada
• China
• France
• Germany
• India
• Indonesia
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• South Korea
• Spain
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Vietnam

Providers compared head to head

• Rackspace vs AceCloud
• Rackspace vs e-Science Central / EGI Federated Cloud
• Rackspace vs AUCloud
• AceCloud vs e-Science Central / EGI Federated Cloud
• AceCloud vs AUCloud
• e-Science Central / EGI Federated Cloud vs AUCloud