VPS and app hosting
Render
Best for: full-stack apps that need servers and workers.
- From
- $7/mo
- Free plan or trial
- Yes
- Checked
- Oct 18, 2026
Overview
- Compared on: VPS and app hosting
Best for
- Full-stack apps that need servers and workers
- The closest like-for-like move from Railway
What's good
- Static sites deploy free on a global CDN, with pull request previews
- Hobby workspace is $0, with up to 25 services and 2 custom domains
- Runs always-on web services and background workers, not only functions
- Hobby workspace is $0 a month plus compute, with up to 25 services
- Compute is billed by the second, and instances go up to 12 CPU / 96 GB RAM
- Static sites are free; Pro ($25/month) adds autoscaling and full-stack previews
Watch out for
- Free web services spin down after 15 minutes without traffic and take about a minute to wake
- Hobby includes 5 GB of bandwidth a month, then $0.15/GB; free Postgres expires after 30 days
- Free Postgres expires 30 days after creation; Hobby includes 5 GB bandwidth, then $0.15/GB
Where we compare it
- Vercel alternatives$7/month (Starter web service, 0.5 CPU, 512 MB); Hobby workspace $0
- Railway alternatives for hosting an AI app$7/month (smallest paid web service, 0.5 CPU / 512 MB)
Render pricing
- $7/month (Starter web service, 0.5 CPU, 512 MB); Hobby workspace $0from Vercel alternatives, checked Oct 18, 2026
- $7/month (smallest paid web service, 0.5 CPU / 512 MB)from Railway alternatives for hosting an AI app, checked Oct 17, 2026
Prices in US dollars from Render's own site, checked Oct 18, 2026: render.com/pricing, render.com/docs/free
Free plan
750 free instance hours/month; free web service 512 MB RAM; free Postgres (1 GB)
Free plan
Render Free instances (Hobby workspace)750 free instance hours/month; free web service 512 MB RAM; free Postgres (1 GB)
- Web services spin down after 15 minutes without traffic (about 1 minute to wake)
- Free Postgres expires 30 days after creation (14-day grace to upgrade)
- Free Key Value (25 MB) doesn't persist data to disk
Render alternatives
Other tools on our VPS and app hosting page, cheapest first where prices compare.
Fly.io
Vultr
Hostinger
UpCloud
DigitalOcean
Kamatera
Akamai Cloud (Linode)
AWS LightsailFAQ
How much does Render cost?
$7/month (Starter web service, 0.5 CPU, 512 MB); Hobby workspace $0 (checked Oct 18, 2026 on Render's own site).
Does Render have a free plan?
Yes: 750 free instance hours/month; free web service 512 MB RAM; free Postgres (1 GB).
What are the best alternatives to Render?
Other VPS and app hosting options we've checked: Fly.io ($2.19/mo), Vultr ($2.50/mo), Hostinger ($2.99/mo), UpCloud ($3.50/mo).
This page is built from the prices and facts we checked on each tool's own site. We haven't tested Render hands-on.How we work