Free-tier scenario
Free Docker hosting: what each tier allows
A free container can mean a durable allowance, a monthly credit, or a trial with a fixed end date. Separate those states before checking sleep, storage, build, network, and paid escape limits.
The short answer
Use a free container offer for a demo, portfolio service, or interruptible job only after its sleep, storage, build, network, and expiry rules fit. A trial or signup credit is temporary access, not a durable free plan, so keep the first paid month beside the free result.
Compare current free offers
16 provider offers, with the limits that matter
Start with the limit your app is most likely to hit. A large allowance is not useful if the service sleeps, the trial expires, or the paid step is unpredictable. Unknown details stay marked as unclear instead of being treated as free or unlimited.
Checked against provider pages on .
Free offer
Sleep behavior unclear 30-day $5 trial, then perpetual Free with $1 monthly non-rollover credit No card required Some details unclearFirst limit to check
If App Sleeping is mandatory, an outbound-idle service sleeps after more than 10 minutes. Otherwise a 512 MB always-on service exhausts $1 in about 6 days.Paid option
Hobby: $5/monthFree offer
Sleeps after 15 minutes Web service is perpetual; free Postgres expires after 30 days. No card requiredFirst limit to check
An otherwise idle web service sleeps after 15 minutes.Paid option
Starter web service: $7/monthFree offer
Sleeps after 5 minutes 2 VM-hours or 7 days, whichever arrives first No card requiredFirst limit to check
An always-on container reaches the 2 total VM-hour limit.Paid option
Pay As You Go: price depends on usageFree offer
Sleeps after 60 minutes perpetual Card requiredFirst limit to check
An idle container sleeps after 60 minutes; an active container is constrained by 0.1 vCPU.Paid option
Eco micro: $2.68/monthFree offer
Does not sleep perpetual Sandbox Card requiredFirst limit to check
The third service exceeds the two-service Sandbox cap.Paid option
Pay-as-you-go nf-compute-20: $5.40/monthFree offer
Does not sleep Free self-hosted control plane is perpetual; hosted Dev trial is 14 days. No card requiredFirst limit to check
A hosted container reaches the 14-day trial boundary. Free includes control of one self-owned server but not its infrastructure.Paid option
Dev: $5/monthFree offer
Sleep behavior unclear Signup credit exists, but amount and expiry are unpublished. No card required Some details unclearFirst limit to check
Credit exhaustion is the likely category, but no numeric threshold is published.Paid option
Consumption pricing: price depends on usageFree offer
Does not sleep Always Free resources are perpetual; trial credit is $300 for 30 days. Card requiredFirst limit to check
For a quiet container host, idle reclamation risk arrives after seven days below all published thresholds.Paid option
Pay As You Go: price depends on usageFree offer
Does not sleep Always Free allocation is perpetual; $300 trial credit expires after 90 days. Card requiredFirst limit to check
The 1 GB monthly outbound allowance is exceeded by a 10 GB reference workload.Paid option
Paid billing account: price depends on usageFree offer
Does not sleep Free Plan lasts up to 6 months with $100 signup credit and up to $100 earnable credit. Card requiredFirst limit to check
The fixed six-month deadline arrives even if credit remains.Paid option
Paid Plan: price depends on usageFree offer
Does not sleep $200 credit expires after 30 days; selected services remain free for 12 months after upgrade. Card requiredFirst limit to check
The 30-day credit deadline arrives even if credit remains.Paid option
Pay as you go: price depends on usageFree offer
Sleep behavior unclear perpetual No card required Some details unclearFirst limit to check
A 512 MB reference container cannot fit in the 256 MB Free shape.Paid option
Shared Container: $5/monthFree offer
Does not sleep Credits expire during a specified trial period, but the current offer does not publish the duration. Card required Some details unclearFirst limit to check
The trial-period deadline is likely to arrive before a $5 Nanode consumes $100, but the current duration is unpublished.Paid option
Nanode 1 GB: $5/monthFree offer
Does not sleep Vendor conflict: 31 calendar days versus end of the following month. Card required Some details unclearFirst limit to check
The expiry clock arrives before a $0.00744 per hour xSmall instance consumes $250.Paid option
xSmall Compute: $0.01/hourFree offer
Does not sleep Campaign-dependent credit is valid for up to 30 days. Card required Some details unclearFirst limit to check
Day 30 is the only campaign-independent numeric boundary.Paid option
Cloud Compute: price depends on usageFree offer
Does not sleep $100 credit expires after 30 days. Card requiredFirst limit to check
The 30-day deadline arrives before one $4 Basic server consumes $100.Paid option
Basic: $4/month24 familiar names that do not qualify as a current free offer
| Provider | Why it is not listed above | Provider's page |
|---|---|---|
| Heroku | Free dynos were withdrawn on 2022-11-28. Container Registry support on paid dynos does not create a current free Docker offer. | Heroku's page |
| Vercel | Vercel's Hobby plan runs front ends and functions. We found nothing on its pages saying you can deploy your own Dockerfile or image. | Vercel's page |
| Netlify | Netlify's free plan deploys static sites and functions. We found nothing on its pages saying you can deploy your own Dockerfile or image. | Netlify's page |
| Platform.sh | Platform.sh now sends new users to Upsun, so it is not counted separately. | Platform.sh's page |
| Alibaba Cloud | Alibaba Cloud's free trial is $90 of credit for Elastic Compute Service (ECS), open only to new users of its computing products. That is a temporary credit, and we have not confirmed which Linux instance sizes it covers or for how long, so it is not listed here. | Alibaba Cloud's page |
| IBM Cloud | IBM Cloud's Lite plans do not include a server or container service you can deploy to. | IBM Cloud's page |
| Cloudflare | Workers Free runs code at the edge, not containers. Its free allowance does not say Cloudflare Containers are included. | Cloudflare's page |
| Cloudflare | Pages Free deploys static output and optional functions, not a user container image. | Cloudflare's page |
| Cloudflare | R2 is object storage and does not execute containers. | Cloudflare's page |
| Deno | Deno Deploy runs Deno apps. We found nothing on its pages saying you can deploy your own Dockerfile or image. | Deno's page |
| Glitch | Project hosting shut down on 2025-07-08. | Glitch's page |
| PythonAnywhere | The Beginner plan runs Python apps with limits; it does not run your own Dockerfile, image or Linux VM. | PythonAnywhere's page |
| Replit | Starter publishes one app, but Replit's plan page does not say you can deploy your own Dockerfile or image. | Replit's page |
| Supabase | Supabase's free plan is a Postgres database with backend services; it does not run your containers. | Supabase's page |
| Neon | Neon's free plan is a Postgres database; it does not run your containers. | Neon's page |
| Firebase | Spark Hosting serves static content. It does not run a user Dockerfile or OCI image. | Firebase's page |
| GitHub | GitHub Pages publishes static sites and does not run containers. | GitHub's page |
| Adaptable | We could not reach Adaptable's site or docs, so we cannot say whether it runs Docker or offers a free plan today. | No page to link |
| Leapcell | Leapcell builds your source code into its own Docker image, but its pages do not say you can bring your own Dockerfile or image. | Leapcell's page |
| Sevalla | Sevalla's free offer is static site hosting; we found no free plan for application containers. | Sevalla's page |
| DigitalOcean | App Platform runs containers on paid plans, but its ongoing free offer covers static sites only. | DigitalOcean's page |
| Qovery | Qovery can deploy containers and Helm charts, but they run in your own cloud account, which bills you separately. Its trial does not say the servers are free. | Qovery's page |
| Cloud 66 | Cloud 66's Free plan includes container deployment and build minutes, but you pay separately for the server underneath. | Cloud 66's page |
| Upsun | Upsun builds its own containers from your app's configuration. We found nothing on its pages saying you can deploy your own Dockerfile or image. | Upsun's page |
Compare the options
Match the offer to your workload
| Scenario | Works on a free tier? | What breaks first |
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio demo | Good when sleep is acceptable | Cold wake and temporary build limits |
| Webhook receiver | Only if always-reachable allowance exists | Sleep drops time-sensitive calls |
| Scheduled batch | Good when run duration fits | Credit exhaustion and timeout |
| Production API | Usually a paid workload | Quota, support, availability, surprise migration |
What changes the answer
What changes the answer
- 01Confirm whether the offer is recurring, trial-only, or a monthly credit.
- 02Test wake latency and idle shutdown against the real request pattern.
- 03Keep state outside ephemeral filesystems.
- 04Calculate the first paid month before committing to the platform.
Bill and sources
At these inputs: the same formula, assumptions and sources every visitor sees.
Use a free container offer for a demo, portfolio service, or interruptible job only after its sleep, storage, build, network, and expiry rules fit. A trial or signup credit is temporary access, not a durable free plan, so keep the first paid month beside the free result.
Formula
First paid month = compute after credit + database + persistent storage + egress + required support
Assumptions
- No uptime guarantee
- No negotiated credit
Explicit unknowns
- Future offer continuity
- Account eligibility
- Capacity and quota at runtime
Sources and freshness
- Railway pricing checked