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Render

Hosting for web services, workers and databases, priced per instance.

Priced from vendor pages
Prices checked
20 Oct 2026
Sources
1
How we check

What it is

Render runs backends, background workers and databases. You pick an instance size with a fixed monthly price, billed by the second. The free tier suits demos: free web services sleep when idle, and free databases expire.

Good for

  • Simple, fixed prices per instance
  • Free demos and prototypes

Watch out for

  • Free web services spin down after 15 minutes without traffic and take about a minute to wake
  • Free Postgres databases expire 30 days after creation
  • Team features need the Pro workspace at $25 a month plus compute

In comparisons

Render vs Railway vs Fly.io for hosting a small backend

Hobby workspace $0 + compute: Free instance, or $7/mo for 0.5 CPU and 512 MB

  • Fixed prices per instance, and a free tier that suits demos.

Free web services spin down after 15 minutes without traffic and take about a minute to wake. Free Postgres databases expire 30 days after creation.

Guides

Costs

Free plans that pause, sleep or ban commercial use

The small print on free tiers that catches people out on launch day.

2 min read · checked 20 Oct 2026

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