vs
Oracle Cloud Free Tier vs Google Cloud Free Tier: which free plan?
Google Cloud Free Tier has fewer strings attached on its free plan (score 85 vs 80). Oracle Cloud Free Tier can still be the better choice for the cases below.
Both checked against their official pricing pages on 1 Nov 2026.
| Type | Always-free VPS | Cloud / IaaS |
|---|---|---|
| Free-tier score | 80 / 100 | 85 / 100 |
| Card to sign up | Required | Required |
| Free plan ends | Never (trial credit: $300 for 30 days) | Never for free tier (trial credit: $300 for 90 days) |
| Sleeps when idle | Idle VMs can be reclaimed (under 20% CPU, network and memory over 7 days); idle accounts after 30 days may be suspended | No |
| Commercial use | Allowed | Allowed |
| Own domain on free | Yes | Yes |
| Free subdomain | None | None |
| Free limits |
|
|
| The catch | Free VMs must be in your home region, Arm capacity is often unavailable, and idle instances can be reclaimed. | Only 1 GB of outbound traffic per month is free, and the VM must be in one of three US regions. |
| Paid from | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Source | Official pricing for Oracle Cloud Free Tier (opens in a new tab) | Official pricing for Google Cloud Free Tier (opens in a new tab) |
Which one should you pick?
Pick Oracle Cloud Free Tier if…
- your project is: self-hosting and Docker stacks
Pick Google Cloud Free Tier if…
- your app must not sleep when idle
- your project is: cloud Run and managed services
Questions
Which is better for free, Oracle Cloud Free Tier or Google Cloud Free Tier?
Google Cloud Free Tier has fewer strings attached on its free plan (score 85 vs 80). Oracle Cloud Free Tier can still be the better choice for the cases below.
Does Oracle Cloud Free Tier or Google Cloud Free Tier need a credit card?
Oracle Cloud Free Tier: yes. Google Cloud Free Tier: yes.
What is the catch with Oracle Cloud Free Tier and Google Cloud Free Tier?
Oracle Cloud Free Tier: Free VMs must be in your home region, Arm capacity is often unavailable, and idle instances can be reclaimed. Google Cloud Free Tier: Only 1 GB of outbound traffic per month is free, and the VM must be in one of three US regions.