Render vs Railway vs Northflank: free plans compared
Short version: Northflank's Sandbox is the only one of the three that stays always on, with 2 services, 2 jobs and 1 database and no card. Render gives 750 free instance hours a month, but free web services spin down after 15 minutes idle and free Postgres expires after 30 days. Railway gives a 30-day trial with $5 in credits, then $1 a month of usage.
| Tool | What you get | Limits | Card required | The catch | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northflank | The free Sandbox: 2 services, 2 jobs and 1 database with up to $20 a month of resources on Northflank Cloud, always on with no sleeping, plus 1 bring-your-own-cloud cluster of up to 12 vCPU and 48 GB. | 2 services, 2 jobs, 1 database; up to $20/month of resources on Northflank Cloud; 1 BYOC cluster up to 12 vCPU and 48 GB | No (stated by vendor) | Usage beyond the Sandbox allowance is pay as you go; Northflank says entering a card only verifies it. | northflank.com/pricing checked 2026-10-28 |
| Railway | A 30-day trial with $5 in credits, then $1 a month of free usage for small apps, up to 1 vCPU and 0.5 GB RAM per service. | Up to 1 vCPU / 0.5 GB RAM per service; 0.5 GB volume storage | No (stated by vendor) | After the trial, $1 a month covers only very small apps; the Hobby plan has a $5 monthly minimum. | railway.com/pricing checked 2026-10-28 |
| Render | 750 free instance hours a month for web services, plus a free Postgres database with 1 GB of storage. | 750 free instance hours/month; services spin down after 15 minutes idle; free Postgres expires after 30 days | Vendor doesn't say | Free web services spin down after 15 minutes without traffic, and free Postgres databases expire 30 days after creation. | render.com/docs/free checked 2026-10-28 |
Every row is taken from the vendor's official pricing page, checked 2026-10-28. "Vendor doesn't say" means the official page does not mention it. Plans change, so confirm on the vendor's site.
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FAQ
Is Render's free tier really free?
Yes, within limits. Render grants 750 Free instance hours to each workspace per calendar month. A Free web service spins down after 15 minutes without inbound traffic and takes about a minute to spin back up. Free Render Postgres databases have 1 GB of storage and expire 30 days after creation (render.com/docs/free, checked 2026-10-28).
Does Railway still have a free plan?
Yes. Railway's Free plan starts with a 30-day free trial with $5 credits, then $1 per month, with up to 1 vCPU and 0.5 GB RAM per service and 0.5 GB of volume storage. After the trial you get 1 project with up to 3 services (railway.com/pricing, checked 2026-10-28).
Which free plan does not sleep?
Northflank: its Sandbox plan says "Always on, no sleeping", with up to $20 a month of resources on Northflank Cloud (checked 2026-10-28). Render's free web services spin down after 15 idle minutes.
What about Fly.io?
We don't list Fly.io: its pricing page is pay as you go and states no free allowance for compute (checked 2026-10-28).
Do they need a credit card?
Railway's and Northflank's pricing pages say no card is needed. Render's pricing page doesn't say; its free-tier docs say that if you use up your monthly outbound bandwidth without a payment method on file, Render suspends your free services for the rest of the month.