Render
Unified cloud for static sites, web services, databases, and cron jobs with auto-deploy from Git.
Use Cases
Free Tier
Static sites (free), web services (free tier with limits), PostgreSQL (1GB)
How to Maximize the Free Tier
Work around Render's 15-minute idle spin-down by using a cron job (also free on Render) to ping your service every 10 minutes, keeping it warm. The 1GB free PostgreSQL is best paired with static sites — deploy the frontend on Render's free static tier and connect it to the database. Accept that cold starts are the price of free: design your app to handle a 10-30 second initial load gracefully.
Getting Started
Sign up → connect Git repo → choose static site, web service, or cron job → set build command → add PostgreSQL via New + Database → deploy. Free web services sleep after 15 min idle.
Pros
- Full-stack unified: Hosting + PostgreSQL + cron jobs in one platform — no stitching services together
- Free PostgreSQL: 1GB PostgreSQL database free — enough for side projects, prototypes, and MVPs
- Git deploys: Auto-deploy from Git branches with automatic SSL certificate provisioning
Cons
- Cold start hell: Free web services spin down after 15 minutes of inactivity — first request after idle takes 10-30 seconds
- Bandwidth cap: Static sites limited to 100GB bandwidth/month — heavy traffic sites will need the paid plan
- No edge: No edge functions or advanced CDN controls — limited to regional deployment options