Overview
Render is the closest thing to classic Heroku among current platforms: connect a repository, pick a service type and an instance size, and it builds and deploys on every push. Web services, private services, background workers, cron jobs, workflows and static sites share a private network per region with managed Postgres and Redis-compatible Key Value.
Since April 2026 pricing has three layers. The workspace plan is flat: Hobby is free for one person and up to 25 services, Pro is $25 a month with unlimited members, Scale is $499 with SSO and HIPAA workspaces. Compute is a fixed price per instance (Starter $7 for 512 MB, Standard $25 for 2 GB, up to 32 GB instances), and bandwidth is metered at $0.15/GB after 5 GB (Hobby) or 25 GB (Pro).
The free instance type is for evaluation. Free web services spin down after 15 minutes without traffic and take about a minute to wake, lose local files on restart, and cannot attach disks. Free Postgres expires after 30 days and is deleted 14 days later unless upgraded.
Services are placed in one of five regions (three US, Frankfurt, Singapore) and cannot be moved later, so pick the region next to your users and database at creation.
Pricing and plans
Free tier · no card
Hobby workspace: free static sites, free web services (512 MB, 0.1 CPU) that spin down after 15 minutes idle within 750 instance hours a month, one free Postgres (1 GB, expires after 30 days) and one free 25 MB Key Value; 5 GB bandwidth, 25 services max.
At the limit Pauses Free web services are suspended until next month when the 750 hours run out; extra bandwidth is billed only if a card is on file.
Sleeps when idle Expires No backups| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Hobby workspace | $0/mo + compute | 1 member, 25 services, 5 GB bandwidth, 2 custom domains |
| Pro workspace | $25/mo + compute | Unlimited members, 25 GB bandwidth, autoscaling, full-stack previews, SOC 2/ISO reports |
| Scale workspace | $499/mo + compute | 1 TB bandwidth, SAML SSO, SCIM, HIPAA workspaces |
| Enterprise | Custom | Uptime SLAs, technical account manager |
| Starter instance | $7/mo | 512 MB RAM, 0.5 CPU |
| Standard instance | $25/mo | 2 GB RAM, 1 CPU |
| Postgres Basic-256mb | $6/mo | 0.1 CPU, 256 MB, storage $0.30/GB |
What it does
- Service types
- Web services with WebSockets, private services, background workers, cron jobs, static sites and durable workflows (beta).
- Managed Postgres
- From $6/mo, with point-in-time recovery on paid plans, read replicas and high availability on Pro instances.
- Key Value
- Redis-compatible cache and queue store from $10/mo with persistence; a 25 MB free instance without persistence.
- Previews
- Single-service previews on Hobby; full-stack preview environments for every pull request on Pro and above.
- Blueprints
- Describe services, databases and env groups in render.yaml and deploy them as infrastructure as code.
- Autoscaling
- Horizontal autoscaling on CPU and memory targets from the Pro workspace plan.
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Fixed instance prices make monthly compute cost easy to predict.
- Workers, cron jobs, databases and web services on one private network.
- Flat workspace pricing with unlimited members from $25/mo.
- Frankfurt region for EU data residency.
Limitations
- Free web services sleep after 15 minutes idle and take about a minute to wake.
- Free Postgres databases expire after 30 days and have no backups.
- Only 5 GB of bandwidth is included on Hobby and 25 GB on Pro; more costs $0.15/GB.
- A service's region cannot be changed after creation, and private networks do not span regions.
- Horizontal autoscaling requires the Pro workspace plan.
Who it suits
Good for
- Teams leaving Heroku who want the same model
- Full-stack apps with workers, cron and Postgres
- Startups that want predictable per-instance pricing
Look elsewhere if
- Always-on free hosting
- Bandwidth-heavy apps (per-GB overage adds up)
- Apps that need regions outside the five offered
Pricing history
-
Render replaces per-seat plans with flat workspace plans and cuts included bandwidth
Announced and effective for new workspaces 23 April 2026 (legacy workspaces moved on 1 August 2026): Pro is $25/month flat (was Professional at $19 per member), Scale $499 (was Organization at $29 per member). Included bandwidth fell from 100 GB to 5 GB on Hobby and from 500 GB to 25 GB on Pro, with overage now $0.15/GB instead of 100 GB blocks. Source ↗
Alternatives to Render
| Tool | From | Free option | Stages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netlify Frontend and serverless platform | $9/mo | Free tier | |
| Cloudflare Workers (incl. Pages) Edge serverless platform | $5/mo | Free tier | |
| Northflank Kubernetes-based PaaS | $2.70/mo | Free tier | |
| Vercel Frontend and serverless platform | $20/mo | Free tier | |
| Google Cloud Run Serverless containers | Usage-based | Free tier | |
| Clever Cloud European managed PaaS | €6/mo |
Questions
Does Render still have a free tier?
Yes. Static sites are free, and free web services run within 750 instance hours a month but spin down after 15 minutes idle. Free Postgres lasts 30 days.
How much does Render cost for a small production app?
A Starter web service is $7/mo and the smallest paid Postgres is $6/mo, on the free Hobby workspace; teams add the $25/mo Pro workspace.
How much bandwidth does Render include?
5 GB a month on Hobby, 25 GB on Pro and 1 TB on Scale, then $0.15 per GB.
Which regions does Render have?
Oregon, Ohio, Virginia, Frankfurt and Singapore. Static sites are served from a global CDN.
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