Render

Heroku's spiritual successor, without the surprise bill.

8.2/10

At a glance

Vendor: Render
Pricing: Free tier (sleeps when idle); Starter web services from $7/mo; managed Postgres from $7/mo; Pro workspace $25/mo
Free tier: Yes
Best for: Heroku's spiritual successor, without the surprise bill.

Our verdict

Predictable pricing and a real free tier make Render the sane default for side projects that might quietly become businesses.

Pricing: Free tier (sleeps when idle); Starter web services from $7/mo; managed Postgres from $7/mo; Pro workspace $25/mo · Vendor: Render

Scores

★★★★☆8.2/10

Ease Of Use9/10

Performance & Reliability8/10

Speed8/10

Value8/10

Pros & cons

Pros

Genuinely free tier for demos and prototypes
Fixed per-service pricing = bills you can budget
Managed Postgres and Key Value
Auto-deploys on every git push

Cons

Free services sleep after 15 min — cold starts hurt
Tier jumps are steep ($7 → $25 → $85)
Fewer regions than the biggest PaaS names

📡 On our radar: we re-check this tool's pricing and feature set against official sources on a rolling basis. Last site-wide refresh: 2026-09-29. Prices change fast — confirm on the official site before buying.

FAQ

Is Render worth it?

Predictable pricing and a real free tier make Render the sane default for side projects that might quietly become businesses.

How much does Render cost?

Free tier (sleeps when idle); Starter web services from $7/mo; managed Postgres from $7/mo; Pro workspace $25/mo. Prices change — check the official site for the latest.

What is Render best for?

Heroku's spiritual successor, without the surprise bill.

Related tools

App Platforms

● Tracked

Railway

Push to deploy: the simplest PaaS for full-stack apps.

★★★★☆8.5/10

Read review →

App Platforms

● Tracked

Fly.io

Run containers at the edge, worldwide.

★★★★☆8.5/10

Read review →