Is Oracle Cloud Infrastructure's Always Free ADB Instance the best deal?

Autonomous Database (ATP/ADW) · $0/mo (1 vCPU, 20 GB)

Best in class

Oracle's Always Free ADB Instance is genuinely unbeatable at $0/month with 1 vCPU, 20GB disk, and up to 2 instances per tenancy. Every paid alternative listed costs $3-$55+/month and targets different workloads (Redis, PostgreSQL, MySQL) rather than Oracle's autonomous database engine. For true free-tier database needs, this plan has no competitor.

Before you switch

Always Free tier is home-region only and lacks VCN/private endpoint support, limiting production use cases
30 concurrent session limit and 2-instance cap per tenancy may constrain scaling
Storage and OCPU/ECPU compute are billed separately once you exceed free limits, so monitor usage closely
Block Volume performance (VPU) charges apply separately from raw capacity if you add block storage
Verify your use case fits the free tier constraints before committing; migration costs from other databases can be high

This comparison is generated from publicly listed pricing and may contain errors or omissions. It is not financial or professional advice, and CloudHosting.io is not responsible for decisions made based on it. Pricing, promotions, and specs change frequently and may not reflect current terms, regional availability, taxes, or contract length. Always verify current pricing and terms directly on the provider's site before purchasing or switching.

Comparable plans across providers

Provider	Plan	Price	Specs
Heroku	Heroku Data for Redis · Mini	$3/mo	25 MB RAM	Visit
Render	Render Key Value (Redis-compatible) · Starter	$10/mo	256 MB RAM	Visit
Scaleway	Managed Database for PostgreSQL and MySQL · DB-DEV-S	$11/mo	2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10 GB SSD	Visit
Microsoft Azure	Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server · Burstable B1ms	$12.41/mo	2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU	Visit
Vultr	Managed Databases · MySQL CC-Reg 1vCPU/1GB (0 rep)	$15/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB	Visit
DigitalOcean	Managed Databases · Valkey Basic 1GB	$15/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU	Visit
AWS Lightsail	Managed Databases · 1GB Standard	$15/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 40 GB	Visit
Linode (Akamai)	Managed Databases · Shared 1 GB - Standalone	$16/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB SSD	Visit
Render	Render Postgres · Basic-1gb	$19/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU	Visit
UpCloud	Managed MySQL · Single-node 1x2GB	$30/mo	2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB	Visit
UpCloud	Managed PostgreSQL · Single-node 1x2GB	$30/mo	2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB	Visit
Fly.io	Managed Postgres · Basic	$38/mo	1 GB RAM, 2 vCPU	Visit
Heroku	Heroku Postgres · Standard-0	$50/mo	4 GB RAM, 64 GB	Visit
OVHcloud	Managed Database - MongoDB · Production DB2-2	$54.09/mo	2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU	Visit
OVHcloud	Managed Database - Valkey (Redis-compatible) · Essential DB1-4	$55.77/mo	4 GB RAM, 2 vCPU	Visit

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Comparing prices across every provider we track...