I’m currently looking for a free cloud-based virtual machine, ideally something that’s “free forever” or at least comes with a long, no-strings-attached trial. I’ve already tried using Azure VMs, but even within their free trial tier, I noticed that extra resources get billed, making it less “free” than expected.
I’m primarily interested in lightweight environments for testing or development, and I don’t mind limited specs. Are there any trusted options out there that are actually free for long-term use, even if it’s just for simple workloads?
So, if you’re looking for a truly free option, I’d recommend giving Oracle Cloud a shot. They offer an Always-Free tier with virtual machine instances. You get up to 2 AMD-based VMs with 1 GB of memory each, along with block storage and outbound bandwidth.
It’s a pretty solid deal for developers and testers who need to run small apps, scripts, or host static websites. I’ve personally used this setup for several months without any unexpected charges, which is rare compared to services like Azure or AWS where the pricing can sometimes be a bit tricky.
The only thing to note is that you’ll need to track your usage to make sure you don’t go over the free resource limits, but there are no hidden fees to worry about here.
That’s a great option, @emma-crepeau !
But if you’re open to alternatives that don’t quite fit the traditional VM mold, I’d suggest considering cloud-based IDEs like Replit and Gitpod.
These offer VM-like environments but with a more streamlined, code-focused approach. Replit has a really generous free plan, supporting many languages and even hosting live apps. It’s ideal if you want a simple, fast development environment without worrying about managing infrastructure.
On the other hand, Gitpod integrates directly with GitHub and offers containerized dev environments that you can spin up from your repo in just a few seconds. While these are not exactly OS-level virtual machines, they are fantastic for coding tasks and quick testing, plus they’re easy to set up and get started with.
Both solid options, @tim-khorev!
Now, if your focus is more on cross-browser testing or running tests on different devices and browsers, I’d recommend checking out LambdaTest. It’s not exactly a traditional VM, but it offers cloud-based virtual machines specifically tailored for browser and device testing.
The free plan allows you to test websites and apps on various browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and even across different operating systems and mobile devices.
The best part is, you don’t need to manage or maintain a full VM setup—LambdaTest takes care of everything, and their environment boots up really quickly. I’ve used it for fast cross-browser tests when I needed to quickly check compatibility without the overhead of setting up a VM.