Quick answer
Cloud 66 - For most builders, Cloud 66 wins because its free tier is a real ongoing plan with clear caps and a simple upgrade path, while Clever Cloud is only a one-time signup credit with no published dollar value.
How the free tiers compare
These products solve adjacent but different problems. Clever Cloud is a managed hosting platform on its own infrastructure, and the free offer is just signup credit with no recurring allowance. That makes it useful for a short trial, but it is hard to treat as a lasting free tier. Cloud 66, by contrast, is a conventional free plan for deploying and managing apps on your own cloud or servers. It gives you explicit limits on servers, sites, deployments, build minutes, traffic, backups, and metrics retention, so you can actually run a small project for free and know when you will outgrow it. After free, Clever Cloud shifts into usage-based billing billed by the second, while Cloud 66 moves into fixed monthly plans starting at $23.
Clever Cloud vs Cloud 66 free tier, side by side
| Clever CloudFTV 34 | Cloud 66FTV 58 | |
|---|---|---|
| Free offer typeA is a one-time credit; B is a recurring free plan. | Free signup credit | Free tier |
| Payment card required for freeBased on ftv_no_cc_required being true for both. | No | No |
| Deployment servers on free planClever Cloud input does not publish a free server quota. | Not specified | 1 |
| Static sites on free planClever Cloud input does not publish a free static site quota. | Not specified | 1 |
| Deployments per 24 hours on free planCloud 66 free tier includes this cap. | Not specified | 5 |
| Build minutes on free planCloud 66 free tier includes build minutes. | Not specified | 50 |
| Static site traffic on free planCloud 66 free tier includes this quota. | Not specified | 1 GB |
| Team members on free planCloud 66 free tier includes one team member. | Not specified | 1 |
| Metrics retention on free planCloud 66 free tier includes 1 hour of retention. | Not specified | 1 hour |
After you outgrow the free tier
Clever Cloud is usage-based, billed by the second, with itemised monthly billing and a user-defined maximum spend cap, but the input does not provide a published dollar rate. Cloud 66 is flat-priced: the first paid tier is Developer at $23/month, then Team at $47/month and Business at $80/month. So Clever Cloud’s cost depends on consumption and cannot be calculated from the provided data, while Cloud 66 has a predictable monthly entry cost. For typical small-team use, Cloud 66 is easier to budget; Clever Cloud only becomes comparable if you already know your usage profile and the provider’s live rates.
Cost at real usage
| Usage | Clever Cloud | Cloud 66 |
|---|---|---|
| Low-usage project after free tierClever Cloud has no published unit rates in the input. | contact sales / varies by usage | $23/mo |
| Small team needing more than free capsCloud 66 Developer raises caps to 2 servers, 2 sites, 50 deployments/24h, and 200 build minutes. | contact sales / varies by usage | $23/mo |
| Larger team with more sites and trafficCloud 66 Team includes up to 4 servers, 5 static sites, and 1,000GB free static site traffic. | contact sales / varies by usage | $47/mo |
Estimates, not quotes. Usage-based rates change - verify with the vendor's pricing page before committing.
When to pick each one
Pick Clever Cloud when…
- You want to test Clever Cloud briefly without entering a payment card.
- You expect to run managed hosting, databases, or storage on Clever Cloud's own infrastructure.
- You prefer usage-based billing that scales by the second once you leave the free credits.
- You want a trial for a service where you can set a user-defined maximum spend cap.
Pick Cloud 66 when…
- You want a free plan that can support an ongoing small project, not just a trial.
- You need explicit free limits for deployments, build minutes, traffic, or team members.
- You deploy to your own cloud provider or servers and want a dashboard to manage them.
- You want a clear paid upgrade path with a published $23/month entry point.
- You care about free metrics retention, backups, and Slack support in the free tier.
Bottom line
Cloud 66 is the better default pick for most builders because its free tier is clearly defined and lasts beyond a trial, with a straightforward jump to $23/month when you outgrow it. Clever Cloud is the better choice only if you specifically want to try its managed infrastructure with no card and are comfortable with a one-time credit instead of an ongoing free allowance. If you want predictable free usage, Cloud 66 is easier to plan around.
Read the full listings: Clever Cloud and Cloud 66. Scores use the FTV methodology at /ftv. Browse more head-to-heads on /compare, or see the top-ranked free tiers on /top.