Quick answer
Render - Render is the stronger free tier for most builders: the same 512 MB web service costs nothing to run, and Render's first paid plan starts four dollars cheaper with no service-count cap. Koyeb only pulls ahead if the bundled free Postgres database and the much larger bandwidth allowance on its paid plan matter more than that lower price.
How the free tiers compare
Both platforms give you a 512 MB web service for free, so the real differences show up once you look past the headline number. Koyeb bundles a small Postgres database into its free tier and gives its Pro plan a much bigger bandwidth allowance. Render skips the bundled database on the free web service but its Pro plan removes the fixed service and user caps entirely and costs less to start.
Koyeb vs Render free tier, side by side
| KoyebFTV 34 | RenderFTV 48 | |
|---|---|---|
| Free web service | 512 MB RAM, 0.1 vCPU, 2 GB disk (Frankfurt or Washington, D.C.) | 512 MB RAM, less than 1 CPU |
| Free-tier database | Postgres included: 5 hours of active time per month, 0.25 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 1 GB storage | Postgres and Key Value instances available at no charge, with usage limits |
| First paid plan price | Pro - $29/mo + compute | Pro - $25/mo + compute |
| Bandwidth on first paid plan | 1 TB per month included | 25 GB per month included, then $0.15 per GB |
| Services and users on first paid plan | 100 services, 10 users | Unlimited services and seats |
| Build capacity on first paid planDifferent units on each side, so this measures build throughput differently rather than a single shared quota. | 5 concurrent builds | 1,000 build minutes per month, 15 builds retained |
After you outgrow the free tier
Both platforms charge a flat platform fee on top of metered compute. Koyeb's Pro plan costs four dollars more a month than Render's Pro plan but includes far more bandwidth and a $10 compute credit. Render's Pro plan removes the service-count cap entirely and adds unlimited team seats, which matters more for a growing team than for a single side project.
Cost at real usage
| Usage | Koyeb | Render |
|---|---|---|
| A small production web service moving off the free planKoyeb caps services and users by count; Render removes both caps at the same tier. | $29/mo + compute, with 100 services and 10 users included | $25/mo + compute, with unlimited services and seats included |
| A service that needs more than a few GB of monthly bandwidthKoyeb's bandwidth allowance is much larger at the same plan tier. | 1 TB included on Pro, no extra charge until that ceiling | 25 GB included on Pro, then $0.15 per GB |
Estimates, not quotes. Usage-based rates change - verify with the vendor's pricing page before committing.
When to pick each one
Pick Koyeb when…
- You want a small Postgres database bundled free with your web service instead of a separate product to set up.
- You want more bandwidth headroom on your first paid plan: Koyeb's Pro includes 1 TB a month against Render's 25 GB.
- You want a fixed included compute credit ($10 on Pro) to offset usage as you scale.
- You are deploying from a pre-built container image rather than only a Git repository.
Pick Render when…
- You want the cheaper entry point once you outgrow the free plan: Render's Pro starts at $25/mo against Koyeb's $29/mo.
- You want unlimited services and team seats on your first paid plan instead of a fixed cap.
- You want free-tier Postgres and key-value storage alongside your web service on the same account.
- You want build minutes and retained builds counted explicitly (1,000 minutes, 15 retained builds) rather than a concurrency limit.
Bottom line
Pick Koyeb for the bundled free Postgres database and the deeper bandwidth allowance once you pay. Pick Render for the cheaper first paid plan and unlimited seats and services.
Read the full listings: Koyeb and Render. Scores use the FTV methodology at /ftv. Browse more head-to-heads on /compare, or see the top-ranked free tiers on /top.