1,000 credits/month; extra 500-credit packs cost $5.
- Free option
- Free: 300 credits per month with a hard stop. Commercial use is allowed; enough for a small site with modest traffic and few production deploys.
- Why it fits
- Static sites and frontend apps that deploy from Git and want a generous, mature workflow.
- How deploys work
- Connect the Git repo; pushes build and deploy automatically with previews for every pull request.
- The tradeoff
- The credit system makes bills hard to predict — traffic, deploys, and compute all drain one pool.
- The managed database bills on top of this estimate.
One always-on Flex 1GB app instance reaches a $12 monthly compute cap; the $5 usage credit offsets the $5 Starter fee.
- Free option
- New Starter subscriptions get their first month free; after that, Starter costs $5/month and includes $5 in monthly usage credit.
- Why it fits
- Laravel teams that want the framework, database, queues, scheduler, cache, and deploy workflow managed as one platform.
- How deploys work
- Connect a Git repository or run cloud ship; Laravel Cloud builds the supported runtime and deploys every push with zero downtime.
- The tradeoff
- The excellent Laravel experience comes from an opinionated runtime, so arbitrary containers and server-level access are out.
- The managed database bills on top of this estimate.
Move to Standard ($25, 1 CPU / 2 GB) if 512 MB gets tight; a managed database adds more.
- Free option
- Hobby workspace: $0 — static sites, free web services (0.1 CPU, 512 MB), a 30-day free Postgres, a 25 MB free key-value store, 5 GB bandwidth, 500 build minutes, 1 seat.
- Why it fits
- Apps and APIs that want git-push deploys with a fixed, understandable instance price.
- How deploys work
- Connect the Git repo; Render builds and deploys on push, with Docker support and instant rollbacks.
- The tradeoff
- The workspace-plus-services model means several line items, and bandwidth overage is pricey.
- The managed database bills on top of this estimate.
