Cloud Education
Oracle OCI Always Free Tier: What You Get for Free in 2025
OCI Always Free — No Expiry
OCI Always Free resources are permanently free — no time limit unlike AWS 12-month or GCP limited free tiers.
Compute
| Resource | Always Free | AWS Equivalent Cost |
|---|---|---|
| A1.Flex ARM VMs | 4 OCPU = 8 vCPU, 24GB RAM total | ~$65/month |
| E2.Micro AMD VMs | 2x micro instances | ~$10/month |
| Block Volume | 2x 50GB | ~$8/month |
A1.Flex: configure as 1 VM with 4 OCPU/24GB, or 4 VMs with 1 OCPU/6GB each. Run a small Kubernetes cluster or production web app completely free.
Databases Always Free
- Autonomous Database ATP: 2 databases, 1 OCPU each, 20GB each
- Autonomous Data Warehouse: same specs
Other Always Free Services
- Object Storage: 20GB
- Load Balancer: 1 flexible LB 10Mbps
- API Gateway: 1M calls/month
- Notifications: 1M per month
Free Complete Stack
Web server + App server + Autonomous DB + Load Balancer + Storage = $0/month forever. AWS equivalent: ~$120/month.
OCI Always Free is the best starting point for developers and startups. The ARM compute allowance alone is worth hundreds per year.
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