Heroku has just announced the discontinuation of its free hosting plan. This means that many side projects will have to move from Heroku to another service. You also need to be aware of the best free alternatives.

You may discover something you didn’t know existed and it will meet your needs.

This article’s goal is to show you the many options that you can choose from, based on certain facts and the features they offer. Let’s get started.

Amazon AWS

It is the most popular option in the community for hosting large projects. You can choose from a wide range of services, such as VPS.

If you need to scale your project in the future, then you don’t have to change platforms or services. All these extras are paid for and you will need to charge an amount to access them.

It has an array of 1 year free plans that are virtually limitless and tailored to specific needs and specs. AWS Lambda is another service that is free forever and offers up to 1,000’000 requests and 3,2 million seconds of calculations per month.

It is not for beginners because it can be difficult to set up. But it’s still possible.

The numbers may seem insignificant, but they will be more than sufficient for your side project or blog. Check it out

Google Cloud

Google is another big name when it comes to web hosting and services. Google offers a wide range of services for all types of hosting.

Google has made a good choice in this instance. Every new user who starts using its services will receive 300$ in credit on the platform. You can use your free credit after you start your trial.

For small projects, $300 is a lot of money. It’s enough to cover years (at least five if your platform isn’t scalable). If you don’t grow much, you will not have to pay for premium services for a very long time. You will know if you are going to use up all of your free credits if you never do.

It is the best option for anyone who wants to start a business, as it allows you to scale in a way that works best and you can leave whenever you like, without having to pay upfront hosting fees.

Dokku

Dokku offers a smaller option. It’s a black4app-based service that is designed to handle backend projects. It’s a complete service that is very similar to Heroku and has a free plan.

The subscription includes a maximum of 250k requests per month, 250MB Data Storage, 1GB File Storage and Data Transfer, and only one app. Remember that third-party databases are available if desired.

The best option isn’t the best, but it is the most user-friendly and flexible. You can also switch to paid options at any time in the future. It’s cheap and easy. Check it out. Start right.

Fly.io

Fly.io is another suitable option. It is very popular and convenient in many ways.

You can download up to two apps free of charge in the Trial Plan. It also offers 2,340 hours of computation per month, making it one of our best free plans. This plan offers 1GB of storage for free and 160 GB per month of bandwidth.

It is possible to add as many as 10 active certifications. This can be a lot but can help to prevent security issues and other problems.

This platform has amazing specs and they can be upgraded easily. If you choose to pay, you can get a PostgreSQL Cluster. With the power you get for free and what is available, your side project will be more secure. It’s perfect.

Render.com

This platform is also incredible, and its strength lies in its adaptability to any project. There are many free plans available, all of which relate to a specific service. You may or may no longer want to use them.

It offers a free static site service that includes up to 100GB bandwidth, unlimited collaborators and automatic Git integration. It is also great for front-end developers’ projects.

It has a free plan for the backend that includes HTTP 2, full TLS, and private services. There is also a Docker container, which is unique to the free plan. It also has an SSD disk that you can get from another service within the same platform.

It gives you a free PostgreSQL database with daily automated backups. You can connect from anywhere, and it comes with 1GB of SSD. The last service, if you’re a performance fan, is Redis. It gives you an instance for free with all of the pluses and perks of the case.

Render.com is the place to go if you want everything on a free plan. If necessary, it is easy to upgrade to a paid-for plan. It is also a platform that’s easy to use. Try it.

Netlify

It’s the most popular platform for online front-end applications, even if it isn’t the most equipped. It is also very easy to use, connect to Github, and upgrade when needed.

You get up to 100GB of bandwidth per month, and you can create a collaborative site. It’s almost instantaneous and very performant. There is also the option to roll back any version.

This platform is ideal for front-end developers who are just starting and need to get their projects ready. Upgrades are easy and can be done on the same platform, if necessary. You won’t regret starting here.

Vercel

This is a platform that’s perfect for front-end designers and their projects. It has a beautiful and intuitive interface, is easy to use and offers many benefits. It comes with its own CLI Integrations to help you deploy most simply and efficiently.

This is a unique and amazing feature, with 100GB of bandwidth free, CI/CD built-in for future integrations an automatic HTTPS/SSL protection layer, previews for each git push, and an automatic SSL security layer.

This is enough to manage your front-end app, even for a small side project. You won’t regret using it. It is intuitive and simple.

The conclusion of the article is:

The best hosting services offer a free plan for your project. There are many other hosting services and opportunities.

I have written about platforms that I use because I’ve used them in my work or for my projects, or I’ve been told by someone I trust that they are great platforms.

Check them out if you are looking for something similar.