Oracle Cloud Pricing 2026
Plans, hidden costs, and cheaper alternatives compared
Is Oracle Cloud worth the price?
Oracle Cloud offers an incredibly generous Always Free tier, providing 4 Arm instances and 200GB storage at no cost, which is significantly more robust than many competitors' free offerings.
The Flex VM pricing at $0.0576 per OCPU/hour is competitive for pay-as-you-go. This pricing is particularly fair and generous for developers and small businesses looking for substantial free resources or flexible compute.
Pricing Plans
Free TrialAlways Free
Free
Free tier
- 2 AMD VMs
- 4 Arm VMs
- 200GB storage
- 10TB bandwidth
Flex VM
$0.058/OCPU/hour
Pay as you go
- Flexible shapes
- AMD/Arm
- NVMe storage
Hidden Costs & Gotchas
Data egress beyond 10TB free tier
Higher-end services not covered by free tier
Potential for complex billing with many services
Which Plan Do You Need?
Developers needing free compute
Startups on a tight budget
Users prioritizing Arm instances
How Oracle Cloud Compares to Competitors
Compared to AWS Free Tier, Oracle's Always Free offers significantly more compute with 4 Arm instances versus AWS's single t2.micro or t3.micro. Google Cloud's free tier is also more limited. Oracle's Flex VM pricing is competitive with other major cloud providers' pay-as-you-go options for similar instance types.
Oracle Cloud Pricing FAQ
How much does Oracle Cloud cost?
Oracle Cloud uses custom pricing. Contact Oracle Cloud directly for a quote based on your team size and requirements.
Does Oracle Cloud have a free plan?
Yes. Oracle Cloud offers a free plan called "Always Free". It includes: 2 AMD VMs, 4 Arm VMs, 200GB storage.
Does Oracle Cloud offer a free trial?
Yes, Oracle Cloud offers a free trial. No credit card is typically required to start the trial, though this may vary.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Oracle Cloud?
Yes. Popular alternatives to Oracle Cloud include AWS, Modelence, Softchoice. Free alternatives include Modelence. Compare them side-by-side on Toolradar.
Cheaper alternatives to Oracle Cloud
1 of 3 direct competitors below offer a free plan. Per-seat pricing varies up to 60% across this set.
