Render

What it is

Render hosts web services, static sites, background workers, cron jobs, workflows and managed Postgres and Key Value (Redis-compatible) databases, deployed from Git or a Docker image, with preview environments, autoscaling and private networking. A Next.js app runs as a normal Node server (next start), so every Next.js feature works, but cached pages live on each instance unless you add a shared cache handler, and there are no edge functions. Workspace plans: Hobby $0 (5 GB bandwidth, 500 build pipeline minutes), Pro $25 a month (unlimited seats, 25 GB bandwidth, 1,000 minutes) and Scale $499 (1 TB), each plus compute. Extra bandwidth is $0.15 per GB and extra build minutes $5 per 1,000. Free web services get 750 instance hours a month, spin down after 15 minutes without traffic and take about a minute to wake; paid web services start at $7 a month (512 MB) and $25 (2 GB), and static sites are free to deploy. Checked on render.com November 13, 2026.

Best for

• Full-stack apps with a backend, workers and a database
• Python, Go, Ruby or Docker apps that do not fit serverless
• Teams that want fixed monthly instance prices

What we like

• Always-on servers, so no function time limits or cold starts on paid instances
• Web services, workers, cron jobs and Postgres in one dashboard
• Any language or Docker image, not only JavaScript frameworks

What to watch

• Free web services sleep after 15 minutes and take about a minute to wake
• No edge network for server rendering: pages render in the region you pick
• Bandwidth beyond the plan is $0.15 per GB, and Hobby includes only 5 GB
• Next.js ISR cache is per instance unless you set up a shared cache