Oracle Cloud Free Tier vs Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun)
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Oracle Cloud Free Tier and Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun).
Quick Verdict
3.9/5
Oracle Cloud Free Tier
219 reviews
4.0/5
Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun)
400 reviews
Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun) is rated higher (4.0 vs 3.9). Oracle's perpetual free tier offers 2 AMD or ARM-based VMs, 20GB database storage, and 10GB object storage. Designed for developers and small projects without time limits or performance throttles. Alibaba Cloud is the dominant cloud in China and largest cloud in Asia-Pacific. Essential for any application targeting Chinese users. Compliant with Chinese regulations.
Oracle Cloud Free Tier Always-free compute, database, and storage for development and testing | Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun) Asia-Pacific and China cloud by Alibaba | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.9 (219 reviews) | 4.0 (400 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | free | freemium |
| Starting price | Free | Free tier available |
| Best for | Developers building side projects, small businesses testing applications, and teams needing always-free managed database with compute in a single platform. | Businesses needing cloud infrastructure in mainland China or the Asia-Pacific region |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tierapi accessus datacentereu datacenterapac datacenterarm processors | free tierhourly billinggpu availableeu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi access |
| Visit Oracle Cloud Free Tier → | Visit Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun) → | |
Oracle Cloud Free Tier
Pros
- + Access perpetual free resources indefinitely with no expiration
- + Run two always-free VM instances simultaneously with flexible specs
- + Includes managed databases and object storage in free tier
- + No credit card required to begin
Cons
- - Free tier compute is limited to low-power instance types
- - Network bandwidth and data transfer incur charges beyond free allowance
- - Interface complexity steeper than specialized VPS providers like Linode or DigitalOcean
Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun)
Pros
- + Only viable cloud for China market
- + Largest APAC cloud
- + $450 free credits for new accounts
Cons
- - Requires Chinese registration for China regions
- - Complex compliance for non-Chinese companies
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