Render cost calculator
Render bills three things separately: a workspace fee, each service you run, and bandwidth beyond your allowance. That is why the total surprises people.
Your Render setup
Render prices verified 2026-08-13 against render.com/pricing. Bandwidth beyond the workspace allowance is $0.15/GB. Disks, build pipeline minutes and extra custom domains are billed separately and are not modelled here. Render is a trademark of Render Services, Inc. Hostwares is not affiliated with or endorsed by Render.
On Render
$19.75/mo
On Hostwares
$10.00/mo
Save $9.75/mo
$117 a year, and bandwidth is not metered
Render web service instance types
| Instance | RAM | CPU | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freespins down when idle | 0.5 GB | 0.1 | $0 |
| Starter | 0.5 GB | 0.5 | $7 |
| Standard | 2 GB | 1 | $25 |
| Pro | 4 GB | 2 | $85 |
| Pro Plus | 8 GB | 4 | $175 |
| Pro Max | 16 GB | 4 | $225 |
| Pro Ultra | 32 GB | 8 | $450 |
Verified 2026-08-13 from render.com/pricing. Postgres, disks, build minutes and extra custom domains are billed separately.
Where Render is the better choice
- • Managed persistent disks attached to a service — we do not have a direct equivalent.
- • Private networking between services inside a workspace.
- • Preview environments generated from pull requests.
- • The free tier. If a cold start is acceptable, $0 is unbeatable and you should use it.
Common questions about Render pricing
How much does Render cost?+
A Starter web service is $7/mo for 0.5 GB, Standard $25/mo for 2 GB and Pro $85/mo for 4 GB. On top of that sits a workspace fee - Hobby is free with 5 GB of bandwidth, Professional is $25/mo with 25 GB - and Postgres is priced separately from $6/mo.
Does Render have a free tier?+
Yes. Free web services exist with 512 MB and 0.1 CPU, but they spin down when idle, so the first request after a quiet period waits for a cold start.
What does Render charge for bandwidth?+
Beyond the workspace allowance it is $0.15/GB. That allowance is 5 GB on Hobby and 25 GB on Professional, which is low enough that bandwidth becomes a real line on a busy month.
Why is my Render bill higher than the instance price?+
Because three things stack: the workspace fee, every instance you run, and bandwidth beyond the allowance. A $7 Starter service on a $25 Professional workspace is already $32 before the database.
How much is Render Postgres?+
Basic-256mb is $6/mo, Basic-1gb $19, Basic-4gb $75. The Pro tiers are priced by RAM rather than storage: Pro-4gb $55, Pro-8gb $100.
Is Render cheaper than Hostwares?+
At the very bottom - a free service on a Hobby workspace - Render costs nothing and we cannot beat that. Once you are on a paid instance with a database and a Professional workspace, the flat packs are usually lower. Use the calculator rather than taking our word for it.
What does Render do better?+
Managed disks, private networking between services, preview environments from pull requests, and a genuinely good deployment experience. It is a well-built platform and the comparison here is cost, not quality.