Comparison
AWS Lightsail vs Oracle Always Free
The free window expires, and the cheapest ongoing plan is a 512 MB-1 GB instance.
What AWS Lightsail gives you today
A 3-month free trial on the smallest instance, then monthly billing.
Typical spend: $5-$12/month per instance after the trial
Side by side
| Feature | AWS Lightsail | Oracle Always Free + Cheaploy |
|---|---|---|
| Compute | 512 MB-2 GB RAM, burstable vCPU | Up to 4 ARM OCPUs and 24 GB RAM (Oracle Always Free), yours alone |
| Sleeping / cold starts | None (it is a VM) | None — a long-running VM you own |
| Bandwidth | 1-3 TB transfer per plan | 10 TB/month outbound included by Oracle |
| Database | Managed database from ~$15/month | Self-hosted Postgres, MySQL or Oracle Autonomous Database at $0 |
| Background jobs & cron | Usually a paid add-on | Just another container on the same VM |
| Who owns the infrastructure | The provider | Your own Oracle Cloud tenancy |
| What you pay | Per plan, per seat, per bandwidth overage | $0 infrastructure + a flat Cheaploy platform fee |
Stay on AWS Lightsail if
- You are deep in the AWS ecosystem and need tight IAM or VPC integration
- You want a specific AWS region for latency or compliance
Switch if
- Your trial has expired and the workload fits inside Oracle's Always Free shapes
- You want 24 GB of RAM instead of 1 GB for the same $0
- You would rather not track a bill for a hobby or side project
Related
Frequently asked
How does this compare to the AWS free tier?+
AWS's classic free tier is 12 months; Oracle's Always Free has no expiry. We break it down on the Oracle vs AWS page.
Can I keep my domain and email?+
Yes — only the compute moves; DNS and email stay wherever they are.
Is migration risky?+
Deploy to Oracle first, verify, then flip DNS. Nothing breaks until you point the record.
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