The author seeks alternatives to Oracle Cloud for hosting a 24/7 OpenClaw instance on an 'Always Free' tier, discussing options like Google Cloud e2-micro and Fly.io, and asking for optimization tips to run within 1GB RAM.
Hey everyone, I’m trying to set up a 24/7 **OpenClaw** instance that is completely free forever. I know **Oracle Cloud** is the king of free tiers, but I’ve had issues with account registration/availability in my region, so I’m looking for alternatives. Most providers like AWS and Azure only offer "free for 12 months," but I’m looking for an **Always Free** tier that can actually handle OpenClaw. **My current leads:** 1. **Google Cloud (GCP):** Their **e2-micro** instance is Always Free in specific regions (us-west1, us-central1). However, it only has **1GB RAM**. Has anyone managed to run OpenClaw on this using a heavy **Swap File** or a super-stripped-down Linux distro (like Alpine)? 2. [**Fly.io**](http://Fly.io) **/ Railway:** These used to be great, but their free tiers have become very restrictive or "trial-only" recently. Are they still viable for a low-resource game engine? 3. **Hole-in-the-wall providers:** Are there any smaller niche providers (like [**Laby.cloud**](http://Laby.cloud) or similar) that offer tiny "Always Free" containers? **The Goal:** \* **0% Cost:** No "12-month" traps. * **24/7 Uptime:** For hosting a persistent instance. * **Optimization:** If the RAM is the bottleneck, what’s the best way to "slim down" the OpenClaw build to fit into <1GB RAM? If anyone has a working setup that isn't on Oracle, I’d love to know your specs and how you bypassed the OOM (Out of Memory) kills. Thanks!
OpenClaw now offers completely free hosting with one-click deploy and PAYG token pricing, making it easier for developers to build with agents without managing setup or ops.
A user asks the community about their real-world experiences with OpenClaw, seeking honest feedback on common workflows, cool automations, frustrations, and setup configurations.