I think there are many students who don’t have money and want to use VPS as a hobby.
I was also looking for a free VPS to activate my license and to run my own WordPress domain.

In Japan, GCP’s GCE (Google Compute Engine) is famous, but there are other free VPSs as well.
In this article, I have researched the free VPS in the world and share them with you.

Google – GCE (Google Compute Engine)

The most famous free VPS is probably GCE.
The specifications are as follows.

E2-Micro

  • CPU: 0.25 vCPU
  • RAM: 1GB
  • Storage: 30GB

Probably 30GB storage is enough for most users.
The vCPU stands for virtual CPU, 0.25vCPU means that 25% of 1vCPU can be used.
I benchmarked them with UnixBench and here are the results.

========================================================================
   BYTE UNIX Benchmarks (Version 5.1.3)
   System: instance-1: GNU/Linux
   OS: GNU/Linux -- 3.10.0-1160.42.2.el7.x86_64 -- #1 SMP Tue Sep 7 14:49:57 UTC 2021
   Machine: x86_64 (x86_64)
   Language: en_US.utf8 (charmap="UTF-8", collate="UTF-8")
   CPU 0: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.20GHz (4400.5 bogomips)
          Hyper-Threading, x86-64, MMX, Physical Address Ext, SYSENTER/SYSEXIT, SYSCALL/SYSRET
   CPU 1: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU @ 2.20GHz (4400.5 bogomips)
          Hyper-Threading, x86-64, MMX, Physical Address Ext, SYSENTER/SYSEXIT, SYSCALL/SYSRET
   17:42:47 up 5 min,  1 user,  load average: 0.28, 0.18, 0.07; runlevel 2021-10-11
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Benchmark Run: Mon Oct 11 2021 17:42:47 - 17:49:44
2 CPUs in system; running 1 parallel copy of tests
Dhrystone 2 using register variables        6815861.8 lps   (10.0 s, 1 samples)
Double-Precision Whetstone                      513.5 MWIPS (11.6 s, 1 samples)
Execl Throughput                                300.4 lps   (29.8 s, 1 samples)
File Copy 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks         56222.0 KBps  (30.2 s, 1 samples)
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks           14369.0 KBps  (30.0 s, 1 samples)
File Copy 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks        162969.0 KBps  (30.0 s, 1 samples)
Pipe Throughput                               86890.4 lps   (10.0 s, 1 samples)
Pipe-based Context Switching                   6413.1 lps   (10.0 s, 1 samples)
Process Creation                                790.9 lps   (30.2 s, 1 samples)
Shell Scripts (1 concurrent)                    545.9 lpm   (60.0 s, 1 samples)
Shell Scripts (8 concurrent)                     94.2 lpm   (60.5 s, 1 samples)
System Call Overhead                          72114.7 lps   (10.0 s, 1 samples)
System Benchmarks Index Values               BASELINE       RESULT    INDEX
Dhrystone 2 using register variables         116700.0    6815861.8    584.0
Double-Precision Whetstone                       55.0        513.5     93.4
Execl Throughput                                 43.0        300.4     69.9
File Copy 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks          3960.0      56222.0    142.0
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks            1655.0      14369.0     86.8
File Copy 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks          5800.0     162969.0    281.0
Pipe Throughput                               12440.0      86890.4     69.8
Pipe-based Context Switching                   4000.0       6413.1     16.0
Process Creation                                126.0        790.9     62.8
Shell Scripts (1 concurrent)                     42.4        545.9    128.8
Shell Scripts (8 concurrent)                      6.0         94.2    157.0
System Call Overhead                          15000.0      72114.7     48.1
                                                                   ========
System Benchmarks Index Score                                          99.1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Benchmark Run: Mon Oct 11 2021 17:49:44 - 17:57:04
2 CPUs in system; running 2 parallel copies of tests
Dhrystone 2 using register variables        5753240.4 lps   (10.2 s, 1 samples)
Double-Precision Whetstone                      882.1 MWIPS (44.3 s, 1 samples)
Execl Throughput                                482.2 lps   (30.1 s, 1 samples)
File Copy 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks         72794.0 KBps  (30.0 s, 1 samples)
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks           19576.0 KBps  (30.0 s, 1 samples)
File Copy 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks        205287.0 KBps  (30.0 s, 1 samples)
Pipe Throughput                              127013.8 lps   (10.0 s, 1 samples)
Pipe-based Context Switching                  25768.3 lps   (10.2 s, 1 samples)
Process Creation                               1666.9 lps   (30.0 s, 1 samples)
Shell Scripts (1 concurrent)                    700.9 lpm   (60.0 s, 1 samples)
Shell Scripts (8 concurrent)                     94.2 lpm   (60.5 s, 1 samples)
System Call Overhead                         102356.7 lps   (10.0 s, 1 samples)
System Benchmarks Index Values               BASELINE       RESULT    INDEX
Dhrystone 2 using register variables         116700.0    5753240.4    493.0
Double-Precision Whetstone                       55.0        882.1    160.4
Execl Throughput                                 43.0        482.2    112.1
File Copy 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks          3960.0      72794.0    183.8
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks            1655.0      19576.0    118.3
File Copy 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks          5800.0     205287.0    353.9
Pipe Throughput                               12440.0     127013.8    102.1
Pipe-based Context Switching                   4000.0      25768.3     64.4
Process Creation                                126.0       1666.9    132.3
Shell Scripts (1 concurrent)                     42.4        700.9    165.3
Shell Scripts (8 concurrent)                      6.0         94.2    156.9
System Call Overhead                          15000.0     102356.7     68.2
                                                                   ========
System Benchmarks Index Score                                         147.4

The System Benchmarks Index Score is the overall score.
The CPUs are two Intel Xeon @ 2.20GHz. (As I explained earlier, two CPUs are not fully available).

Advantages

The network is 1Gbps, so it is relatively fast.
It is also the most famous VPS, so it is relatively easy to find out how to use it, which may be a good point for beginners.

Disadvantages

SMTP is not available because Port 25, 465 and 587 are not available.

Oracle – OCI (Oracle Cloud Infrastructure)

This is a VPS provided by Oracle.
The specification is as follows.

VM.Standard.E2.1.Micro

  • CPU: AMD EPYC 7551 (2.0GHz-3.0GHz)、またはAMD EPYC 7742(2.25GHz-3.4GHz)、1/8 OCPU
  • RAM: 1GB
  • Storage: 50GB + 150GB (Block volume)

VM.Standard.A1.Flex

  • CPU: Ampere Altra Q80-30 (-3.0GHz)、最大4OCPU
  • RAM: Up to 24GB

Flex is clearly more powerful, but due to chronic resource shortage, I have not had a chance to use it yet.
The benchmark results for VM.Standard.E2.1.Micro are as follows

========================================================================
   BYTE UNIX Benchmarks (Version 5.1.3)

   System: mail-server: GNU/Linux
   OS: GNU/Linux -- 5.4.17-2102.203.6.el7uek.x86_64 -- #2 SMP Wed Jul 21 17:51:54 PDT 2021
   Machine: x86_64 (x86_64)
   Language: en_US.utf8 (charmap="UTF-8", collate="UTF-8")
   CPU 0: AMD EPYC 7551 32-Core Processor (3992.5 bogomips)
          Hyper-Threading, x86-64, MMX, AMD MMX, Physical Address Ext, SYSENTER/SYSEXIT, SYSCALL/SYSRET
   CPU 1: AMD EPYC 7551 32-Core Processor (3992.5 bogomips)
          Hyper-Threading, x86-64, MMX, AMD MMX, Physical Address Ext, SYSENTER/SYSEXIT, SYSCALL/SYSRET
   13:08:58 up 20 days,  2:07,  1 user,  load average: 0.27, 0.87, 0.69; runlevel 2021-09-22

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Benchmark Run: Tue Oct 12 2021 13:08:58 - 13:15:42
2 CPUs in system; running 1 parallel copy of tests

Dhrystone 2 using register variables       13601372.2 lps   (10.0 s, 1 samples)
Double-Precision Whetstone                     1978.4 MWIPS (10.3 s, 1 samples)
Execl Throughput                               1461.0 lps   (29.6 s, 1 samples)
File Copy 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks        297889.0 KBps  (30.0 s, 1 samples)
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks           82898.0 KBps  (30.0 s, 1 samples)
File Copy 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks        748380.0 KBps  (30.0 s, 1 samples)
Pipe Throughput                              457607.6 lps   (10.0 s, 1 samples)
Pipe-based Context Switching                  13813.2 lps   (10.0 s, 1 samples)
Process Creation                               1962.9 lps   (30.0 s, 1 samples)
Shell Scripts (1 concurrent)                   1719.9 lpm   (60.1 s, 1 samples)
Shell Scripts (8 concurrent)                    273.2 lpm   (60.2 s, 1 samples)
System Call Overhead                         700103.6 lps   (10.0 s, 1 samples)

System Benchmarks Index Values               BASELINE       RESULT    INDEX
Dhrystone 2 using register variables         116700.0   13601372.2   1165.5
Double-Precision Whetstone                       55.0       1978.4    359.7
Execl Throughput                                 43.0       1461.0    339.8
File Copy 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks          3960.0     297889.0    752.2
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks            1655.0      82898.0    500.9
File Copy 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks          5800.0     748380.0   1290.3
Pipe Throughput                               12440.0     457607.6    367.9
Pipe-based Context Switching                   4000.0      13813.2     34.5
Process Creation                                126.0       1962.9    155.8
Shell Scripts (1 concurrent)                     42.4       1719.9    405.6
Shell Scripts (8 concurrent)                      6.0        273.2    455.3
System Call Overhead                          15000.0     700103.6    466.7
                                                                   ========
System Benchmarks Index Score                                         388.5

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Benchmark Run: Tue Oct 12 2021 13:15:42 - 13:22:26
2 CPUs in system; running 2 parallel copies of tests

Dhrystone 2 using register variables       13925188.8 lps   (10.1 s, 1 samples)
Double-Precision Whetstone                     1962.2 MWIPS (10.1 s, 1 samples)
Execl Throughput                               1360.2 lps   (29.2 s, 1 samples)
File Copy 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks        264182.0 KBps  (30.0 s, 1 samples)
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks           70607.0 KBps  (30.0 s, 1 samples)
File Copy 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks        630849.0 KBps  (30.0 s, 1 samples)
Pipe Throughput                              482708.5 lps   (10.1 s, 1 samples)
Pipe-based Context Switching                  72464.5 lps   (10.0 s, 1 samples)
Process Creation                               3020.8 lps   (30.0 s, 1 samples)
Shell Scripts (1 concurrent)                   1882.4 lpm   (60.0 s, 1 samples)
Shell Scripts (8 concurrent)                    258.9 lpm   (60.3 s, 1 samples)
System Call Overhead                         646748.6 lps   (10.1 s, 1 samples)

System Benchmarks Index Values               BASELINE       RESULT    INDEX
Dhrystone 2 using register variables         116700.0   13925188.8   1193.2
Double-Precision Whetstone                       55.0       1962.2    356.8
Execl Throughput                                 43.0       1360.2    316.3
File Copy 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks          3960.0     264182.0    667.1
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks            1655.0      70607.0    426.6
File Copy 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks          5800.0     630849.0   1087.7
Pipe Throughput                               12440.0     482708.5    388.0
Pipe-based Context Switching                   4000.0      72464.5    181.2
Process Creation                                126.0       3020.8    239.7
Shell Scripts (1 concurrent)                     42.4       1882.4    444.0
Shell Scripts (8 concurrent)                      6.0        258.9    431.5
System Call Overhead                          15000.0     646748.6    431.2
                                                                   ========
System Benchmarks Index Score                                         443.6

With an overall score of 443.6, it is three times faster than GCE.
It is not simply comparable, but as a machine specification OCI seems to be by far the better choice.

Advantages

It has a relatively high machine specification and a high limit on the number of machines.
E2.1.Micro is free for up to 2 machines and VM.Standard.A1.Flex is free for up to 4 machines with the minimum configuration (1OCPU, 6GB).
VM.Standard.A1.Flex is a configuration that would cost you more than 50 USD if you were to sign up for it normally.
This is more than most users can handle, and the fact that it’s free is a huge advantage.

Disadvantages

As with GCE, SMTP is not available for new users.
As for communication with the outside world, it seems to be limited to 50 Mbps, which I have to say is slow. (Although the limit may be different for VM.Standard.A1.Flex).
Flex is very difficult to secure. (especially in Tokyo region).

Other free VPS

There are other free VPSs available, but I would not recommend them in terms of reliability.

Conclusion

Basically, OCI is the way to go.
The specifications of VM.Standard.A1.Flex are more than enough for most users.

As for VM.Standard.E2.1.Micro, its machine specification surpasses that of the GCE.
As long as you are aware of the 1GB of memory, you will be able to use it in practical use.

Extra

Regarding OCI’s 50Mbps limit, it is possible to operate without being aware of the limit to some extent by using a CDN such as Cloudflare.
Also, Cloudflare hides your IP address and protects your website from various attacks such as DDoS.
Of course, it is necessary to take measures on the VPS side, but the barrier of introduction is low, so I recommend you to introduce Cloudflare.