Cloud 66 vs Render (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Cloud 66 and Render share a 2.4 GPA, both have a free plan, and Cloud 66 starts cheaper, at $23 a month against $25 a month.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Cloud 66 grades higher on the free plan. Render grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Cloud 66
Deploy and manage apps on your own servers and cloud accounts
Render
Cloud hosting for web services, databases and workers
Which one is for you
Pick Cloud 66 if
- Fits if you deploy a small app or two to your own cloud servers
- Works for teams that want one console across several clouds
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you need more than 1 server on the free plan, or 5 deployments a day
- Pricey if you add servers, which cost $12 a month each, or sites at $10 a month
- Watch out: extra team members are $5 a month and extra build minutes $0.03 each
- Watch out: prices shown are annual, and only Team lists a monthly price
Pick Render if
- Fits if you want web services and Postgres together
- Works for backends that need cron jobs and background workers
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: free instances have limits and 5 GB of bandwidth
- Pricey if you add it up: workspace plus each service's instance
- Watch out: full-stack previews and autoscaling need Pro
- Watch out: HIPAA workspaces, SAML SSO and SCIM start at $499 on Scale
- Watch out: no bandwidth overage price is named
How we grade them
| 2.4GPACloud 66Fair | 2.4GPARenderFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CDeveloper is $23 a month billed annually for 2 servers, just above the $20.83 dearer-quarter line for web hosting. Your cloud servers are billed separately. | CPro is $25 a month plus compute, above the dearer quarter's $19 as a floor, but Hobby is $0. A $7 instance buys 512 MB RAM and Postgres starts at $6. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free plan with 1 server, 1 static site, 5 deployments per 24 hours and 1 team member, no card. Light use fits inside it. | CHobby is $0 with up to 25 services, but free instance types come with limitations and bandwidth is 5 GB. |
| Features | CDeploys to any cloud, native and containerised apps, zero-downtime deploys, databases and backups, static sites and team controls. Plans cap servers at 1, 2, 4 and 7. | BWeb services, workers, cron, Postgres, Key Value, previews, autoscaling, API and infrastructure as code. The listing names no core gap. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You connect cloud accounts and set up servers and apps. | CNo store rating on record. You define services, instance types and databases. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, but it works with AWS, Google Cloud, Azure and Slack, and has an API. | BWeb only, with Docker, a CLI, a REST API and an MCP server. |
| Best for | deploying apps to servers in your own cloud account | web services and Postgres in one place |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Cloud 66 and Render. How we grade
Price against what you get
Cloud 66 starts at $23 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Render starts at $25 a month and scores 2.7.
Render scores higher, and starts $2 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 7 score higher than Cloud 66 for less, and none scores higher than Render for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Render also covers workflow automation.
At a glance
| Cloud 66 | Render | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $23 per month, billed annually (Developer; $59 billed monthly for Team) | $25 per month plus compute (Pro workspace) |
| Free plan | 1 deployment server and 1 static site, 5 deployments per 24 hours, 1 team member, no card required. | Hobby workspace: $0 a month, up to 25 services, 5 GB of bandwidth, and free instance types for web services, Postgres and Key Value (limitations apply). |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Cloud66, Inc. | Render |
| Price read from | cloud66.com | render.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Cloud 66
- Cloud servers are not included; you pay your cloud provider separately.
- Plans cap servers (1, 2, 4 and 7) and static sites; extra servers cost $12 per month and extra sites $10.
- Extra team members cost $5 per month and extra build minutes $0.03 each beyond the plan's allowance.
- Prices shown are the annual rate, and only Team lists its monthly-billed price on the page.
Render
- The workspace fee is only part of the bill: every service pays for its instance, for example $7 a month for 512 MB RAM or $25 for 2 GB.
- Free instance types carry limitations, and Postgres on a paid plan starts at $6 a month for 256 MB RAM.
- HIPAA-compliant workspaces, SAML SSO and SCIM start on the $499 Scale plan.
- Bandwidth is included per workspace plan (5 GB, 25 GB, 1 TB), with the page naming no overage price.
Key features
Cloud 66
- Deploy to any cloud
- Connect a Git repository and a cloud provider such as AWS, Google Cloud or Azure, or deploy to your own servers or a mix of both.
- Native and containerized apps
- Runs apps directly on virtual machines or in containers, with background jobs, scheduled tasks and deployment hooks.
- Zero-downtime deployments
- Health checks and zero-downtime deployments are part of the platform, with failover groups and autoscaling listed on the plan comparison.
- Managed databases and backups
- Managed databases are listed on every plan. Managed backup storage is billed at $0.38 per GB on paid plans.
- Static sites and preview deployments
- Hosts sites built with generators such as Jekyll and Hugo, and the comparison table lists preview deployments from branches, tags or pull requests.
- Team controls and API
- Full API access, audit logs, live logs and cost management alerts are listed, with SAML SSO and user provisioning in the comparison table.
Render
- Services and workers
- Web services, private services, background workers and cron jobs run Node, Python, Go, Rust, Ruby, Elixir or custom Docker containers.
- Managed Postgres and Key Value
- Fully managed PostgreSQL with point-in-time recovery and connection pooling, plus a Redis-compatible Key Value store.
- Preview environments
- Pull requests can get their own preview, single-service on Hobby and full-stack on Pro and above.
- Autoscaling and zero-downtime deploys
- Horizontal autoscaling is a Pro feature, and deploys are listed as zero downtime in the product menu.
- Infrastructure as code and API
- Services can be defined as code, managed with the Render CLI and REST API, or driven from an MCP server.
- Persistent disks
- SSD disks can be attached to services at $0.25 per GB per month.
Plans
Cloud 66
Free$0
1 server and 1 static site, 5 deployments per 24 hours, 50 build minutes, 1 GB of static-site traffic, 1 hour of metrics.
Developer$23
per month, billed annually
Up to 2 servers and 2 static sites, 50 deployments per 24 hours, 200 build minutes, 100 GB static-site traffic, Slack support.
Team$47
per month, billed annually ($59 billed monthly)
Up to 4 servers and 5 static sites with unlimited deployments, 10 team members and 1,000 GB static-site traffic.
Business$80
per month, billed annually
Up to 7 servers and 10 static sites, 30 team members, 5,000 GB of static-site traffic and 30 days of metrics.
EnterpriseCustom
For more than 50 servers: on-prem and dedicated options, onboarding support, a dedicated account manager and invoicing.
Render
Hobby$0
per month, plus compute
Up to 25 services, 5 GB of bandwidth, single-service previews, custom domains, database PITR and chat support.
Pro$25
per month, plus compute
Unlimited seats and services, 25 GB of bandwidth, full-stack previews, horizontal autoscaling and isolated environments.
Scale$499
per month, plus compute
Multiple workspaces, 1 TB of bandwidth, HIPAA-compliant workspaces, SAML SSO and SCIM, and advanced RBAC roles.
EnterpriseCustom
Contractual uptime SLAs, a dedicated technical account team, a support Slack channel and support response SLAs.
Ways to pay less
Cloud 66
- Annual discount
Save about 20% with annual billing
The pricing page shows a 20% saving for annual billing; for example, Team is $47 per month billed annually versus $59 billed monthly.
- Startups
Startup and education pricing
The FAQ says qualified startups and educational institutions get special pricing, arranged through the sales team.
Render
- Startups
Up to $100K in credits for VC-funded startups
The pricing page links to Render for Startups, which offers up to $100K in credits to VC-funded startups.
- Other savings
Up to $10K in migration credits
Teams moving to Render can get up to $10K in credits through the migration program linked from the pricing page.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Cloud 66 or Render?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Cloud 66 is cheaper to start with: $23 a month, against $25 a month for Render. Cloud 66 starts at $23 per month, billed annually (Developer; $59 billed monthly for Team), and Render starts at $25 per month plus compute (Pro workspace).
Which has a free plan, Cloud 66 or Render?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Cloud 66 and Render have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.