# blitz.cloud vs Render: always-on services, price and EU hosting

> Render against blitz.cloud on sleeping and always-on services, price, the Frankfurt region, Docker images, Postgres and git deploys, with sources checked 8 October 2026.

Web page: https://blitz.cloud/compare/render/
Updated: 2026-10-08

Render is the better choice when you need private registries, custom domains on the free tier or a platform that grows into paid production services with a known track record. blitz.cloud fits when you want free apps that sleep after 15 minutes without visitors and a free database that doesn't expire, hosted by a German company. On Render's free tier, web services sleep after 15 minutes and the free Postgres database expires after 30 days.

## At a glance

| | blitz.cloud | Render |
|---|---|---|
| Company | BlitzWorks UG, Regensburg, Germany. No US parent | Render Services, Inc., San Francisco, US |
| EU regions | One region in the EU today, more planned | Frankfurt (others: Oregon, Ohio, Virginia, Singapore) |
| Free tier | 5 apps, 512 MB memory, 10 GB storage, one database. Apps sleep after 15 minutes without visitors and wake on the next one. No expiry, no card | Web services sleep after 15 minutes without traffic, 750 hours a month. Free Postgres (1 GB) expires after 30 days plus 14 days' grace. Files are lost on redeploy. No card needed |
| Cheapest paid plan | Pro, 7 EUR a month including VAT | Starter instance $7 a month, Postgres from $6 a month |
| An app that stays awake, with a database | Pro, 7 EUR a month for your whole account, up to 5 databases | $13 a month: Starter instance $7 plus Postgres from $6 (checked 8 October 2026) |
| Run a finished Docker image | Yes, public Docker Hub images, amd64 | Yes, public images from any registry, private ones from Docker Hub, GHCR, GitLab, Google Artifact Registry and ECR |
| Git push deploys | Yes, after you connect GitHub, private repositories included | Yes |
| Managed databases | PostgreSQL 17, MariaDB 11.4, Redis (Valkey 8), with nightly backups | Postgres and Key Value (Redis-compatible), both with limited free versions |
| Custom domains and HTTPS on free | HTTPS on your blitz.cloud subdomains. Custom domains on Pro | Yes. Hobby includes 2 domains, then $0.25 each a month |

## Where Render is the better choice

Render pulls images from private registries, so you don't need to make your image public. blitz.cloud only runs public images; private code reaches it through a connected GitHub account instead. Custom domains work on Render's free tier.

Render also has more regions, including the US and Singapore, and paid instances that scale well beyond a hobby project. If you already know your app will grow into a paid production service, Render's paid plans are a proven path. blitz.cloud has one data centre and a much shorter track record.

## Where blitz.cloud fits better

- Several apps that stay awake. Two apps with their own PostgreSQL cost $26 a month on Render and fit in Pro for 7 EUR. A Render instance has its own memory, while Pro's 4 GB is shared by all your apps.
- Your app should answer the first request of the day without waiting. On Pro a blitz.cloud app can stay awake, and on the free plan it sleeps after 15 minutes without visitors.
- You want a free database for a long-running personal project. Render's free Postgres expires, blitz.cloud's doesn't, and it's backed up every night.
- Files your app writes should survive a restart. On Render's free tier they are lost on redeploy; on blitz.cloud, folders an app writes to stay.
- You want a German operator and a single EU data centre, without choosing a region.

## Moving from Render to blitz.cloud

If your Render service already runs from a Docker image, push that image to Docker Hub as a public repository and deploy it on blitz.cloud. Make sure it listens on a port such as 8080. If Render builds your code from git, add a Dockerfile first. See [deploy a Docker image](https://blitz.cloud/docs/deploy-docker-image/) and [deploy a Node.js API](https://blitz.cloud/guides/deploy-nodejs-api/).

If Render builds your code from git, you don't need to add a Dockerfile yourself: connect your GitHub account on blitz.cloud and pick the repository. blitz.cloud uses your Dockerfile or writes one, and puts every push to the branch online. A public image can also come from ghcr.io, Quay or another public registry instead of Docker Hub. See [deploy a GitHub project](https://blitz.cloud/docs/deploy-from-github/).

## Sources

- https://render.com/terms
- https://render.com/docs/regions
- https://render.com/docs/free
- https://render.com/pricing
- https://render.com/docs/deploying-an-image

Facts checked on 8 October 2026. Prices and plans change; tell us at hallo@blitzworks.io if something here is out of date.