Render FAQ

This page lists answers to questions that many folks have as they’re getting up and running with Render.

Languages and technologies

Which languages does Render support?

Render natively supports Node.js / Bun, Python, Ruby, Go, Rust, and Elixir.

You can deploy an app in virtually any language (.NET, Java, PHP, etc.) via a Docker image.

Which datastores does Render support?

Render offers managed PostgreSQL databases and Redis instances.

You can also run your own custom database instance (MySQL, MongoDB, etc.) backed by a persistent disk.

Billing

What can I do on Render for free?

See Deploy for Free.

What does Render bill for?

Render bills each workspace monthly for the usage listed below. For details on all of these, see the pricing page.

Billable	Description
Compute costs for paid service instances	Prorated by the second. If a service is active for ten seconds in a given month, you are billed only for those ten seconds. You are billed for each of the following: Each paid service instance, including PostgreSQL and Redis instances For scaled services, you are billed for each running instance. Replica PostgreSQL databases created for high availability or read replicas Each paid instance running as part of a service preview or preview environment
Build pipeline minutes	Includes a monthly allotment. Render’s build pipeline is responsible for building your project before it’s deployed. This includes running each service’s build and pre-deploy commands. Each workspace receives a monthly allotment of pipeline minutes (see the pricing page), which are consumed while running these commands. Render also offers a performance pipeline tier for teams with builds that require additional memory and/or CPU. Performance pipeline minutes carry an additional charge and do not provide an included monthly allotment. You can set a monthly spend limit for pipeline minutes. If you reach this limit in a given month, Render stops running new builds for your services until the next billing period.
Outbound bandwidth	Includes a monthly allotment. Outbound bandwidth includes all response data returned by your web services and static sites when serving an incoming request from the public internet. This data includes web pages, static files, API response payloads, and so on. Each workspace receives a monthly included allotment of outbound bandwidth shared across all services (see the pricing page). If you exceed this, Render bills you for a supplementary allotment. Inbound bandwidth (traffic to your services) is free. As part of Render’s DDoS protection, Render does not bill for bandwidth usage incurred from a DDoS attack.
Team members	Professional workspaces and higher are billed per member per month, depending on plan type. For details, see the pricing page. These workspaces gain access to features like autoscaling, preview environments, and the Performance build pipeline.

All of my services run on free instances. Can I still be billed?

Yes, if you’ve added a payment method. If you exceed your included monthly allotment of outbound bandwidth or build pipeline minutes, Render bills you for a supplementary allotment. You can set a monthly spend limit for pipeline minutes.

If you haven’t added a payment method and you would incur charges, Render instead disables your services for the duration of the current billing period.

Service behavior

My app runs fine locally. Why does it fail to deploy?

Please see Troubleshooting Your Deploy.

Why is my free service sometimes slow to respond?

Free web service instances spin down if they receive no incoming traffic for 15 consecutive minutes. These services take up to a minute to spin back up when they next receive a request.

Paid instance types do not spin down.

Learn more about free instance limitations, including for PostgreSQL and Redis.

Why do files saved to my service’s filesystem disappear?

By default, Render services have an ephemeral filesystem, which means that any changes you make to local files are lost every time a service redeploys or restarts.

For long-term data storage on Render, we recommend one of the following:

• For storage of relational data, create a PostgreSQL database.
• For storage of key-value data, create a Redis instance.
• For storage of arbitrary files, attach a persistent disk.
  • You can also use a persistent disk to run a custom database instance besides PostgreSQL, such as MySQL.

Can I deploy multiple apps to a single Render service?

It might be possible, but you shouldn’t. Run each of your applications in a separate service to ensure proper resource isolation for security and performance.

Let’s say you want to deploy an architecture consisting of a frontend site, a backend API, and a datastore. We recommend deploying these as follows:

App	Service type(s)
Frontend site	Static site or web service
Backend API	Web service or private service
Datastore	Managed PostgreSQL or a custom database backed by a persistent disk

To help identify which service types are right for your use case, see this flow chart.

Account administration

Can I transfer existing services from one workspace to another?

No, it is not currently possible to transfer existing services between workspaces. Instead, you can:

• Invite team members to collaborate on services in your current workspace
• Recreate your services in the workspace you want to move them to

Render support

Which types of issues can Render’s support team help with?

Please see When to contact support.