Can you run OpenClaw for free on Oracle Cloud?
The server can be free: Oracle's Always Free tier covers an Ampere A1 instance with 2 OCPUs and 12 GB of RAM, and OpenClaw documents a setup for it. The model calls are not free, and on this setup they are the whole bill.
# Console: Compute > Instances > Create instance
# Image: Ubuntu 24.04 (aarch64) Shape: VM.Standard.A1.Flex
# 2 OCPUs and 12 GB is the whole Always Free allowance
ssh ubuntu@YOUR_PUBLIC_IP
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y build-essential
sudo loginctl enable-linger ubuntu
# Tailscale for admin access, as OpenClaw's Oracle guide does
curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh
sudo tailscale up --ssh --hostname=openclaw
Once Tailscale works, OpenClaw's guide removes every ingress rule except UDP 41641 from the VCN security list. The provider file passed openclaw config validate on OpenClaw 2026.10.3, and onboarding kept it as the default model.
What Always Free gives you
| Resource | Always Free allowance |
|---|---|
| Ampere A1 compute | 1,500 OCPU hours and 9,000 GB hours a month |
| Block storage | 200 GB across boot and block volumes |
| Signup | A credit card for identity checks; prepaid, virtual and PIN debit cards are refused |
Oracle says the compute allowance is "equivalent to 2 OCPUs and 12 GB of memory" (Always Free resources, free tier FAQ, October 13, 2026). OpenClaw's Oracle guide still says up to 4 OCPUs and 24 GB.
The catches with a free server
- Oracle may reclaim an idle Always Free instance: one whose 95th-percentile CPU, network and memory use all stay under 20% for 7 days. A personal agent's gateway is idle most of the time, and Oracle's page names no exemption, so keep a recent
openclaw backup createarchive to rebuild from. - Free A1 capacity runs out. Creation can fail with "Out of capacity"; OpenClaw's guide says to try another availability domain or retry later.
- The instance is Arm (aarch64). OpenClaw, Node and the chat channels work; some skills ship Go or Rust binaries without an arm64 build.
The bill a free server leaves
With the server at $0, these figures are the whole monthly cost of the agent.
| Sonnet 5.5, metered | Opus 5.5, metered | Standard Compute | |
|---|---|---|---|
| One busy day | About $35 | About $70 | Up to the $20 budget of the $19 plan |
| Busy every day for a month | $1,048 | $2,095 | $19 |
| What stops it | A spend limit, if you set one | A spend limit, if you set one | The budget: new requests get HTTP 402 |
A busy day is our 90th-percentile agent-day: 775 requests and 79M tokens over a median of 14 active hours, priced at list price with the cache hits it really had (method). A day like that can use the whole Starter budget; smart routing stretches it, and larger plans raise it.
The catch
On top of reclaiming idle instances, Oracle may suspend an account left idle for 30 days or more. Keep a paid fallback in mind, such as a €5.99 Hetzner CX23 or a $10 Vultr plan, and the backup to restore on it.
Where Standard Compute fits
Standard Compute is an OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible API at https://api.stdcmpt.com/v1, with plans from $19 a month. Each plan has a fixed compute budget ($20 on Starter); when it is used, new requests get HTTP 402 and running ones finish, so there is no overage. On a free server it is the only bill, and it has a ceiling.
FAQ
Is Oracle Cloud's free tier really free forever for OpenClaw?
The Always Free resources have no end date, but Oracle may reclaim an instance that stays under 20% CPU, network and memory use for 7 days, and may suspend an account idle for 30 days. The model API you connect is billed separately.
How many OCPUs and how much RAM does Oracle's free tier include?
1,500 OCPU hours and 9,000 GB hours a month of Ampere A1, which Oracle says is equivalent to 2 OCPUs and 12 GB of memory. Older guides, including OpenClaw's, say 4 OCPUs and 24 GB.
Why does Oracle say "Out of capacity" when I create the instance?
Free A1 capacity is limited per region and availability domain. Try another availability domain or retry later.
Does OpenClaw work on Arm?
Yes. Node, Telegram and WhatsApp run on arm64 without changes. Check that any skill binary has a linux-arm64 or aarch64 build before you rely on it.
Does upgrading to Pay As You Go cost anything?
Not for the Always Free resources: Oracle says it does not charge for them after an upgrade, only for usage above the Always Free limits. An upgraded account can also turn an Always Free instance into a paid one with more capacity.