# Free (12month) Node-RED cloud instance
**URL:** https://discourse.nodered.org/t/free-12month-node-red-cloud-instance/14319
**Category:** General
**Created:** [14 August 2019 15:25 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/free-12month-node-red-cloud-instance/14319 "2019-08-14T15:25:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@cymplecy](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/cymplecy)
#### Post date: [14 August 2019 15:25 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/free-12month-node-red-cloud-instance/14319/1 "2019-08-14T15:25:13Z")
JFI You can get a free (for 12months - no credit card needed) Node-RED cloud instance (handy for playing around with)
[https://www.iotwithus.com/free-node-red-cloud-hosting/](https://www.iotwithus.com/free-node-red-cloud-hosting/)
just use the 
PS It took a while (few days) before it came online but its working now 🙂
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### Author:  [@IoTPlay](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/IoTPlay)
#### Post date: [14 August 2019 19:53 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/free-12month-node-red-cloud-instance/14319/2 "2019-08-14T19:53:18Z")
Why are they doing this?
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### Author:  [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)
#### Post date: [14 August 2019 20:17 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/free-12month-node-red-cloud-instance/14319/3 "2019-08-14T20:17:23Z")
In the hope of eventually getting you to pay for something I imagine. In the same way Dropbox give you some capability for free but to get more you have to pay.
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### Author:  [@JayDickson](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/JayDickson)
#### Post date: [14 August 2019 21:38 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/free-12month-node-red-cloud-instance/14319/4 "2019-08-14T21:38:03Z")
It's probably the autodesk model: share readily for a limited time or with conditions, thereby enticing people to adopt a new paradigm or platform, wait for the skill base to grow, then start to crank up revenue siphons once the platform in question is taken seriously enough to be used in production.
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### Author:  [@afelix](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/afelix)
#### Post date: [16 August 2019 09:27 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/free-12month-node-red-cloud-instance/14319/5 "2019-08-16T09:27:24Z")
Plus they offer three tiers, and this is the lowest tier. If you want to keep it running after those 12 months you’ll have to pay 4.99 a month for it, which is comparable to similar DigitalOcean droplets with that capacity. Meaning you might get several who will keep paying for it.
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### Author:  [@keepitsimple](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/keepitsimple)
#### Post date: [11 December 2020 20:12 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/free-12month-node-red-cloud-instance/14319/6 "2020-12-11T20:12:26Z")
I decided to move all my Node Red flows into the cloud and connect my ESP and [Shelly](https://shelly.cloud/) nodes via MQTT. Works flawlessly and has no noticeable delay. I am using [https://microfacturingusa.org/iot-creator/](https://microfacturingusa.org/iot-creator/) which is free and hosted by a not for profit educational foundation connected to University of California - so they do it for educational purposes and will stick around for a while.