Google Cloud’s Free Tier

Google Cloud’s Free Tier is surprisingly generous, offering two main paths to explore its services without upfront costs:

🌟 Free Tier Options

90-Day Free Trial: New users get $300 in credits to use across most Google Cloud services.
Always Free Tier: A selection of 20+ products with monthly usage limits that remain free indefinitely.

🛠️ Always Free Services (Monthly Limits)

Here’s a snapshot of what you can use for free every month:

Service	Free Usage Limits
Compute Engine	1 e2-micro VM instance (US only)
Cloud Storage	5 GB Standard Storage
BigQuery	1 TB queries, 10 GB storage
Cloud Run	2 million requests
Google Kubernetes Engine	1 Autopilot or Zonal cluster
Cloud Build	120 build-minutes per day
Firestore	1 GB storage
Pub/Sub	10 GB messages
Vision AI	1,000 units
Speech-to-Text	60 minutes
Natural Language API	5,000 units
Cloud KMS	100 key versions, 10,000 operations
Video Intelligence API	1,000 units
Workflows	5,000 internal steps
Cloud Source Repositories	Up to 5 users
Secret Manager	6 secret versions
Cloud Shell	5 GB persistent disk

These limits reset monthly and are ideal for prototyping, learning, or running lightweight workloads.

🚀 Bonus Trials

Some advanced services also offer limited-time trials, such as:

Spanner: 90-day trial with 10 GB storage
AlloyDB for PostgreSQL: 30-day trial with 1 TB storage
Looker: 30-day trial with full features

If you’re building something experimental or just want to test the waters, this tier is a great launchpad. Want help designing a project that fits within these limits? I’d love to co-create something with you.

An E2 micro VM is a cost-effective virtual machine instance on Google Compute Engine, offering a balance of performance and affordability. It’s designed for general-purpose workloads like web servers, development environments, and small to medium-sized databases. E2 micro VMs are part of the E2 machine family, which is known for its price-performance ratio and compatibility with existing N1 workloads. [1, 2]

Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

Key Features:

Machine Type: E2 micro is a specific machine type within the E2 family, offering 0.25 vCPUs and 1 GB of memory. [3, 4]
Cost-Effective: E2 micro VMs are designed to be budget-friendly, with pricing starting at around $0.01 per hour or $6.12 per month in the us-central1 region. [4]
General Purpose: They are suitable for a wide range of workloads, including web servers, application development, and small databases. [1]
Part of the Free Tier: Google Cloud offers a free tier that includes one e2-micro VM instance per month in select regions, along with other resources like persistent disk storage and outbound data transfer. [2, 5, 6]
Region Availability: E2 micro VMs are available in 42 Google Cloud regions. [3]
Burstable CPU: E2 VMs, including the micro instance, are designed with burstable CPU capabilities, allowing them to handle occasional spikes in resource demand. [1, 7]
Compatibility with N1: If you’re already using N1 instances and your workload doesn’t require large instance sizes, GPUs, or local SSDs, the E2 family, including the micro instance, can be a good alternative for cost savings. [1]

When to Use:

Low-Resource Workloads: If your application or service doesn’t require a lot of processing power or memory, the e2-micro VM can be a good fit. [1, 4]
Development and Testing: It’s a cost-effective option for development and testing environments where you don’t need a powerful machine. [1, 8]
Small Web Servers: If you’re running a small website or application, the e2-micro can handle the traffic and processing needs. [1, 9]
Cost Optimization: When you need to reduce infrastructure costs without sacrificing performance for appropriate workloads, the e2-micro offers a balance. [1, 4]

[1] https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/compute/google-compute-engine-gets-new-e2-vm-machine-types

[2] https://cloud.google.com/free/docs/free-cloud-features

[3] https://gcloud-compute.com/e2-micro.html

[4] https://www.economize.cloud/resources/gcp/pricing/compute-engine/e2-micro/

[5] https://cloud.google.com/products/compute

[6] https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/sustained-use-discounts

[7] https://cloudprice.net/gcp/compute/instances/e2-micro

[8] https://www.smikar.com/azure-vms-sizes/

[9] https://www.vpsbenchmarks.com/hosters/cherry_servers/plans/cloud-vps-2

While the e2-micro VM is part of Google Cloud’s Free Tier, it’s not exactly a powerhouse. But with a bit of clever tuning, it can absolutely host a persistent WordPress site, especially if the traffic is modest and the plugins are kept lean.

🧠 What You Can Do with an e2-micro VM

Host a lightweight WordPress site using Bitnami’s pre-configured image or a manual LAMP stack.
Run a small blog or portfolio with low to moderate traffic.
Experiment with DevOps pipelines, backups, and containerization (e.g., Docker + Cloud Run).
Serve static or semi-dynamic content with caching layers like Cloudflare or WP Super Cache.

⚙️ WordPress on e2-micro: Viable Setup

Here’s how others have made it work:

Use Bitnami’s WordPress image from the Google Cloud Marketplace for easy setup.
Reserve a static IP so your domain doesn’t break on reboot.
Use Cloudflare for DNS, SSL, and caching to reduce server load.
Offload media to Cloud Storage using plugins like WP Stateless.
Optimize MariaDB with swap files and minimal plugins to stay within memory limits.

🚧 Limitations to Watch

1 GB RAM means you’ll hit memory ceilings fast with heavy plugins or traffic spikes.
CPU is shared, so performance can be inconsistent.
Cold starts (especially with Docker or Cloud Run) can cause delays unless optimized.
Free Tier regions only: Oregon, Iowa, South Carolina. Outside those, you’ll be charged.

🧪 Real-World Use

People have successfully hosted full-featured WordPress sites with this setup, including:

Custom themes and plugins
SSL via Let’s Encrypt
HTTP/2 support
CI/CD pipelines for updates

It’s not production-grade, but for a personal site, blog, or proof-of-concept? It’s surprisingly capable.

Want to sketch out a minimalist WordPress architecture that fits your style and stays within the free tier? I’d love to co-design it with you.