Google Cloud Run
A Google Cloud service that runs a Docker container with no server to manage: the instance starts on a request and stops when nobody calls any more.
Strengths
- Any language as long as it fits in a Docker image, with no machine to administer
- Request-based billing by default: a service nobody calls costs nothing
- A monthly free tier of 2 million requests that does not vanish after a trial period
Limitations
- A billing account is mandatory, so a credit card, even to stay within the free tier
- A budget alert caps neither usage nor spending: a traffic spike gets billed
- Keeping an instance always on moves to instance-based billing, outside the free tier
Best for
- A containerised backend called now and then (API, webhook, on-demand processing)
- A project already on Google Cloud that needs a public URL with no server to maintain