OpenClaw on Oracle Cloud Free Tier: Zero-Cost Hosting

Oracle Cloud's Always Free tier is one of the most generous free tiers in cloud computing — and it's legitimately suitable for running OpenClaw. The Ampere A1 ARM instance offers up to 4 OCPUs and 24GB RAM at zero ongoing cost, making it the best free option for hosting OpenClaw if you're willing to navigate Oracle's account setup process.

What You Get for Free

Oracle's Always Free ARM instance:

• Up to 4 OCPUs (ARM Ampere A1)
• Up to 24GB RAM
• 200GB block storage
• 10TB outbound bandwidth/month
• Two availability domains in select regions

This is enough to run OpenClaw comfortably with several active skills and meaningful memory.

The Catch

Oracle Cloud's free tier has some friction:

1. Account verification: Requires a credit card for identity verification. You will not be charged unless you upgrade.
2. Instance availability: Free ARM instances in popular regions (Ashburn, Frankfurt) frequently show capacity errors. Less popular regions (São Paulo, Melbourne) have better availability.
3. Account suspension risk: Accounts that appear to have "exceeded free tier" usage or trigger fraud detection can be suspended without notice. Keep usage clearly within free tier limits.
4. ARM architecture: Some Docker images don't have ARM builds. OpenClaw's official images support ARM64 natively.

Step 1: Create Oracle Cloud Account

1. Go to cloud.oracle.com and click Try Oracle Cloud Free
2. Complete the registration with a credit card for verification
3. Choose your Home Region carefully — this cannot be changed. Pick a less popular region for better ARM availability.

Step 2: Create an Ampere A1 Instance

1. Go to Compute > Instances > Create Instance
2. Name: openclaw-server
3. Image: Ubuntu 22.04 (or 24.04) — select ARM64 variant
4. Shape: VM.Standard.A1.Flex — set OCPU to 2, Memory to 12GB (leaving headroom)
5. Boot Volume: 50GB
6. Networking: Default VCN, public IP enabled
7. Add SSH key
8. Click Create

Step 3: Configure Security Lists (Firewall)

In Oracle's networking, you must open ports in the Security List AND in the OS firewall:

1. Go to Networking > Virtual Cloud Networks > Default VCN > Security Lists
2. Add ingress rules for:
   • TCP port 22 (SSH)
   • TCP port 80 (HTTP)
   • TCP port 443 (HTTPS)

# Also configure iptables (Ubuntu on Oracle uses iptables by default)
iptables -I INPUT 6 -m state --state NEW -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
iptables -I INPUT 6 -m state --state NEW -p tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT
netfilter-persistent save

Step 4: Install Docker and OpenClaw

ssh ubuntu@your-oracle-ip

# Update packages
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install Docker (ARM64-compatible)
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | bash
sudo usermod -aG docker ubuntu

# Re-login to apply docker group, then:
mkdir ~/openclaw && cd ~/openclaw
curl -O https://github.com/OpenClaw/OpenClaw/releases/latest/download/docker-compose.yml
cp .env.example .env && nano .env

docker compose up -d

Step 5: Caddy for TLS

sudo apt install -y debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https curl
# Add Caddy repo (ARM64 supported)
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key' | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/caddy-stable-archive-keyring.gpg
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install caddy

Ongoing Considerations

Oracle can reclaim free tier resources during periods of high regional demand. If your instance is stopped unexpectedly, restart it from the Oracle console. For production use, nacre.sh's managed hosting provides more reliable uptime guarantees.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will Oracle actually charge me?

Not if you stay within Always Free limits. The credit card is for verification only. Oracle does not auto-upgrade to paid services.

Can I run this 24/7?

Yes. The Always Free tier is permanent — not a trial. Your instance can run continuously indefinitely.