Free Cloud IDEs and Dev Environments
Which cloud IDEs and dev environments a startup can code, preview and share projects in for free today, how many hours and how much storage the free plan gives, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs, read from each provider's own page.
Free allowances read on each provider's own pages, all checked on or after . Cloud IDEs change their free plans from time to time: confirm the terms on the provider's page before you rely on it.
Cloud IDEs a startup can use for free today include GitHub Codespaces (120 core hours and 15 GB a month), code-server (Free and open source (MIT license)), StackBlitz (Unlimited public projects and repos), Coder (Free Community plan, self-hosted), and Google Cloud Shell (5 GB of free persistent storage). Each of the 9 free plans below links to the provider's page that states it, with its main limit, its hours and storage, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs.
Onboarding a new developer, reviewing a pull request or coding from a borrowed laptop is faster with a ready dev environment in the browser. Cloud IDEs give you one with a free monthly allowance, and open-source dev environments run VS Code on your own servers for free.
The headline rarely tells you how far it goes. Free plans cap core hours and storage a month, sessions time out, and private or organization projects may need a paid plan. Each IDE below shows what is free, its main limit, its hours and storage, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs, quoted from the provider's own page with the date we read it.
Which IDEs we picked and the order they appear in are our editorial choices; the terms are the providers'. Some of these providers pay us a referral commission when someone signs up through our link: those links are labeled, and they play no part in which IDEs are listed or where.
Cloud IDEs with a free plan
Code in the browser with a ready environment, free to start.
- 1
GitHub Codespaces
Coding in a cloud dev environment from a GitHub repo
Each personal GitHub account gets 120 core hours and 15 GB of storage a month for Codespaces. Usage beyond that is billed, from $0.18 an hour of compute.
- Hours and storage
- 120 hours compute, 15 GB storage a month (source: docs.github.com)
Start free at GitHubTerms read on github.com on GitHub Codespaces: the free allowance and how to start - 2
StackBlitz
Full-stack web projects in the browser, public work
StackBlitz's free Personal plan includes unlimited public projects and GitHub repositories. Collaborating on repositories owned by a GitHub organization needs StackBlitz Teams.
Start free at StackBlitzTerms read on stackblitz.com on StackBlitz: the free allowance and how to start - 3
Google Cloud Shell
A free terminal and editor in the browser, light use
Cloud Shell includes 5 GB of free persistent storage and a default weekly quota of 50 hours. Sessions are capped at 12 hours.
- Hours and storage
- 50 hours a week, 5 GB storage (source: cloud.google.com)
Start free at GoogleTerms read on cloud.google.com on Google Cloud Shell: the free allowance and how to start - 4
VS Code for the Web
Reading and editing repos in a browser, no install
Visual Studio Code for the Web is a free, zero-install editor that runs in the browser. The terminal and debugger are not available in it.
Start free at MicrosoftTerms read on code.visualstudio.com on VS Code for the Web: the free allowance and how to start
Open-source dev environments you can self-host
Run VS Code or dev environments on your own servers, free.
- 1
code-server
VS Code in a browser, on a server you run
code-server is open source under the MIT license, which permits use free of charge. You install and run it yourself.
- 2
Coder
Self-hosted cloud workspaces for a small team
Coder's Community plan is free for hobbyists and small teams, and it is capped at 5 Coder Agents. Premium is billed annually per user.
- First paid plan
- Premium: billed annually per user (source: coder.com)
- 3
Eclipse Che
Kubernetes-based dev environments you run yourself
Eclipse Che is open source under the Eclipse Public License 2.0. You deploy it on your own public or private Kubernetes clusters.
Start free at Eclipse CheTerms read on github.com on Eclipse Che: the free allowance and how to start - 4
DevPod
Dev environments from devcontainer files, any machine
DevPod is 100% free and open source, with no vendor lock-in. It is a client-only tool with no server-side setup.
- 5
OpenVSCode Server
Upstream VS Code in a browser, on a machine you control
OpenVSCode Server is open source under the MIT license, which grants use free of charge.
Start free at GitpodTerms read on github.com on OpenVSCode Server: the free allowance and how to start
Also useful for building and shipping apps
Referral links, picked for fit and ordered by fit (70%) and what a signup earns us (30%), at no cost to you. They never change this page's ranking.
Compare the top options
How this comparison is built
The list covers cloud IDEs and dev environments a founder can use for free today without applying to a program. The order and the "best for" notes are our editorial reading of each IDE's terms. Every term comes from the IDE's own pricing or help page on the date shown, never from a third-party list; follow each link for the full conditions. A cap on core hours or storage a month, private projects or more memory kept for paid plans, environments that sleep when idle can matter more than the headline, so the comparison quotes them wherever the provider states them. Some of these IDEs pay StartupPerks a referral commission, and their links are labeled as referral links; that decides neither whether nor where a IDE appears, and no IDE pays for a placement on this page.
Read the full methodologyCommon questions
What is the best free cloud IDE?
By the terms each provider states, GitHub Codespaces gives 120 core hours and 15 GB of storage a month, StackBlitz unlimited public projects, Google Cloud Shell 50 hours a week with 5 GB of storage, and VS Code for the Web is free in your browser.
Is GitHub Codespaces free?
Yes, up to a monthly quota of 120 core hours and 15 GB of storage; beyond that, compute is billed from $0.18 an hour.
Can I self-host a cloud IDE for free?
Yes. code-server and OpenVSCode Server (MIT), DevPod, Eclipse Che (EPL-2.0) and Coder's free Community plan run on your own servers.
Does VS Code for the Web have a terminal?
No. VS Code for the Web runs free in the browser with no install, but without a terminal or debugger.
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