● Covered by 1 source · 1 reportMedium impact1 negative
Oracle Halves Always Free ARM Limits for Cloud Infrastructure
Key points
- Oracle's "Always Free" ARM limits are halved.
- New limits are 2 OCPUs and 12 GB RAM for Ampere A1 instances.
- Changes take effect on August 18, 2026.
- Excess instances will be automatically terminated.
Oracle Reduces Free ARM Instance Limits
Oracle has announced a reduction in its "Always Free" tier for Ampere A1 ARM instances on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). The previous allowance of 4 OCPUs and 24 GB of RAM has been cut in half to 2 OCPUs and 12 GB of RAM. This change applies to the total resources available per tenancy, not per instance.
Deadline for Compliance
Users currently exceeding these new limits must take action before August 18, 2026. On this date, Oracle will begin enforcing the updated limits, and any compute instances that surpass the entitlement will be automatically terminated. The existing two free x86 instances remain unaffected by this policy change.
Impact on Users
This adjustment primarily affects users who have provisioned larger ARM instances or multiple instances that collectively exceed the new 2 OCPU / 12 GB RAM total. These users will need to either resize their existing instances or consolidate their workloads to fit within the reduced free tier. For example, a single 4 OCPU / 24 GB instance must be resized to 2 OCPUs / 12 GB, and two 2 OCPU / 12 GB instances will require one to be terminated.
Reason for the Change
While Oracle has not publicly stated the reason for this reduction, it is likely related to capacity management and addressing potential abuse of the free tier. The previous ARM offering was considered generous, and this change brings the free tier more in line with typical cloud provider free offerings.
✨ This summary was generated by AI from the outlets' reporting listed below. It is not independently verified and may contain errors — check the original sources. How BrevFeed works →
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Reporting from
Oracle is reducing the "Always Free" Ampere A1 ARM instance limits on its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) from 4 OCPUs and 24 GB RAM to 2 OCPUs and 12 GB RAM, effective August 18, 2026. Users exceeding these new limits must adjust their instances or face automatic termination, impacting those who relied on the previous, more generous free tier for development and testing.