Render Service Types

Identify the right service type for your use case.

Render supports five different service types for hosting your app:

You can also create fully managed datastores to use with your app:

Render Postgres databases
Render Key Value instances
- These instances are compatible with virtually all Redis®^* clients.

Choosing a service type is the first step of creating a new service in the Render Dashboard:

Which service type is right for my app?

See below for a summary of each service type, along with links to full documentation.

Summary of service types

For running code

Service Type	Description
Web service	The most common service type. Dynamic web apps with a public `onrender.com` subdomain for receiving traffic over HTTP. If you’re building a public web app using Express, Django, Rails, or something similar, use this service type. To get started, you can create a free instance.
Static site	Apps that consist entirely of statically served assets (commonly HTML, CSS, and JS). Static sites have a public `onrender.com` subdomain and are served over a global CDN. Create a static site if you’re building with a framework like: Create React App Vue.js Gatsby
Private service	Dynamic web apps that don’t have a public URL. Private services do expose an internal hostname for receiving traffic from your other Render services over their shared private network. Private services are great for deploying tools like: Elasticsearch ClickHouse
Background worker	Internal apps that run continuously, often to process jobs that are added to a job queue. Background workers do not expose a URL or internal hostname, but they can send outbound requests to other service types. Use background workers with a framework like: Sidekiq Celery
Cron job	Internal apps that run—and then exit—on a defined schedule. A cron job might run a single bash command, a script with multiple commands, or a compiled executable. Cron jobs do not expose a URL or internal hostname, but they can send outbound requests to other service types.

For storing data

In addition to the managed datastores below, Render supports attaching a persistent disk to most other service types.

Service Type	Description
Render Postgres	A powerful, open-source relational database. To get started, you can create a free instance that expires after 30 days. Render continually backs up all paid Render Postgres instances to provide point-in-time recovery. Larger instances support additional reliability features like read replicas and high availability.
Render Key Value	An in-memory key-value store that’s ideal for use as a job queue or a distributed cache. To get started, you can create a free instance. Render Key Value is compatible with virtually all Redis clients. Paid Key Value instances continuously write to disk to persist data across restarts.

Service Type

Description

Render Postgres

A powerful, open-source relational database. To get started, you can create a free instance that expires after 30 days.

Render continually backs up all paid Render Postgres instances to provide point-in-time recovery. Larger instances support additional reliability features like read replicas and high availability.

Render Key Value

An in-memory key-value store that’s ideal for use as a job queue or a distributed cache. To get started, you can create a free instance. Render Key Value is compatible with virtually all Redis clients.

Paid Key Value instances continuously write to disk to persist data across restarts.

^*Redis is a registered trademark of Redis Ltd. Any rights therein are reserved to Redis Ltd. Any use by Render Inc is for referential purposes only and does not indicate any sponsorship, endorsement or affiliation between Redis and Render Inc.