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I'm guessing they're still implementing the change in all the places that mention it. I was going to downsize my instance, but I'll wait until it's clearer. People are saying they haven't been able to launch new ARM instances due to capacity issues, which doesn't inspire much confidence.
Don't delete the vm, just resize the shape.
I haven't been informed by e-mail of any changes, and I haven't logged into the management thingy since last January 2025. Both my instances seem to be happily chugging along doing nothing except artificially keeping the load at 50% (following the advice a few years back about them deleting free instances with less than 10% load).
I never got anymore warnings and they probably do even less now. I suspect that backfired on them.
The only thing I've been running on mine for the past few years is a Minecraft server, which is known to use a ton of RAM. I never ran a program to use the CPU 24/7, that might have been the reason it stayed up for that long, but they never terminated my instance.
I just got this email from Oracle:
Action Required: OCI Always Free Update
Hello,
We're writing to let you know about an important update regarding Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Always Free compute.
The Always Free compute limits have been updated. If your tenancy is currently using Always Free compute resources above the new limits, you must reduce your usage by August 18, 2026.
Beginning on August 18, 2026, Oracle will begin enforcing the updated Always Free compute limits. Compute instances that exceed the Always Free entitlement will be automatically terminated.
Current Always Free compute limits
If your tenancy is already within these limits, no action is required.
Your tenancy and other Always Free services will remain available. If compute instances are terminated because they exceed the Always Free entitlement, you can launch new Always Free compute instances within the current limits at any time.
You can review the current Always Free limits and manage your compute resources in the OCI Console.
For more information, see:
Thank you for using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
The Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Team
Me too. So I just logged in and reshaped my free-tier instance to 2cpu/12ram.
I don't really use it for anything heavy, so I should be fine.
It's been 4 years on the dot (give or take a few days) since I created it, so I guess I should be grateful for the free tier. Especially with the RAM pricing these days.
never gotten that email yet but i guess thats for only free tier and not PAYG legacy accounts?
There was a discussion about it which did not end in anything specific. It seems like yes but not 100% sure.
I just got it too. So had to resize it, had it for a long time today is a sad day 🥹
Location?
I got it today as well. London for me.
Got it too... sad day.
Toronto, no email yet.
Stockholm
Ashburn for me but I think it applies to all of them.
Same, it's been a good run TBH, happy with a free 2c 12gb box