Best approach to start with cloud instances now (always-free, payg)?
I've been reading quite a few threads over the last couple of days about Oracle's changes to Always Free and Pay As You Go (PAYG) accounts/instances, but I'm still a bit confused. I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction.
I've used Oracle Cloud at work before, and now that I'm getting into homelabbing, I'm considering hosting some of my own projects there.
One project in particular is a lightweight Python web application that converts social media cooking recipes into a digital cookbook. It uses a "bring your own AI API key" approach. I originally built it because the existing solutions were simply too expensive for me.
The application would only be used by me and a few other people (max.5), so the expected traffic is very low. From what I can tell, it should easily fit within the Always Free resources.
I'm comfortable with Linux server administration, security hardening, and general infrastructure. My main concern is pricing and billing.
After reading these different posts, I'm unsure what the recommended approach is today (from not having an account yet):
* Should I create an Always Free account or go straight to a PAYG account?
* If I choose PAYG, can I simply stay within the Always Free resource limits and avoid charges?
* Is there any downside to choosing PAYG over an Always Free account if my goal is to stay within the free limits?
* I don't have any experience with Oracle's ARM instances yet. Would you recommend them for a small Python web application, or should I stick with x86?
I'd really appreciate any recommendations or experiences from the community.
Thanks in advance!
Edit: sorry if there is already a thread like this
Edit 2: Thank you everybody for your responses, you really helped me out :)