Free Cloud VM + SSH Account
Get a free Linux VM with SSH access and use it as an SSH proxy site in Portus - Proxy Tool. Pick a provider below — every guide ends with a server that works with Settings → Routing → Proxy Sites → Add → Kind = SSH.
Provider guides
- Oracle Cloud — always free Ampere A1 (up to 4 OCPU / 24 GB) or AMD E2.1.Micro
- Google Cloud — always free e2-micro (2 vCPU / 1 GB)
- AWS — free tier t2/t3.micro (12 months)
- Azure — free B1s/B1ts VM (12 months)
Comparison
| Provider | Free VM | Size | Free forever? | Card needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle Cloud | Always Free | Ampere A1 (4 OCPU / 24 GB) or E2.1.Micro | ✅ Yes | Yes (verify only) |
| Google Cloud | Always Free e2-micro | 2 shared vCPU / 1 GB | ✅ Yes | Yes (verify only) |
| AWS | Free Tier t2/t3.micro | 1 vCPU / 1 GB | ⏳ 12 months | Yes |
| Azure | Free B1s/B1ts | 1 vCPU / 1 GB | ⏳ 12 months | Yes |
Recommendation: Oracle or Google — both are genuinely always free, so your proxy VM never starts costing money.
Which one to pick?
- Best specs, free forever: Oracle Ampere A1 — up to 4 ARM cores and 24 GB RAM across a few instances.
- Simplest setup: Google Cloud e2-micro — one click, key management built in.
- Most familiar / most docs: AWS (but the free tier expires after a year).
- If you already have a Microsoft account: Azure (also 12 months).
What every guide ends with
- A Linux VM with port 22 (SSH) open and key-only login.
- A private/public SSH key pair on your Mac.
- The public IP (preferably a reserved static IP).
- In Portus - Proxy Tool: Add Proxy Site → Kind = SSH with that host/port/user + the imported keys → Test Proxy.
More providers
These offer free credits or trials rather than an always-free VM — usable the same way once you have a server:
- DigitalOcean — US$200 credit for 60 days (new accounts).
- Vultr — US$250 credit for new accounts (30 days).
- Hetzner — no free tier, but very cheap (≈ €4/mo for a CX22).
- Alibaba Cloud / Tencent Cloud — free trials for small ECS instances in some regions.
- IBM Cloud — free Lite plan for limited compute.
Tip: the app's Test Proxy button is the fastest way to confirm any of these servers work as an SSH proxy site before you rely on it.