Setting Up a Free VPS on Oracle Cloud and Deploying Dockerized Apps

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of hosting my apps on the cloud without paying for it. When I discovered Oracle Cloud’s Free Tier, it felt like the perfect opportunity to expand my homelab.

I spun up an Ampere ARM-based Ubuntu VPS, installed Docker, and deployed some of my personal projects — including APIs, monitoring tools, and dashboards. To expose them securely, I once again used Cloudflare Tunnels, linking each container with my domain.

Running Docker on an ARM processor came with minor compatibility issues, but most containers worked flawlessly. I even used Docker Compose to orchestrate multiple apps efficiently.

This setup now serves as my external node — a stable environment to host production-ready apps while my local servers remain experimental.

Takeaway:
The Oracle Cloud free VPS is more powerful than it sounds. Combined with Docker and Cloudflare, it becomes an excellent, zero-cost deployment platform for developers who love to self-host.