Always free on both AWS plans: 100 build minutes a month on general1.small or arm1.small on-demand EC2 compute, plus 6,000 build seconds a month on 1 GB Lambda compute. On the Paid plan, usage beyond that is billed; on the Free plan it draws down credits, and the account closes after 6 months or when the credits run out.
Verified ·Oct 15, 2026
Free allowance
What the free plan includes, as the provider states it.
- build minutes on EC2 (general1.small or arm1.small) / month
- 100 min
- On-demand EC2 builds on general1.small or arm1.small, 100 minutes in total, each build rounded up to the minute. Reserved capacity, Sandbox, Docker image server and .NET Core for Windows builds get no free tier. Usage counts across all Regions (and all accounts of an AWS Organization); logs, artifacts and other AWS services a build uses may incur their own charges.
- build seconds on Lambda (1 GB) / month
- 6K s
- On-demand Lambda builds on lambda.arm.1GB or lambda.x86-64.1GB, 6,000 seconds in total, each build rounded up to the second. Lambda builds can't run longer than 15 minutes or do Docker builds, and Lambda compute is offered only in some Regions.
- concurrent builds (default quota)
- 1
- Default service quota of 1 running build per AWS Region for each of the Linux/Small, ARM/Small, Linux Lambda/1GB and ARM Lambda/1GB environments; the quota is adjustable.
Before you rely on it
Read with the default assumptions: a project that may grow and may make money.
- Notice: Usage past the free limit is billed with no hard stop
The fine print
Each verdict links to the quote it rests on.
- Free for
- As long as you stay within the limits
- At the limit
- Overage is billed
- Spending cap
- None: usage past the limit is billed
- Idle projects
- No pause rule documentedThe allowance has no end date and applies on both the Free and Paid plans. On the Free plan, usage beyond it is paid from credits, and the account closes 6 months after opening or when the credits run out, whichever is first; AWS keeps the data for 90 days, and upgrading to the Paid plan in that window restores access, otherwise AWS permanently erases the account.
- Data retention
- No deletion rule documented
- Card at sign-up
- Sometimes requiredAlways Free covers new and existing AWS customers; the Free plan and its credits are for new customers only. Most new customers can sign up without a payment method, though AWS may ask for one to verify identity (holding USD $1 for 3-5 days). The advanced sign-up requires a valid payment method and a phone that takes calls and SMS; upgrading to the Paid plan means adding a payment method.
- Identity check
- A phone number
- Commercial use
- AllowedThe allowance continues on the Paid plan, which AWS describes as the plan for production applications. Free plan accounts are for evaluation and should not be used to process sensitive data.
- Mainland China
- Not verifiedFree Tier credits and the account plan choice are not available in the AWS China (Beijing, Ningxia) Regions, which have a separate Free Tier page.
- Sign-up regions
- No restrictions documented
- Quotas apply per
- Account
Alternatives
Other free plans for the same need, ranked by the same neutral rules.
Changes
- New
Changed: AWS CodeBuild Free Tier added to the catalog
- Oct 15, 2026
- Awaiting review
- Always Free