1 min read

How to Create Free VM Instance in Google Cloud

The Google Cloud Free Tier offers new users $300 in free credits to explore various services, including Compute Engine, for 90 days, along with always-free access to a limited set of products like a small VM instance (e.g., f1-micro).

How to Create Free VM Instance in Google Cloud
  1. Go to Google Cloud.
    1. Create your project.
    2. Name your project. We will name it N8n for this tutorial.
  1. On the new project overview dashboard, search for VM (Virtual Machine).
  1. Click on Create Instance.
  1. Under Machine configuration
    1. Name your VM.
    2. Choose your Region & zone, us-central usually has the lowest cost.
  1. Pick e2-micro, this is free for any project first instance.
  1. Under OS and storage
    1. Change the size to 20 GB. Depending on how much space you need. Cost increases as the size increases.
    2. Change your type to "Standard Persistent Disk"
  1. Under networking.
    1. Allow HTTPS Traffic. It's secured, only use allow HTTP traffic if you need to test or connect internally.
  1. You might notice the 2 vCPU + 1GB (e2-mirco) but don't worry about it, it's free for every first project instance. You probably only need to pay for the disk space.
  1. You are done. Let's create! It takes a few minutes to complete initializing your new VM instance.
  1. After your VM is created on the dashboard, Click on SSH.
  1. Now you can start installing your package and set up your database or website here.