{"eid":"freeshell","name":"freeshell.de","domain":"freeshell.de","resolved_by":"domain","topics":["compute"],"n_records":1,"best_vorder":1,"review":null,"aliases":["freeshell.de"],"records":[{"rid":"compute/freeshell-de","card":{"rid":"compute/freeshell-de","eid":"freeshell","topic":"compute","slug":"freeshell-de","provider":"freeshell.de","url":"https://freeshell.de/services/","domain":"freeshell.de","category":"shell","tier":"Free shell account","verdict":"qualifies-with-caveat","vorder":1,"grp":"usable","self_hosted":0,"confidence":"documented","binding":"write-gated","identity_kind":"email","identity_basis":"stated","needs_card":0,"needs_phone":0,"needs_id":0,"needs_institution":0,"country":null,"crypto":null,"interfaces":"ssh,sftp,webdav","egress_metered":null,"per_object_bytes":null,"retention_days":null,"verified_at":"2026-10-24T06:15:00.000Z","verified_basis":"live","checked_on":"2026-10-24","stale_on":"2026-11-24","n_evidence":8,"usd_month":null,"usd_per_tb_month":null,"summary":"'SSH to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS server with many tools and apps.' and 'Quota: 42 GB', 'Network: IPv4 + IPv6', 'Private TCP/UDP port: yes — on request'. The shell ac...","duplicate_of":null,"n_unknown":1,"free_unit":"GiB"},"record":{"topic":"compute","slug":"freeshell-de","provider":"freeshell.de","url":"https://freeshell.de/services/","category":"shell","tier":"Free shell account","free_tier":{"stated":"'SSH to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS server with many tools and apps.' and 'Quota: 42 GB', 'Network: IPv4 + IPv6', 'Private TCP/UDP port: yes — on request'. The shell account is free and non-profit, online since 2002.","unit":"GiB","metered_on":"stored-bytes","source_url":"https://freeshell.de/services/","read_on":"2026-10-24"},"per_object_cap":{"stated":"ulimit values per account: 'nofile=unlimited', 'nproc=150', 'fsize=unlimited', 'mem=4 GB'"},"retention":{"stated":"Not stated on the pages read: no inactivity deletion rule is published. Backups run daily with 30 days retention, which is the only retention number on the page."},"egress":{"terms":"not published: no traffic allowance or port speed is stated. 'Liberal fair-use limits' is the only qualifier.","metered":false,"free_allowance":null,"source_url":"https://freeshell.de/services/"},"interface":["ssh","sftp","webdav"],"interface_detail":"SSH to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, a ShellInABox browser terminal, rsync/scp, WebDAV through ownCloud, MySQL over the CLI and phpMyAdmin, and a private TCP/UDP port on request. Podman is available for containers.","tooling":"any SSH client; Podman for containers; rsync/scp for transfer","chaining":"A shared shell with 4 GB of memory, 42 GB of disk, a real IPv4 and a private port on request, for no money and no card: the closest thing to a free always-on host, at the cost of a physical postcard and a shared kernel.","limits":[{"kind":"volume-quota","value":"42 GB of shell quota, shared with mail and web space","source":"https://freeshell.de/services/"},{"kind":"volume-quota","value":"nproc=150 and mem=4 GB per account","source":"https://freeshell.de/services/"},{"kind":"write-gated","value":"activation requires a physical postcard mailed to a German address","source":"https://freeshell.de/get-started/"}],"binding":"write-gated","binding_note":"The postcard is the gate: nothing is provisioned until a piece of physical mail reaches Germany, which is a delay of days and a cost of one stamp, and no digital route exists.","identity_cost":{"kind":"email","detail":"no card, no phone, no document, no national ID. The signup form asks for a desired login and an existing email address only; a token arrives by email and is then written on a postcard and mailed to a German address before the account is enabled. The identity cost is a postal address, not a payment instrument.","country":null},"reliability_note":"No reliability event observed. It is a non-profit club, not a company, so continuity rests on volunteers; the page states it has been online since 2002.","confidence":"documented","confidence_note":"Quota, memory, nproc, the IPv4+IPv6 pair, the private port and the postcard activation are all quoted from freeshell.de's own services and get-started pages read. Egress allowance, vCPU count and the inactivity rule are not published on any page read.","evidence":[{"url":"https://freeshell.de/services/","date":"2026-10-24","proved":"quoted: 'SSH to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS server with many tools and apps.', 'Quota: 42 GB', 'Network: IPv4 + IPv6', 'Private TCP/UDP port: yes - on request'"},{"url":"https://freeshell.de/services/","date":"2026-10-24","proved":"quoted: 'Default limits (ulimit): nofile=unlimited nproc=150 fsize=unlimited mem=4 GB'; 'Background processes: yes · screen/tmux: yes · personal crontab: yes'; 'Backups: daily, 30 days retention'"},{"url":"https://freeshell.de/services/","date":"2026-10-24","proved":"quoted: 'Podman (Docker-compatible). Find, run, build, share and deploy apps in your own environment here.' and 'Storage: images/volumes live under ~/.local/share/containers/ (counts to your quota)'"},{"url":"https://freeshell.de/get-started/","date":"2026-10-24","proved":"quoted: 'Free Linux shell account. Activated by postcard.' and 'Grab a postcard: write your token on it, then mail it (physically) to the address in the email.' and 'once the postcard arrives, we enable your account'"},{"url":"https://freeshell.de/","date":"2026-10-24","proved":"quoted: 'Your non-profit free shell provider since 2002' and 'Generous resources, rich environment, friendly by design'"},{"url":"https://freeshell.de/services/","date":"2026-10-24","proved":"quoted: 'Quota: additional 42 GB (separate from shell quota)' for ownCloud, and 'MySQL 8.0 databases ... Quota: technically none - fair-use'"},{"url":"https://freeshell.de/services/","date":"2026-10-24","proved":"quoted: 'SSH to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS server with many tools and apps.', 'Quota: 42 GB', 'Network: IPv4 + IPv6', 'Private TCP/UDP port: yes — on request'"},{"url":"https://freeshell.de/services/","date":"2026-10-24","proved":"quoted: 'Quota: additional 42 GB (separate from shell quota)' for ownCloud, and 'MySQL 8.0 databases ... Quota: technically none – fair-use'"}],"verdict":"qualifies-with-caveat","verified_at":"2026-10-24T06:15:00.000Z","price_per_tb_month":null,"notes":"The best free always-on shape found that takes no card: 4 GB of memory, 42 GB of disk and an inbound port. Three caveats. First, activation is by physical postcard to Germany, which is days of latency and a stamp, and it is the only route. Second, it is a shared host, not a VM: no root, a shared kernel, and Podman rather than Docker daemon access. Third, no vCPU count and no egress allowance are published, so the compute and bandwidth sides of the shape are unverified. A third-party aggregator states 20 GB and 1 Gbps for this service; both disagree with the vendor's own 42 GB, and the vendor page is the one recorded.","extras":{"shape":{"vcpu":null,"ram_gib":4,"disk_gib":42,"gpu_class":null,"gpu_count":null,"note":"mem=4 GB is a ulimit, not an allocation; vCPU is not published, only nproc=150"},"billing_model":"free","term":"indefinite while the account is active; no term is published","m10h_usd":0,"m24h_usd":0,"price_arithmetic":"no charge, no card, no billing relationship; the cost is one postcard","free_tier_kind":"always-free","network_out":{"allow_outbound":true,"allow_inbound_listen":true,"ports":"a private TCP/UDP port on request; IPv4 and IPv6 both assigned","static_ip":true,"ipv6":true,"per_session_bytes":null},"session_cap":{"wall_clock_min":null,"idle_reap_s":null,"restart_required":false,"note":"none published; background processes, screen/tmux and personal crontab are all permitted"},"signup_url":"https://freeshell.de/get-started/","credit_usd":null,"credit_hours_at_shape":null,"card_hold_usd":null,"payment_methods":"none; donations accepted, no billing system"}},"claims":[{"path":"$.extras.m10h_usd","kind":"price","num":0.0,"unit":"10 hours a day","per":"month","currency":"USD","usd":0.0,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.extras.m24h_usd","kind":"price","num":0.0,"unit":null,"per":"month","currency":"USD","usd":0.0,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.free_tier","kind":"has-free-tier","num":1.0,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.free_tier.stated","kind":"free-quota","num":42.0,"unit":"GB","per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.limits[0].value","kind":"limit:volume-quota","num":42.0,"unit":"GB","per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.limits[1].value","kind":"limit:volume-quota","num":4.0,"unit":"GB","per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.limits[2].value","kind":"limit:write-gated","num":null,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"unparsed"}],"unknown":[["$.egress.metered","egress-unknown"]],"history":[],"drift":[]}]}