出海实操教程Going Global Tutorials

Sanfengyun Free VPS, Tested: $0 to Start, Renew Manually Every 7 Days

Sanfengyun Free VPS, Tested: $0 to Start, Renew Manually Every 7 Days

One-line takeaway: A real cloud server with root access (1 vCPU / 1GB RAM / 5Mbps / 20GB disk) for $0 — the catch is you must click "renew" in the console every 7 days. Great for blogs, API testing, and learning Linux; not for production.

Heads-up for non-China readers: Sanfengyun is a Chinese provider and requires Chinese real-name identity verification (typically a mainland China ID card; passport support is unverified). If you don't have one, skip to the global alternatives at the end — Oracle Cloud Always Free and Google Cloud's free tier need no Chinese ID.

Prerequisites

  • An email address (for account signup)
  • Real-name verification: mandatory before you can activate the free plan (Chinese ID in practice; passport acceptance unverified)
  • No bank card or credit card required (confirmed $0 signup, no payment method on file)
  • Any computer with internet access (SSH client, or use the built-in web terminal in the console)

Step by step

Step 1: Sign up and complete real-name verification

Register at sanfengyun.com and complete the identity verification. Multiple tested walkthroughs confirm the same flow: "verify your identity, then create the instance" — verification is a hard gate, but it's fully online and no further paperwork is needed afterwards.

Step 2: Activate the free cloud server in the console

Log in to the console (www.sanfengyun.com), pick the free cloud server product, and activate it. The system assigns a public IP and an initial password.

Current free-tier specs, confirmed across multiple October 2026 walkthroughs:

  • CPU: 1 vCPU
  • RAM: 1 GB
  • Disk: 20 GB
  • Bandwidth: 5 Mbps
  • Metered traffic matches actual usage — no hidden throttling reported

Walkthrough screenshot: 7-day manual renewal record

Step 3: Connect and harden the basics

Connect via SSH or the console's web terminal, then do three things first (the same pitfalls show up in every walkthrough):

  1. Change the initial password to a strong one; close ports you don't need
  2. Enable auto-start for your services: one tester rebooted and found Nginx and PHP-FPM hadn't been set to start on boot — the blog went down. Use systemd or rc.local
  3. Set up log rotation and backup cleanup: in one real case an unrotated Django log ate 4.2 GB in three months and 11 full backups piled up. A 20 GB disk fills fast

Step 4: Deploy your lightweight app

What 1 vCPU / 1 GB comfortably runs (all from real deployments): a Typecho/Nginx blog, a small axum + SQLite service, a Django + PostgreSQL side project, cron scripts, small Telegram/Discord bots.

What doesn't belong here: video transcoding, large databases, high-traffic web apps, crypto mining, mass scraping, or proxy services (against the terms — accounts get banned).

Walkthrough screenshot: disk alert and backup overhaul

Step 5: Manually renew every 7 days (the key step)

This is the whole deal: the free server must be manually renewed every 7 days. Log in, find your instance, click renew — about 30 seconds. The expiry refreshes immediately, and the IP stays the same, data is kept, services keep running — not even your SSH session drops.

One long-term tester renewed 30+ times with zero failures. His routine:

  • Set a phone calendar reminder (his goes off Monday morning) — don't rely on memory
  • Renewing a few hours late won't delete the instance instantly (there's a grace buffer) — but don't gamble; miss it for good and the instance gets reclaimed
  • No dark patterns: no "log in X days in a row" or "post in the forum to earn credits" — just a manual click

Caveats, cost, and pitfalls

  • Cost: $0. No card on file, no "free trial converts to paid" trap
  • Not promised forever: the rule is "renew every 7 days" — keep renewing and it keeps working. Treat it as a lab and a spare box, not production
  • Back up anything important elsewhere: free-tier durability is limited; export code and databases to local storage or object storage regularly
  • China-node websites: hosting a public website on a mainland-China node requires ICP filing with the MIIT (a general regulatory requirement, not Sanfengyun-specific; Sanfengyun's exact node list and filing support are unverified)
  • Track record check: this round of research found no public reports of mass instance reclamation, surprise billing, or shutdowns. Multiple October 2026 walkthroughs report stable renewals and support tickets answered within ~2 hours. Caveat: the three core walkthroughs are all by the same author (dev.to @yangshu114514), uniformly positive in tone — possibly promotional; key facts were cross-checked for consistency across them
  • Unverified items: current free shared-hosting plan specs; the exact renew-button location in the console (read-only screenshots didn't cover it); whether real-name verification accepts passports; the current node list

Global alternatives (no Chinese ID needed)

  • Oracle Cloud Always Free: 2 vCPU / 12 GB RAM ARM instance + 200 GB storage — the most generous free VPS, but capacity is hard to get (see our 2026-10-20 Oracle A1 walkthrough)
  • Google Cloud free tier: e2-micro instance free monthly; watch the egress-traffic billing

Sources