At Couchbase, we are dedicated to removing blockers and creating cutting edge solutions for developers to create the next generation of applications across IoT to AI, and beyond. Now, with the addition of Capella Free Tier and Social Sign-on, we are making it faster and easier for developers to get hands on.

Crafted by the team behind the original Couchbase platform, Capella is designed to handle a diverse range of use cases, from small startups to large enterprises. The Capella Free Tier is more than just an entry point—it’s a game-changer for developers. 

Why is a free DBaaS important?

By offering a fully managed database environment at no cost, we’re enabling developers at all levels, from solo innovators to large teams, to experiment and build without the financial constraints that can stifle creativity. We are excited to give you access to our powerful database platform, allowing anyone with an idea to start building immediately.

Tl;dr;

    • Available with Data, Index, Query and Search services, including vector search
    • Easy sign in & no credit card required
    • Your cluster is available in perpetuity as long as it is in active use

Start using Capella for free today!

So what does “Free Tier” mean?

Does it mean you can have as many side projects as you want? Well, yes and to a limit, of course. We want to enable all developers to discover Capella as easily as possible and we made it available with no credit card requirement. Ideal for building MVP products and side projects. As your app scales, we recommend scaling your Capella plan to take advantage of all the services the platform offers

To be able to maintain Free Tier as an offering for you, we have to set up some limitations as it’s not a free all you can eat buffet. You are entitled to the same quality you get on Couchbase Server, Fully Managed, and we ask you to be aware of the following guidelines:

    1. After a certain amount of time of inactivity, the cluster will be paused and you will receive a communication. 
    2. You can come in and reactivate the cluster at any point. This might take a few minutes.
    3. The cluster will be deleted if there is extended period of inactivity (30 days), and of course, you can can create another free tier cluster at any point 

In the world of software development, the ability to quickly prototype, test, and iterate on ideas is crucial. This provides you with a real-world environment to develop and test your applications, ensuring that you can validate concepts and workflows before scaling up to larger, paid deployments. Learning is a continuous journey. The perpetual nature of the free tier and ability to spin up a free tier cluster at any point even after deletion lends to that experience.

Migrating to Capella

For those already utilizing Couchbase, we’ve introduced an intuitive migration tool to facilitate the seamless transfer of data to Capella. This tool supports live migrations from any Couchbase 6.x or newer clusters, allowing for a smooth, interruption-free transition. Soon, a hosted version of this migration tool will also be available within the Capella interface.

Developing with Capella 

Once you get started with your Capella journey with Free Tier, we want to make it easy for you to build applications. To that end, we have an extensive set of tools and plugins. Here are a few highlights that we want to make sure you don’t miss:

Since its launch, Couchbase Capella has been rapidly adopted by a diverse range of organizations, from agile startups to global enterprises, including industry leaders like Comcast and Marriott. Free Tier will be particularly valuable for companies looking to scale efficiently and cost-effectively. 

The introduction of the Free Tier reaffirms Couchbase’s commitment to innovation and supporting developers at every stage of their journey. By making it easier to get started, we’re helping a new generation of developers dream big, experiment, and bring their groundbreaking ideas to life, whether they’re working on the next AI application or something we haven’t even imagined yet.

“The AI interactions with Capella iQ are so useful for working with SQL++ in Couchbase that I’m signing up for the Capella free tier just for that reason alone” – ​​Paul Capestany, Couchbase Ambassador

What next?

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Posted by Stephanie Rogers - Sr. Director, Developer Engagement

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