Render Free Postgres Expired? How to Back Up and Move Your Database

Render's free PostgreSQL databases expire 30 days after they're created. After that, Render gives you a 14-day grace period to upgrade to a paid instance, and then the database is deleted. If you got the expiry email or your app suddenly can't connect, here's how to save your data in about 10 minutes and move it somewhere it won't expire again.

Why your Render database expired#

Render's free tier docs say free Postgres instances expire 30 days after creation. Render shortened this from 90 days. The free tier is designed for trying Render, not for keeping data long-term. Free Postgres also has 256 MB of RAM and 1 GB of storage. Paid Render Postgres starts at $6/month.

You have three options:

1. Upgrade on Render (from $6/month) and keep everything where it is.
2. Recreate a free database every month and re-import your data. This works, but it's fragile, and one missed month loses everything.
3. Move to a host whose free database doesn't expire, or to one you'll pay for anyway.

Whichever you pick, the backup steps are the same.

Step 1: Get the external connection string#

In the Render dashboard, open your database and copy the External Database URL. It looks like this:

postgresql://USER:PASSWORD@HOST.render.com/DBNAME

Keep it out of your shell history. Put it in a variable for this session only:

export RENDER_DB_URL='postgresql://…'   # paste yours

Step 2: Back up with pg_dump#

Use a pg_dump whose major version is the same as or newer than the server's version:

pg_dump --format=custom --no-owner --no-acl \
  --file=render-backup.dump "$RENDER_DB_URL"

• --format=custom makes a compressed file that pg_restore can restore selectively.
• --no-owner --no-acl drops Render-specific roles, so the dump restores cleanly on another host.

Check that the backup isn't empty:

pg_restore --list render-backup.dump | head

Want a plain SQL file you can read? Use --format=plain --file=render-backup.sql instead.

Step 3: Create the new database#

On DockHosting, create a PostgreSQL database in the dashboard (PostgreSQL 16 by default) and attach it to your project. The Free plan's database is 500 MB and never expires. Larger plans give 2 GB (Hobby), 5 GB (Pro) or 20 GB (Team) per database.

Any PostgreSQL host works for the next step. Just use its external connection string.

Step 4: Restore with pg_restore#

export NEW_DB_URL='postgresql://…'   # the new database's connection string
 
pg_restore --no-owner --no-acl --dbname="$NEW_DB_URL" render-backup.dump

For a plain SQL dump, use psql "$NEW_DB_URL" -f render-backup.sql instead.

Then check that your data arrived:

psql "$NEW_DB_URL" -c "select count(*) from users;"   # use one of your tables

On DockHosting you can also run quick checks with dock db sql from the CLI.

Step 5: Point your app at the new database#

If your app reads DATABASE_URL, there's nothing to change in the code. On DockHosting, attaching the database injects DATABASE_URL into your app automatically, over a private network. On another host, update the variable and redeploy.

Framework examples are in connecting your app to managed PostgreSQL.

Common restore errors#

How to avoid this next time#

• Use a database that doesn't expire. DockHosting's free database never expires.
• Automate backups. Paid DockHosting plans include daily backups (kept 3, 7 or 30 days). On any host, a weekly pg_dump costs nothing.
• Keep your connection string in DATABASE_URL so moving hosts is a config change, not a code change.

Comparing free tiers before you pick? See free backend hosting in 2026 and the best Heroku alternatives.