Oracle is significantly reducing its "Always Free" ARM compute limits, with a deadline of August 18, 2026. The previous allowance of up to 4 OCPUs and 24 GB of RAM on Ampere A1 instances will be halved to 2 OCPUs and 12 GB of RAM per tenancy. This change affects users running instances larger than these new limits or multiple ARM instances that collectively exceed them.

Users with a single 4 OCPU/24 GB ARM instance must resize it down to 2 OCPUs/12 GB before the deadline. Those operating two 2 OCPU/12 GB ARM instances will need to choose one to terminate, ensuring the remaining instance stays within the new combined limit. The free x86 micro instances remain unaffected and do not count towards the ARM limit.

It is crucial to act proactively, as Oracle will automatically terminate any excess ARM instances after August 18, 2026. Users are advised to back up their data before resizing or terminating instances. Ignoring the change or waiting until the last minute can lead to issues due to console slowdowns and potential errors.