There is no free version of full Minecraft, and every route below is honest about where it stops. Minecraft Classic sits at classic.minecraft.net, loads in a tab, asks for a nickname and nothing else — but it is the 2009 build: creative only, 32 block types, no mobs and no survival. The Java demo gives you five in-game days, roughly 100 minutes, in a preset survival world, then locks you out of interacting with it. The full game is $29.99 once for the Java and Bedrock bundle, or $13.99 a month through PC Game Pass since Microsoft's April 2026 price cut.
The fourth route is the one most people end up on: a free-forever sandbox that is not Minecraft. Luanti, ClassiCube and Veloren cost nothing permanently and run on machines that would struggle with modern Java. This page sorts the four by what you actually get, and hands each one to the article that goes deep on it.
Minecraft free on PC starts with 100 minutes, or a subscription
The official free route is time-boxed, and the box is small. The Java demo runs about 100 minutes — five in-game days — in a preset survival world.
I ran that clock out on a weeknight and was still hunting for coal when the world went read-only. You keep walking around; you stop being able to touch anything. Resetting the demo world gives the 100 minutes back and takes everything you built.
What the trial locks, and what comes after
Online servers are off in the demo. LAN works, but only one demo account can join. Achievements never unlock in a trial world.
After that, you pay: $29.99 once for Java and Bedrock together, or $13.99 a month on PC Game Pass, which carries both editions.
Trial length and Game Pass pricing both move. The news piece keeps the current numbers and the dates they changed — check it before you assume the 100 minutes still stands.
Free games like Minecraft are where free stops being temporary
If you want to build for a hundred hours without paying, you are leaving Minecraft. Three open-source games take that job, and they are not interchangeable.
- Luanti (renamed from Minetest in late 2024) — the closest full sandbox, with a built-in browser that installs whole games and mods in one click
- ClassiCube — a free rebuild of Minecraft Classic as a tiny desktop client, with real multiplayer servers
- Veloren — gorgeous, actively developed, and an action RPG rather than a building game
The money question comes first
None of the three sells power. That matters more than graphics if you left a free game because it was pay-to-win — the same question decides most free PC games, and we mapped how they actually make money.
I spent an evening in Luanti's content browser and came out with a survival game and a dozen mods, without a single account. The review ranks all three and says which one collapses under scrutiny.
Playing Minecraft free with friends cuts the list to two routes
Multiplayer is where the free routes separate hardest. The demo cannot join public servers, and its LAN mode accepts one demo account — which means one friend, and both of you on the clock.
Browser Classic lost its multiplayer in a 2025 change to the site. The controls are gone; treat it as single-player.
That leaves the free-forever clients. ClassiCube servers hold hundreds of builders and cost nothing to join. Luanti servers run well on hardware you would not point at a modded Java server.
Which route you pick depends on how many of you there are and whether anyone owns the game. The ranked walkthrough sorts it for you.
Try Minecraft Classic — free, in your browser, no account
Opens the official Mojang page. Nickname only, nothing downloaded. If you want survival, the trial article covers what the 100 minutes buys you.
Try Minecraft Classic →The browser version downloads nothing — your RAM decides the rest
Classic is the only route with 0 GB downloaded. You open classic.minecraft.net, type a nickname, and you are in — no account, no launcher, no Microsoft sign-in.
What you get is 2009: 32 block types, infinite quantities, creative only, no mobs, no crafting, no health bar. Every original bug is still in there on purpose.
Where the browser route breaks
On a laptop with integrated graphics I had Classic running in a tab in seconds. What slowed it down was not the GPU — it was everything else open in the browser eating memory.
Full Java is a different conversation: 1–3 GB installed, 4 GB free space to be comfortable, Java 21 for current versions. If storage is your constraint, our sizes-and-settings piece lists what each free PC game weighs in GB, and the setup article covers the browser route, allocated RAM and the flags that matter.
The four free routes on PC, and where each one stops
| Route | Cost | Downloaded | Time limit | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minecraft Classic (browser) | Free | 0 GB | None | Creative only, 32 blocks, single-player |
| Java demo / trial | Free | 1–3 GB | ~100 minutes | Real survival, preset world, no servers |
| ClassiCube | Free | Under 100 MB | None | Classic-style building, multiplayer servers |
| Luanti | Free | Around 100 MB | None | Full sandbox, mods, self-hosted servers |
| Java & Bedrock bundle | $29.99 once | 1–3 GB | None | Everything, both editions |
| PC Game Pass | $13.99 / month | 1–3 GB | While subscribed | Both editions, plus the catalogue |
Read next
- Where the trial and Game Pass stand right now — The trial length and the $13.99 Game Pass price both changed in 2026 and need a dated page.
- Free games like Minecraft, ranked — The free-forever route is a different game; the review picks between Luanti, ClassiCube and Veloren.
- Playing Minecraft free with friends, ranked — Multiplayer is the hardest constraint on the free routes and needs its own ordered walkthrough.
- The browser route, GB and allocated RAM — Readers who pick the 0 GB route immediately hit memory and browser questions.
- What each free PC game weighs in GB — Hardware bridge: storage is the real constraint for anyone choosing a free sandbox.
- How free PC games actually make money — Anyone leaving a paid game for a free one wants to know the free one is not pay-to-win.