Cloud Freebies — How to Claim Free Credits

Step-by-step guides for claiming free credits from the major cloud providers. Use these to host your VR project sites, run build pipelines, store assets, or experiment with cloud services at zero cost.

Microsoft Azure — $200 Free Credit

New accounts get $200 to spend on nearly any Azure service within 30 days, plus 25+ services free for 12 months and a handful of always-free services after that.

What you need

  • A Microsoft account or GitHub account (create one free at account.microsoft.com)
  • A phone number for verification
  • A credit or debit card (non-prepaid) — used for identity verification only; you will not be charged

Step-by-step

  1. Go to the signup page. Visit azure.microsoft.com/free and click the green "Start free" button.
  2. Sign in. Log in with your Microsoft or GitHub account. If you don't have one, you can create it during this step.
  3. Verify your identity. Enter your phone number and receive a verification code via text or call.
  4. Add a payment method. Enter your credit or debit card details. Microsoft places a temporary hold (usually $1) to confirm the card is valid, then reverses it. You will not be charged unless you explicitly upgrade later.
  5. Start using Azure. You'll land in the Azure Portal. Your $200 credit is active immediately. Check remaining balance under Cost Management + Billing in the portal.

Tips

  • Unused credit does not roll over — use it within 30 days or lose it.
  • After 30 days (or when credit runs out), you'll be asked to upgrade to pay-as-you-go. If you don't upgrade, your resources are paused — nothing is charged.
  • The 25+ free-for-12-months services (like B1s VMs and 5 GB blob storage) continue even after upgrading, as long as you stay within the free limits.
  • Students: Use Azure for Students instead — $100 credit, no credit card required, renewable annually while enrolled.

Google Cloud Platform — $300 Free Credit

New accounts get $300 to spend on any GCP service within 90 days. An always-free tier continues indefinitely after the trial.

What you need

  • A Google account (Gmail works fine)
  • A credit or debit card — personal cards are accepted; corporate cards are not required

Step-by-step

  1. Go to the signup page. Visit cloud.google.com/free and click "Get started for free".
  2. Sign in. Log in with your Google account.
  3. Select your country and agree to the terms. Choose your country from the dropdown and click Agree and Continue.
  4. Create a payment profile. Enter your legal name, address, and contact info. Click Create.
  5. Add a payment method. Enter your credit or debit card details and make sure automatic payments are enabled (Google uses this for verification). Click Save.
  6. Verify your card. Google may place a small temporary hold to confirm the card, then reverse it.
  7. Answer setup questions. Select your intended use case and click Start Free.
  8. Start using GCP. You'll be redirected to the Google Cloud Console with your $300 credit active.

Tips

  • Your Free Trial billing account auto-closes when you spend the $300 or 90 days pass — you will not be charged unless you manually upgrade.
  • The always-free tier includes Compute Engine (e2-micro), 5 GB Cloud Storage, 2 million Cloud Functions invocations/month, and more — these continue forever and don't count against your $300 credit.
  • You can't create more than 8 vCPUs or use GPUs/TPUs during the free trial.
  • If you have a startup, look into the Google for Startups program for up to $350,000 in credits over two years.

Amazon Web Services — $200 Free Credit

New accounts receive $100 at signup and can earn up to $100 more by completing introductory service walkthroughs. Plus 30+ always-free services.

What you need

  • An email address
  • A credit or debit card for identity verification
  • A phone number for verification

Step-by-step

  1. Go to the signup page. Visit aws.amazon.com/free and click "Create a Free Account".
  2. Enter your email and account name. Choose a name for your AWS account and provide your email. Verify the email with the code sent to you.
  3. Set a password. Create a strong root password for the account.
  4. Choose your plan. Select the Free plan — this ensures you won't be charged for anything beyond the free credits and always-free limits.
  5. Enter contact info and payment method. Provide your address and a credit or debit card. AWS places a temporary $1 hold to verify the card.
  6. Verify your phone number. Enter your phone number, choose text or voice call, and enter the verification code.
  7. Select a support plan. Choose Basic Support — Free.
  8. Claim your first $100. Once your account is active, $100 in credits is automatically applied to your billing dashboard.

Earning the extra $100

AWS awards $20 credits for each of these introductory activities (credits appear within ~10 minutes):

  1. Amazon EC2 — Launch an EC2 instance and then terminate it.
  2. Amazon RDS — Launch a basic RDS database instance.
  3. AWS Lambda — Create and run a simple Lambda function.
  4. Amazon Bedrock — Try a prompt in the Bedrock playground.
  5. AWS Budgets — Go to Billing Console → Budgets, create a monthly cost budget (e.g., $5), and save it.

Tips

  • The free plan expires after 6 months or when credits are exhausted, whichever comes first. Credits themselves expire 12 months after account creation.
  • Always-free services (Lambda 1M requests/month, 25 GB DynamoDB, etc.) continue indefinitely even after the free plan expires.
  • Set up a billing alarm immediately — this is one of the $20 credit tasks anyway.
  • If you're a startup, look into AWS Activate for up to $100,000 in additional credits.

Hetzner Cloud — €20 Free Credit

New accounts get €20 in cloud credit. Hetzner is a German provider known for outstanding price-to-performance — VPS instances start at €3.79/month.

What you need

  • An email address
  • A valid payment method (credit card, debit card, or PayPal)
  • Personal ID verification may be requested for new accounts

Step-by-step

  1. Go to the signup page. Visit hetzner.com/cloud and click "Sign Up".
  2. Create your account. Enter your email address and create a password. Verify your email via the confirmation link.
  3. Add a payment method. Add a credit card, debit card, or PayPal account. Hetzner may place a small temporary hold to verify the payment method.
  4. Apply the promo credit. Your €20 credit may be applied automatically. If not, go to your Cloud Console and enter a promo code in the billing section. Referral links from existing users also provide €20.
  5. Identity verification (if required). Hetzner may ask for a photo ID or passport scan to prevent fraud. This usually takes a few hours to process.
  6. Start creating servers. Open the Hetzner Cloud Console, click "Create Server", pick a location (Falkenstein, Nuremberg, Helsinki, Ashburn, Hillsboro, or Singapore), and choose your plan.

Tips

  • The CX22 plan (2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 40 GB SSD) at €3.79/month is excellent value — your €20 credit covers about 5 months of it.
  • Hetzner's ARM instances (CAX line) are even cheaper and great for Docker workloads.
  • No free tier after credits run out — but per-hour billing means you only pay for what you use.
  • Hetzner is GDPR-compliant with EU-based datacenters, which matters if you serve European users.

Vultr — Up to $300 Free Credit

New accounts can receive up to $300 in free credit valid for 30 days. Vultr has 32 datacenter locations across 6 continents.

What you need

  • An email address (not previously used on Vultr)
  • A credit card, debit card, PayPal, or cryptocurrency for payment verification

Step-by-step

  1. Go to the signup page. Visit vultr.com and click "Sign Up" or use a promotional link for maximum credits.
  2. Create your account. Enter your email and password. Verify your email address.
  3. Add a payment method. Link a credit card, PayPal, or crypto wallet. The card must not be linked to any existing Vultr account.
  4. Apply a promo code (if needed). If credits weren't automatically applied, go to Billing → Promo Codes and enter a valid code. Promotional credits don't stack with other offers.
  5. Deploy your first server. Click "Deploy Server", choose a location, OS, and plan. Vultr's cheapest plan starts at $2.50/month (IPv6 only) or $5/month with IPv4.

Tips

  • Promo credits expire after 30 days for the $300 tier, but some smaller promo codes offer 12-month validity — check the terms on your specific offer.
  • Vultr offers bare metal, managed databases, Kubernetes, and block/object storage alongside VPS.
  • The Vultr Match program matches your first deposit — deposit $100, get $100 extra in credit.
  • Referral links give $50 to new users (after the referred user spends $25).

DigitalOcean — $200 Free Credit

New accounts get $200 in free credit valid for 60 days. Students get $200 for a full year via the GitHub Student Developer Pack.

What you need

  • An email address (or sign in via Google or GitHub)
  • A credit card or PayPal for payment verification

Step-by-step

  1. Go to the signup page. Visit digitalocean.com and click "Sign Up". Use a referral link if available for credit bonus.
  2. Create your account. Register with your email, or sign in with Google or GitHub for faster setup.
  3. Verify your payment method. Add a credit card or PayPal. DigitalOcean charges a temporary $1 verification hold that is refunded. Your $200 credit is applied automatically.
  4. Create your first Droplet. Click "Create → Droplets", choose a datacenter region, OS image, and plan size. The $4/month Droplet (512 MB) is a solid starting point.

Tips

  • Credits expire after 60 days — deploy early to maximize value.
  • Students: The GitHub Student offer gives $200 valid for 12 months instead of 60 days.
  • The App Platform has a free tier for up to 3 static sites — perfect for VR project portfolios.
  • DigitalOcean's managed databases, Spaces (S3-compatible storage), and Kubernetes are all usable with free credits.

Linode (Akamai) — $100 Free Credit

New accounts get $100 in free credit valid for 60 days. Linode is now part of Akamai, giving access to one of the world's largest edge networks.

What you need

  • An email address, or sign in with Google or GitHub
  • A credit card for identity verification

Step-by-step

  1. Go to the signup page. Visit linode.com and click "Sign Up" or "Get Started".
  2. Create your account. Sign up with email, Google, or GitHub SSO. Verify your email if using the email path.
  3. Add a payment method. Enter your credit card details. Linode won't charge you during the trial period as long as you stay within the $100 credit.
  4. Agree to terms and activate. Accept the Terms of Service. Your $100 credit is now active.
  5. Create your first Linode. Click "Create Linode", choose a distribution, region, and plan. The Nanode 1 GB plan at $5/month is a great starting point.

Tips

  • Credits apply to most services, but GPU plans are excluded from the free trial.
  • Unused credits expire after 60 days — any excess usage is billed at standard rates.
  • Linode's one-click apps marketplace makes deploying WordPress, Docker, game servers, and more a single-click operation.
  • Akamai integration means excellent global CDN and edge computing capabilities.

OVHcloud — Up to $300 Free Credit

New Public Cloud customers can receive up to $300 in credits valid for 90 days. Europe's largest cloud provider with competitive pricing.

What you need

  • An email address
  • A payment method ($0.99 fee for creating your first project)

Step-by-step

  1. Create an OVHcloud account. Visit ovhcloud.com/public-cloud/free-trial and register for an account.
  2. Create your first Public Cloud project. Go to the OVHcloud Control Panel, navigate to Public Cloud, and create a new project. A $0.99 fee is charged to verify your payment method.
  3. Apply for credits. After creating your project, you may also need to purchase a Managed Databases service to qualify for the maximum credit. You'll hear back about your credit application within 2 business days.
  4. Start deploying. Once credits are applied, launch instances, object storage, and Kubernetes clusters from the Public Cloud dashboard.

Tips

  • Credits are valid for 90 days from the date they're applied.
  • OVHcloud's European datacenters offer strong GDPR compliance and data sovereignty.
  • VPS plans outside Public Cloud start at just $3.50/month (no credits needed for these — they're just cheap).
  • OVHcloud also offers dedicated servers at competitive prices if you need bare metal.

Scaleway — €100 Free Credit

New Business customers get €100 in free credit with a valid payment method. A French cloud provider with datacenters in Paris, Amsterdam, and Warsaw.

What you need

  • An email address
  • A valid credit card or debit card
  • A Business account (select "Business" during registration)

Step-by-step

  1. Go to the signup page. Visit scaleway.com and click "Sign Up".
  2. Choose a Business account. Select the Business account type during registration to qualify for the €100 free credit. Personal accounts may not receive the same offer.
  3. Verify your identity. Enter your business details and add a valid payment method. Scaleway may place a small hold for verification.
  4. Receive your credit. Once your account is verified, the €100 credit is applied to your billing dashboard.
  5. Start deploying. From the Scaleway Console, create Instances, Kubernetes clusters, managed databases, serverless functions, or object storage.

Tips

  • Scaleway's STARDUST instances (1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM) start at €0.0025/hr — exceptionally cheap for small projects.
  • Scaleway offers GPU instances with NVIDIA L4 and L40S cards for AI workloads.
  • Their Generative APIs service provides free access to open-source LLMs (Llama, Mistral) during the beta period.
  • 75 GB of object storage is included free on every account.

More freebies on the way

We're always looking for more free resources to help VR creators. Know of a freebie we missed?

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