Google Cloud Free Trial FAQs | Google Cloud (original) (raw)

Get answers to frequently asked questions about signing up and getting started quickly.

Questions about signing up

What's included in the Google Cloud Free Trial?

The Google Cloud Free Trial is a 90-day program that lets new users try the most popular Google Cloud products without any financial commitment. You will not be billed for any Google Cloud usage during your Free Trial. Access to products may be limited to prevent abuse.

Signing up for the Free Trial creates a Free Trial billing account that is preloaded with 300infreeWelcomecreditwhichisvalidfor90days.YoucanalsousetheFreeTierproducts,uptomonthlyusagelimits.Youcanspendyour300 in free Welcome credit which is valid for 90 days. You can also use the Free Tier products, up to monthly usage limits. You can spend your 300infreeWelcomecreditwhichisvalidfor90days.YoucanalsousetheFreeTierproducts,uptomonthlyusagelimits.Youcanspendyour300 credit on products and services covered by the Free Trial, including on usage beyond the Free Tier limits.

See program eligibility and coverage.

How is my personal data kept private?

At Google, your privacy is our priority.

Privacy plays a critical role in earning and maintaining your trust.

We want to be clear about how we proactively protect your data and prioritize your privacy. We start from the fundamental premise that as a Google Cloud customer, you own your customer data. We implement stringent security measures to help safeguard your customer data and provide you with tools and features to control it on your terms.

We similarly secure any service data generated through providing the services; service data itself is critical to help ensure security and availability.

Our privacy practices are also audited against international standards.

Why is payment information required for a free trial?

During signup, we ask for your name, address, and payment method to verify your identity. This reduces redundant accounts and fraudulent use on production infrastructure.

During identity verification, you may see a pending payment authorization. This is an authorization request, not a charge. You don't pay for authorizations. Authorizations may stay in your account for 1-14 business days depending on your bank. If you still see a pending authorization after 14 days, contact your bank for more information.

Don't worry, your Free Trial billing account auto-closes if you spend the $300 credit or 90 days pass from signup, and you won't be charged unless you manually upgrade to a paid account.

Once you upgrade to a paid account, you'll keep your resources and any remaining credit.

If I work for an organization, do I need to use a corporate payment method?

A corporate credit card is not required to start the Google Cloud Free Trial. You can use your personal credit card to verify your identity, without being personally responsible for any payment since there are no costs for the Google Cloud Free Trial.

Billing only starts if you manually upgrade to a paid account. If so, the payment method will be used. Please be sure to update your payment method before upgrading to a paid account to ensure correct billing.

Will I be billed after the trial ends?

No, you will not be billed unless you decide to manually upgrade to a paid account, moving out of the free trial experience.

At any point during the free trial, you can upgrade to a paid account in the Google Cloud console. By doing so, your account status gets updated to pay-as-you-go billing. You will still have access to the remainder of the 300credituntilitexpires,andyouwillonlybebilledforusagebeyondthe300 credit until it expires, and you will only be billed for usage beyond the 300credituntilitexpires,andyouwillonlybebilledforusagebeyondthe300 credits and free tier usage.

You can see the status of your account on the Billing Account Overview page in the Google Cloud console.

If you unintentionally upgraded to a paid account, follow these steps to close your account. You may also want to consider these alternatives.

How do I cancel my trial?

No action is needed to cancel the Google Cloud Free Trial. Your Free Trial ends when you spend the $300 credit or 90 days pass from signup and you don't upgrade to a Paid billing account. When your trial ends, your workloads get shut down.You can still reinstate service, and recover resources and data you stored in any Google Cloud services during the trial period, within 30 days of your trial ending by upgrading to a paid account in the Google Cloud console.

If you do not upgrade to a paid account by the end of the 30-day grace period, your workloads get deleted and you will not be charged.

Why am I getting an error during signup?

Can I still explore Google Cloud even if I'm not ready to signup for the Google Cloud Free Trial?

Yes, without a free trial account, you can still explore the Google Cloud console and learn about cloud management tools, products, and quickstart solutions.

You can also enable the BigQuery sandbox to explore limited BigQuery capabilities without providing a credit card or creating a billing account for your project.

Can I sign into Google Cloud with my work account?

You can sign up with your Microsoft account, if your organization's IT administrator allows it. You just need to authenticate using your Microsoft account using single-sign on (SSO). If you are not able to use your Microsoft account reach out to your Microsoft administrator.

You can sign in with a work account email address where you can receive email. During sign-up, we'll email an invitation to your address. To show that you own the address, you must verify your email address by providing a one-time passcode.

Is the $300 free credit per user or per organization?

More than one user at an organization can sign up for the Google Cloud Free Trial.

Each user is eligible for the $300 free credit to try Google Cloud services if you have never been a paying customer of Google Cloud, Google Maps Platform, or Firebase and you haven't previously signed up for the Google Cloud Free Trial.

Questions about getting started

Do you have quickstart guides for common use cases?

Yes, we have several resources to help you get started, including quickstarts, tutorials, interactive walkthroughs, technical documentation, GitHub samples, podcasts, videos, and architectural diagrams.

We also have jump start solutions so you can quickly deploy these pre-built solution templates from Google Cloud. Each solution features a combination of products handpicked to demonstrate how they can be combined together, enabling you to learn and experiment to accomplish your application goals.

How quickly can I host a website?

You can start using Google Cloud to host your website as soon as you sign up for a Google Cloud account. The time it takes to get a server up and running on Google Cloud will depend on a few factors, such as the size of your website, the type of server you choose, and the amount of traffic you expect. However, in most cases, you should be able to get a server up and running within a few hours.

Do you have quick start resources for AWS or Azure customers?

The level of expertise required for setting up a server on Google Cloud depends on the complexity of the project and the desired level of customization.

While some basic coding and IT skills are beneficial, our user-friendly interface, documentation, and managed services help make it accessible to users with varying levels of technical expertise.

For your convenience, we provide Google Cloud Quickstarts and Tutorials and Google Cloud Community Forums to guide you in the setup process.

Additionally, we have a list of Google-certified partners and technical support packages available to assist you.

How can I determine if using Google Cloud's services will be in my budget?

How can I upgrade to a paid billing account?

At any time after starting the Google Cloud Free Trial, you can manually upgrade to a paid billing account by clicking "Upgrade" on the Billing Account Overview page in the Google Cloud console. This will ensure that your resources keep running uninterrupted after the trial ends.

With your paid billing account, you will still have access to your 300increditsuntiltheyexpire,andyouwillonlybebilledforusagebeyondthe300 in credits until they expire, and you will only be billed for usage beyond the 300increditsuntiltheyexpire,andyouwillonlybebilledforusagebeyondthe300 credits and free tier usage.

As a small business, are there any additional programs or credits that I can apply for?

How can I access Google Photo Storage?

Google Photo Storage can be accessed by the Google Photos App or at https://photos.google.com/u/0/.

This doesn't require signup for the Google Cloud Free Trial.