{"rid":"compute/google-cloud-trial","card":{"rid":"compute/google-cloud-trial","eid":"google","topic":"compute","slug":"google-cloud-trial","provider":"Google Cloud Free Trial (USD 300)","url":"https://cloud.google.com/free/docs/free-cloud-features","domain":"google.com","category":"cloud platform trial credit","tier":"free trial","verdict":"trial-only","vorder":2,"grp":"trial","confidence":"documented","binding":"volume-quota","identity_kind":"card","identity_basis":"stated","needs_card":1,"needs_phone":1,"needs_id":0,"needs_institution":0,"country":null,"crypto":null,"interfaces":"rest,cli","egress_metered":1,"per_object_bytes":null,"retention_days":90,"verified_at":"2026-10-23T11:22:37.000Z","verified_basis":"live","checked_on":"2026-10-24","stale_on":"2026-11-23","n_evidence":1,"usd_month":null,"usd_per_tb_month":null,"summary":"Signing up for the Free Trial creates a Free Trial billing account that is preloaded with $300 in free Welcome credit which is valid for 90 days.","duplicate_of":null,"n_unknown":0},"record":{"topic":"compute","slug":"google-cloud-trial","provider":"Google Cloud Free Trial (USD 300)","url":"https://cloud.google.com/free/docs/free-cloud-features","category":"cloud platform trial credit","tier":"free trial","free_tier":{"stated":"Signing up for the Free Trial creates a Free Trial billing account that is preloaded with $300 in free Welcome credit which is valid for 90 days.","unit":"mixed","metered_on":"none","source_url":"https://cloud.google.com/free/docs/free-cloud-features","read_on":"2026-10-23"},"per_object_cap":{"stated":"not applicable: the offer is a spending balance, not a stored object"},"retention":{"stated":"the balance is deleted at day 90 or when it is spent, whichever comes first; the trial cannot be paused or extended","days":90,"source_url":"https://cloud.google.com/free/docs/free-cloud-features"},"egress":{"terms":"egress bills against the credit at list price; the separate always-free allowance is 1 GB a month from North America","metered":true,"free_allowance":null,"source_url":"https://cloud.google.com/free/docs/free-cloud-features"},"interface":["rest","cli"],"interface_detail":"the Google Cloud console, gcloud CLI and every product API","tooling":"gcloud, the client libraries, Terraform, and every tool that speaks a Google Cloud API","chaining":"this is the general-purpose credit behind a Google Cloud deployment; it pairs with the separate always-free e2-micro record, which has no end date","limits":[{"kind":"volume-quota","value":"USD 300 of credit over 90 days from signup","source":"https://cloud.google.com/free/docs/free-cloud-features"},{"kind":"write-gated","value":"a trial billing account cannot request a quota increase, cannot add GPUs, and cannot use Marketplace images that carry a licence fee","source":"https://cloud.google.com/free/docs/free-cloud-features"}],"limits_note":"the credit cannot pay for the Gemini API in AI Studio, for a generative AI partner model sold as a managed API, for Windows Server images, or for Marketplace fees","identity_cost":{"kind":"card","detail":"a credit card or other payment method is required at signup, with a temporary authorisation hold of USD 0.00 to USD 1.00; a consumer Google account is accepted and the page does not ask for a work address; bank or phone verification applies in some countries","country":null},"reliability_note":"the credit expires at day 90 even after the account is upgraded to a paid billing account, and the trial cannot be paused","confidence":"documented","confidence_note":"the free-features page was read on 2026-10-23 and states the amount, the 90-day window, the card requirement and the product exclusions. No account was created, so the identity gate is the vendor's sentence and not a completed signup","evidence":[{"url":"https://cloud.google.com/free/docs/free-cloud-features","date":"2026-10-23","proved":"'Signing up for the Free Trial creates a Free Trial billing account that is preloaded with $300 in free Welcome credit which is valid for 90 days', quoted; the same page states the card requirement, the 90-day expiry after upgrade, and the Gemini API and GPU exclusions"}],"verdict":"trial-only","verified_at":"2026-10-23T11:22:37.000Z","price_per_tb_month":null,"notes":"This is a different record from google-cloud-free-tier, which carries the e2-micro allowance that has no end date. The trial is the largest single balance Google publishes to an individual, and the exclusions decide what it is worth: no GPU on a trial billing account, and no Gemini API spend. A workload that plans to train on a GPU cannot use this credit for it.","extras":{"free_tier_kind":"one-time-credit","credit_usd":300,"credit_days":90,"recurring":false,"reachable_by":"consumer email plus a card","excluded_products":"Gemini API in AI Studio, partner managed models, GPUs on a trial account, Windows Server, Marketplace","hourly_usd":{"e2_standard_4":0.13402284,"e2_standard_2_derived":0.06701142},"rate_basis":"e2-standard-4 read from the Google Cloud VM instance pricing page on 2026-10-23; e2-standard-2 is half of it and is derived, not read"},"binding":"volume-quota","binding_note":"the 90-day clock ends the balance before any usage ceiling is reached"},"claims":[{"path":"$.free_tier.stated","kind":"free-quota","num":null,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"unparsed"},{"path":"$.limits[0].value","kind":"limit:volume-quota","num":null,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"unparsed"},{"path":"$.limits[1].value","kind":"limit:write-gated","num":null,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"unparsed"}],"unknown":[],"history":[],"drift":[]}