{"rid":"compute/sakura-cloud-2","card":{"rid":"compute/sakura-cloud-2","eid":"sakura","topic":"compute","slug":"sakura-cloud-2","provider":"Sakura Cloud","url":"https://cloud.sakura.ad.jp/faq/free-trial/","domain":"sakura.ad.jp","category":"cloud VM","tier":null,"verdict":"paid-only","vorder":3,"grp":"paid","confidence":"documented","binding":"write-gated","identity_kind":"card","identity_basis":"stated","needs_card":1,"needs_phone":0,"needs_id":0,"needs_institution":0,"country":null,"crypto":null,"interfaces":null,"egress_metered":null,"per_object_bytes":null,"retention_days":null,"verified_at":"2026-10-22T00:00:00.000Z","verified_basis":"live","checked_on":"2026-10-22","stale_on":"2026-11-21","n_evidence":4,"usd_month":null,"usd_per_tb_month":null,"summary":"No free trial, stated outright: 'さくらのクラウドは無料トライアルを提供しておりません' (Sakura Cloud does not offer a free trial). Free capacity arrives only as coupon codes distribut...","duplicate_of":null,"n_unknown":9},"record":{"topic":"compute","slug":"sakura-cloud-2","provider":"Sakura Cloud","url":"https://cloud.sakura.ad.jp/faq/free-trial/","category":"cloud VM","free_tier":{"stated":"No free trial, stated outright: 'さくらのクラウドは無料トライアルを提供しておりません' (Sakura Cloud does not offer a free trial). Free capacity arrives only as coupon codes distributed at seminars, campaigns and through the Sakura Cloud certification exam.","unit":"none","metered_on":"wall-clock","source_url":"https://cloud.sakura.ad.jp/faq/free-trial/","read_on":"2026-10-22","notes":"none"},"per_object_cap":{"stated":"not applicable","bytes":null,"source_url":"https://cloud.sakura.ad.jp/faq/free-trial/","notes":null},"retention":{"stated":"not applicable","days":null,"source_url":"https://cloud.sakura.ad.jp/faq/free-trial/","notes":null},"egress":{"terms":"not stated","metered":false,"free_allowance":null,"price_per_tb":null,"source_url":"https://cloud.sakura.ad.jp/faq/free-trial/"},"interface":["unknown"],"interface_detail":"inferred from the tooling the provider documents; not probed","tooling":"not stated","chaining":"A JPY 50,000 coupon would have paid for about 32 months of the smallest 1-core/1-GB server at JPY 1,540 a month, but both distribution routes have closed, so the composition is theoretical.","limits":[{"kind":"write-gated","value":"There is no signup allowance at all: the only free capacity is a coupon, which is distributed by a campaign or earned by passing a paid certification exam, and the certification route closed after the third 2026 sitting.","source":"https://cloud.sakura.ad.jp/faq/free-trial/"}],"limits_note":"There is no signup allowance at all: the only free capacity is a coupon, which is distributed by a campaign or earned by passing a paid certification exam, and the certification route closed after the third 2026 sitting.","binding":"write-gated","binding_note":"There is no signup allowance at all: the only free capacity is a coupon, which is distributed by a campaign or earned by passing a paid certification exam, and the certification route closed after the third 2026 sitting.","identity_cost":{"kind":"card","detail":"card: a coupon requires one on file - the manual states 'billing on the registered credit card starts when the coupon balance reaches zero'. There is no signup allowance at all: the FAQ states that Sakura Cloud does not offer a free trial, and both coupon routes have closed. No authorisation or hold amount is stated, and whether debit or prepaid is accepted is not stated: unknown.","country":null},"reliability_note":"no reliability event recorded","confidence":"documented","evidence":[{"url":"https://cloud.sakura.ad.jp/faq/free-trial/","date":"2026-10-22","proved":"' ' (we do not offer a free trial; use coupons instead), quoted"},{"url":"https://www.sakura.ad.jp/certification/basic/","date":"2026-10-22","proved":"' 2026 3 ' (coupon distribution under this scheme ended with the third 2026 exam), and the coupon was '50,000 ' for the basic exam and '10,000 ' for the update exam, with a 12-month free window once applied, quoted"},{"url":"https://www.sakura.ad.jp/corporate/information/newsreleases/2026/04/08/1968224250/","date":"2026-10-22","proved":"' 500 25,000 ' (JPY 25,000 coupon codes for the first 500 applicants), applyable 2026-04-08 to 2026-09-30, so that campaign has also closed, quoted"},{"url":"https://manual.sakura.ad.jp/cloud/payment/coupon.html","date":"2026-10-22","proved":"' 0 ' (billing on the registered credit card starts when the coupon balance reaches zero), so a coupon requires a card on file, quoted"}],"verdict":"paid-only","verified_at":"2026-10-22T00:00:00.000Z","notes":"Confirms the corpus verdict of paid-only for the general public, and adds the mechanism that makes the confirmation useful: the coupon channel is real, it was large (JPY 50,000), and it is closed. That is the difference between 'no free tier' and 'no free tier and here is the door that used to be open'.","extras":{"wave2":{"class":"regional","free_tier_kind":"none","shape":null,"restored_original_quote":"restored 2026-10-22: the first promotion stripped non-Latin characters from this sentence, leaving empty quotation marks. The vendor wording is restored verbatim."}}},"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:write-gated","num":null,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"unparsed"}],"unknown":[["$.egress.metered","egress-unknown"],["$.egress.terms","not-stated"],["$.interface","interface-unknown"],["$.per_object_cap.notes","process"],["$.per_object_cap.stated","not-applicable"],["$.reliability_note","none-observed"],["$.retention.notes","process"],["$.retention.stated","not-applicable"],["$.tooling","not-stated"]],"history":[],"drift":[]}