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Try out IBM Cloud, for free

Try out IBM Cloud, for free

Looking to try out IBM Cloud®? Create an account and start building proof of concepts (POCs) with the many components available in IBM Cloud. You can try Lite and Free service plans to explore IBM Cloud at no cost while learning how to work in the cloud, use Watson, and more. This quick start guide is intended to help you get up and running on IBM Cloud without having to think about costs until you're ready.

Before you begin

Go to the IBM Cloud console and create an account. You're asked to enter your credit card information to secure your account and verify your identity. There are no costs that are associated with signing up, and you can try out IBM Cloud for free. You pay only for billable services that you choose to use, with no long-term contracts or commitments.

You're set up with a Pay-As-You-Go account, and you can access the full IBM Cloud catalog, including all Lite and Free plans. You receive a $200 credit to help get you started. You can use the $200 credit on IBM Cloud products that are used in the first 30 days.

Explore the catalog

Explore the catalog for services that are free to use by filtering for Lite and Free pricing plans. You can work on your projects worry free, without the risk of generating a bill.

  1. Go to the catalog.
  2. Select the Lite and Free pricing plan options.

Create an instance

Create an instance of product that includes a free Lite plan or a Free tier pricing plan.

  1. Select the tile from the catalog after reviewing the filtered list of products.
  2. Enter any required information to create the instance.
  3. Click Create.

Next steps: Check out the tutorials

Check out our tutorials for Lite plans for detailed steps about using IBM Cloud services that provide free Lite plans for you to implement common patterns based on best practices and proven technologies at no cost.