Set up your account

To use Google Cloud, you'll need a Google account and billing account.

  1. Set up a Google account
  2. Set up a billing account

1. Set up a Google account

Visit https://cloud.google.com/ (opens in a new tab).

If you don't already have a Google Account, then sign up by clicking Get started for free.

Organizations are outside of this scope of this guide. See here (opens in a new tab) if you want to set up an organization.

With an account, you get access to both

  • a Free Trial
  • a Free Tier

The Free Trial (opens in a new tab) provides $300 of Cloud Billing credits to pay for resources for 90 days while you learn about Google Cloud.

The Free Tier (opens in a new tab) provides access to Google Cloud products for free beyond the Free Trial as long as you stay below the Free Tier limits (opens in a new tab).

2. Enable billing

If you use the Free Trial, Google creates a billing account (opens in a new tab) for you and credits $300 to your account.

Once the free trial period ends, you'll be able to continue to use the Free Tier, but you must set up a billing account (opens in a new tab) to cover any costs that exceed free tier limits.