Overview
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud and others offer new-user trial credits or always-free tiers. Some cover model inference, GPU trials or serverless calls, letting you ship an AI app cheaply.
Steps
- Pick a provider with trial credits, register a new account and complete identity or payment verification.
- Check the free-tier or credit page for eligible AI services and regions.
- Prefer serverless inference or managed model services to avoid the cost of self-hosted GPUs.
- Set budget alerts and usage caps so you don't get charged once credits run out.
- Run one minimal end-to-end call, then scale up.
Caveats
- Trial credits usually expire, so plan ahead.
- Free tiers often restrict region, instance size and monthly hours.
- Cloud billing is complex — always enable billing alerts.
- Terms differ widely, so read the free-tier notes before signing up.
Best for
Hosting open models, RAG services, GPU trials, enterprise PoCs.
2026 timeliness note
Free-tier and credit policies change often; check the provider's current page before registering.