Cloud & InfrastructureCredits

Alibaba Cloud Free Trial

Alibaba Cloud's free trial is mostly product-by-product: 80+ products with limited-time trials or always-free tiers, free Model Studio tokens, and one dollar credit of USD 90 on Elastic Compute Service valid for 3 months. It is not a single account credit.

Alibaba CloudUpdated monthly · checked 13 h ago

Alibaba Cloud Free Trial is a cloud and infrastructure perk from Alibaba Cloud, offering free trials of 80+ products, with no funding required.

Value
Free
Who qualifies
No funding needed
Benefit type
Credits
Apply at Alibaba Cloud

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Get an email if Alibaba Cloud Free Trial closes, changes its offer or sets a deadline. No other email.

While you apply

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What you get

Inside Alibaba Cloud Free Trial

Alibaba Cloud's Start for Free page lists 80+ products to try, with trial periods set per product, up to 12 months of free use for businesses, free Model Studio tokens across 400+ models, and a few services marked Always Free. Two cards are dollar credits: USD 90 for Elastic Compute Service, valid for 3 months, and USD 125 for Quick BI AIPro, valid for 1 month. Each user gets a one-time trial of each product, a credit or debit card is required (not PayPal), and only one account per person counts. Solution trials add 50 trial points (1 point is USD 1) valid for a year, capped at 168 hours per trial.

Source: The provider's official program page

Eligibility

Who it's for

Free trialAny startupNew accounts
Funding / backing
No funding needed
Geography
Global
Recurring / expiry
One-time per product; each trial runs for the period on its card, from 1 month to 12 months, and a few services are always free.
Other requirements
First use of each product only. A verified phone number and a credit or debit card (Visa, Mastercard, AMEX or JCB with international payments, or PayTM in India) are needed; PayPal is not supported. ECS trials are for users who have never bought a computing product. Resellers' customers are excluded. Companies verified with a real name get Enterprise offers instead of the individual ones.
How to claim

How to apply for Alibaba Cloud Free Trial

Steps to apply
  1. 1Register an Alibaba Cloud account, verify your phone and email, open the Start for Free page and start the trial on the product card you want.
Good to know: Read on alibabacloud.com (the Start for Free page and the help-center page on free trials) on October 27, 2026. The ECS trial's own terms are in a trial center that needs a sign-in and could not be read, so only the figure on the card is stated. The dollar credit for a new account is the separate $200 New User Credit record; free Model Studio tokens are the separate Model Studio record.
Apply at Alibaba Cloud

Source: The provider's official program page

Value is the headline maximum Alibaba Cloud advertises. What your company actually receives depends on your eligibility and how you use the program, and terms can change. A comparison, not endorsed by the programs listed. A link labeled as a referral link may earn us a commission, and a program labeled Same owner comes from the company that runs StartupPerks. Confirm current terms on the provider's page.
Questions

Alibaba Cloud Free Trial: what founders ask

Each answer restates what Alibaba Cloud and the pages linked under it say, read on October 27, 2026.

What does the Alibaba Cloud free trial include?

Mostly product-by-product trials, not one account credit. The Start for Free page promises “80+ Products For Free” with “up to 12 months free” and, among its cards, one dollar credit for Elastic Compute Service: “USD 90 Free Credits (Valid for 3 Months)”.

The terms for the ECS credit sit in a trial center behind a sign-in, so the card's figure is all Alibaba Cloud's public page states about it.

Examples on the page's trial list
  • Elastic Compute Service: USD 90 in free credits, valid for 3 months
  • Quick BI AIPro: USD 125 in free credits, valid for 1 month
  • Model Studio: free tokens across 400+ models
  • Direct Mail: 10,000 free messages
  • A database trial card reads "2C4G 1 Month"
  • Some services are marked Always Free

Source: Alibaba Cloud Start for Free page

Who can use the Alibaba Cloud free trial?

New users with a registered account, a verified phone number and a payment method. Alibaba Cloud's help center says “You have no historical orders for the product you want to try” and “Each user is entitled to a one-time free trial of each product unless specified otherwise.” PayPal is not accepted.

ECS is stricter: free trials of elastic computing products “are available only to new users of computing products”, and a previous “pay-as-you-go bill with an amount greater than or equal to USD 0” rules you out.

Individuals and companies are separate: “Users who have already participated in the individual edition free trial are not eligible for the enterprise edition free trial.” Customers who joined through a reseller are out: “Customers who registered through a reseller channel are not eligible to participate in free trial campaigns.”

Source: Alibaba Cloud docs: manage a free trial

How do I start an Alibaba Cloud free trial?

Register, “Verify your phone number and email”, then open the Start for Free page and pick a product. Alibaba Cloud's steps: “Find the product you want to try and follow the on-screen instructions to activate the cloud resource and grant authorization.” A company-verified account unlocks the Enterprise offers.

Trials are managed in the billing console, where you “view and manage your free trial instances”.

Source: Alibaba Cloud Start for Free page, Alibaba Cloud docs: manage a free trial

Is Alibaba Cloud free forever?

Not the trials. Each runs for the period on its card, and Alibaba Cloud says “During the free tier period, you must add a payment method to continue using the service for free.” A few services are marked Always Free, and the company can change the list: “Alibaba reserves the right to adjust the products in this free tier campaign and end the campaign at any time.”

If Alibaba Cloud finds you ineligible, “the instances you created during the trial period will be stopped and locked. These instances will be released after 15 days.”

Source: Alibaba Cloud Start for Free page, Alibaba Cloud docs: manage a free trial

Does Alibaba Cloud give trial points for solution trials?

Yes, a separate benefit: “Eligible users can claim an initial 50 trial points one time”, valid for one year and worth “1 point : USD 1”. They only pay for solution trial deployments, and each trial is capped: “Each trial cannot exceed 168 hours.”

Trial points are “a dedicated quota for Alibaba Cloud solution trials, used only to offset the cost of resources created for learning and validating solutions.” Solution trials and product trials are separate, so one does not affect your eligibility for the other.

Source: Alibaba Cloud docs: manage a free trial

Is there a dollar credit for new Alibaba Cloud accounts as well?

Yes, separately. Alibaba Cloud's campaign page offers “Get $200 instantly + Free AI tokens, no minimum spend” to new users who apply, valid for 60 days. It is a different program with its own form and review.

Source: Alibaba Cloud $200 credit campaign page

Also from Alibaba Cloud

Alibaba Cloud's other offers

  • Alibaba Cloud $200 New User Credit

    New Alibaba Cloud users can apply for a $200 coupon with no minimum spend, valid for 60 days, which comes with free AI tokens. Alibaba Cloud's team reviews the application within 3 working days, and monthly credit rewards can follow for active customers.

  • Model Studio Free Quota

    New Alibaba Cloud Model Studio users get a separate free quota on each eligible model, typically 1,000,000 tokens, valid for 90 days on Singapore-region models deployed for international use.

  • Alibaba Cloud Startup / AI Catalyst Program

    Up to $120K in Alibaba Cloud credits (lifetime for AI Catalyst) for AI-first startups, with GPU compute and Model Studio token allowances.

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