Quick answer: Google Cloud gives new customers $300 in free credit for 90 days, plus an always-free tier that continues after the trial. The free tier includes one e2-micro virtual machine per month in three US regions, 30 GB of standard persistent disk, 5 GB of Cloud Storage, 2 million Cloud Run requests a month, 1 TiB of BigQuery queries a month and more. It is ideal for learning, small APIs, bots and test projects, but a busy WordPress site or anything that needs an India-based server will usually cost money.
Many students, freelancers and small business owners in India sign up for Google Cloud, launch a server and then get a bill they did not expect. This guide explains exactly what is free in 2026 (based on Google’s official free-tier page, last updated 13 October 2026), what is not, and the settings that keep your bill at zero.
Free trial vs free tier: two different things
| Feature | Free Trial | Free Tier (always free) |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | $300 Welcome credit | Monthly usage limits on selected products |
| How long | 90 days or until credit is used | Ongoing, subject to change with notice |
| Who can use it | New customers only | All billing accounts |
| Can you be charged? | Not during the trial | Yes, for usage above the limits on a paid account |
Free trial rules worth knowing
- You must never have been a paying customer of Google Cloud, Google Maps Platform or Firebase, and must not have used the trial before.
- You need a valid payment method. Google may place a temporary authorisation hold of $0 to $1, which is not a charge.
- During the trial you cannot add GPUs, use Cloud Marketplace, request quota increases, create Windows Server VMs or create VMware Engine resources.
- The credit cannot be used for the Gemini API in AI Studio or managed partner models, and crypto mining is prohibited.
- The trial cannot be paused or extended.
What happens when the trial ends
If you do not upgrade, the trial ends when the $300 is used or 90 days pass. Billing is disabled and your resources stop. You then have a 30-day grace period in which upgrading may let you recover them; after that they are permanently deleted. If you upgrade to a paid account, unused credit stays usable until the original 90 days end, and anything beyond the credit and free-tier limits is billed.
The always-free tier: key limits in 2026
These limits apply per billing account, per month, unless stated otherwise.
| Product | Free monthly allowance | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Compute Engine | 1 non-preemptible e2-micro VM in us-west1, us-central1 or us-east1; 30 GB-months standard persistent disk; 1 GB outbound data from North America | Small Linux server, bot, cron jobs |
| Cloud Storage | 5 GB-months regional storage in US regions; 5,000 Class A and 50,000 Class B operations; 100 GB outbound data from North America | Backups, static files |
| Cloud Run | 2 million requests; 360,000 GB-seconds memory; 180,000 vCPU-seconds; 1 GB outbound data from North America | APIs, web apps, webhooks |
| Cloud Run functions | 2 million invocations; 400,000 GB-seconds; 200,000 GHz-seconds; 5 GB outbound data | Event triggers, automation |
| BigQuery | 1 TiB of queries; 10 GiB storage | Analytics practice, reports |
| Firestore | 1 GiB storage per project; 50,000 reads, 20,000 writes and 20,000 deletes per day | App databases |
| App Engine (Standard) | 28 F1 instance-hours and 9 B1 instance-hours per day; 1 GB outbound per day | Simple web apps |
| Cloud Build | 2,500 build-minutes on e2-standard-2 | CI builds |
| Cloud Shell | Free, with 5 GB persistent storage | Command line in the browser |
Google also lists free allowances for Pub/Sub (10 GiB of messages), Secret Manager (6 active secret versions and 10,000 access operations), Artifact Registry (0.5 GB) and one free GKE Autopilot or zonal Standard cluster management fee per month. Google says it may change or remove free-tier offers with 30 days’ notice, so always check the official page before you build.
Important details about the free VM
- The e2-micro limit is based on time, not number of VMs: free usage covers up to the total hours in the month, combined across the three eligible regions. Two e2-micro VMs running all month will exceed it.
- Only us-west1 (Oregon), us-central1 (Iowa) and us-east1 (South Carolina) qualify. Google Cloud’s India regions are not part of this offer, so a free VM will be physically far from Indian visitors.
- Only standard persistent disk is free. Choosing a balanced or SSD disk will be charged.
- GPUs and TPUs are never included.
What can you realistically run for free?
Good fits
- A learning server for Linux, Docker and Nginx practice.
- Telegram or WhatsApp-style bots and webhooks on Cloud Run, which only uses resources when requests arrive.
- Automation scripts using Cloud Run functions and Cloud Scheduler-style triggers.
- Portfolio APIs for students showing projects to recruiters.
- BigQuery practice for data analytics learners using public datasets.
Poor fits
- A business WordPress site with real traffic. An e2-micro has very limited CPU and memory, and outbound traffic beyond 1 GB a month is billed. You can follow our older tutorial on installing WordPress on Google Cloud for learning, but compare costs before going live.
- Sites mostly visited from India, where a server in the US adds delay.
- AI workloads needing GPUs.
If you are choosing a home for a client website, our comparison of Google Cloud vs Hostinger vs DigitalOcean and our breakdown of the real cost of running a website will help.
Step-by-step: set up Google Cloud without surprise bills
- Sign up with the trial. Use a Google account you will keep long-term and add a payment method.
- Create a budget alert immediately. In Billing, create a budget (for example, a very small amount) with email alerts at 50%, 90% and 100%. Alerts warn you; they do not stop spending automatically.
- Pick an eligible region (us-west1, us-central1 or us-east1) when creating the e2-micro VM.
- Choose ‘Standard persistent disk’ and keep it at 30 GB or less.
- Run only one e2-micro at a time.
- Prefer Cloud Run for apps. It scales to zero when idle, which suits the free allowance.
- Review the Billing reports page weekly during your first month and delete anything you are not using, including snapshots, static IPs and unused disks.
- Before the trial ends, decide whether to upgrade. If you upgrade, everything above free limits becomes billable.
Rule of thumb: the free tier is a sandbox for learning and small tools. Once a project earns money or serves customers, budget for proper hosting.
Tips for Indian users
- Use a card that supports international or recurring online transactions, since sign-up requires a valid payment method. Check with your bank if verification fails.
- Keep data-protection needs in mind. If you store customer data for an Indian business, consider where it is hosted and speak with an advisor about your obligations.
- Turn your learning into a portfolio. A working Cloud Run API or BigQuery dashboard is great proof of skill for cloud and data jobs.
Explore more tutorials in our Google Cloud section.
FAQ
Is Google Cloud really free forever?
The free tier has no end date, but it only covers usage within monthly limits, and Google can change it with 30 days’ notice. Anything above the limits is billed on a paid account.
Can I host a WordPress website free on Google Cloud?
Technically yes on an e2-micro in a US region, but it is slow for heavy plugins, sits far from Indian visitors and may incur charges for extra traffic or features. It is best for learning.
Will I be charged automatically after the $300 trial?
Not unless you upgrade to a paid billing account. Without upgrading, resources stop when the trial ends and are deleted after a 30-day grace period.
Can I use the $300 credit for Gemini API?
Google’s page says the trial credit cannot be used for the Gemini API in AI Studio or for managed partner models.
Sources
- Google Cloud – Free Google Cloud features and trial offer (last updated 13 October 2026): $300/90-day trial terms, eligibility, trial restrictions, end-of-trial process and all free-tier limits used in this article.
- Google Cloud – $300 in free credit for new customers: official trial offer page.
Disclaimer: Pricing and free-tier limits are set by Google and can change. Always confirm on the official page and monitor your billing account.