The largest free credit in this group is Vultr's $250 for new accounts, which its docs say lasts up to 30 days. Cloudways has a 3-day free trial without a card and 40% off for the first 4 months, and Novita AI gives new users $100 in Sandbox credits valid for 90 days. InterServer has no free tier, but its web hosting costs $2.50 for the first month.
These offers are built for different jobs. A raw cloud server, a managed hosting platform, cheap shared hosting and an AI agent sandbox are not interchangeable, so the right pick depends on what you are trying to test. We go through each offer using the provider's own pages, then compare them and explain which one fits which kind of project.
Vultr: $250 in credits for new accounts
Vultr sells cloud compute in data centers around the world, and it is the most generous of the four for anyone who wants to run their own servers. New accounts created from Vultr's promo page get $250 in free Vultr credits.
There are a few conditions to keep in mind:
- The credit is for new Vultr accounts created from the official promo page. Exact eligibility rules are not listed on the promo page itself.
- Vultr's docs say the credits are valid for up to 30 days.
- You must add billing details before you can deploy anything.
The 30-day window is what shapes how you use the credit. $250 is a lot of room for a month of testing, but it does not carry over, so plan the test before you sign up rather than after.
How to claim the Vultr credit
- Go to Vultr's $250 credit promo page.
- Enter your email and a password and accept the terms to create a free account.
- Add a payment method so the free credits can be claimed and servers deployed.
- Deploy servers and use the credits before they expire.
A good way to use the month: deploy the server size you think you need, run your real workload on it, then try one size smaller and one size larger. By the end you know what you would pay for in production, and the credit has covered the experiment. Delete every test server before the credit window closes so nothing keeps running on the payment method you added.
Cloudways: a 3-day trial, then 40% off for 4 months
Cloudways is managed cloud hosting that runs on providers such as DigitalOcean, AWS and Google Cloud. It handles the server management for you, which is the main difference from Vultr. Cloudways has no free plan. It has a 3-day free trial with no credit card required, after which you move to a paid hosting plan.
For the paid plan, new customers who sign up with the promo code get 40% off all Cloudways plans for the first 4 months. The discount covers the first 4 billing cycles, after which standard pay-as-you-go pricing applies. Cloudways states no end date for the offer.
Two details matter here. First, the code has to be entered during sign-up and cannot be added later, so have it ready the first time you create your account, even if you start with the trial. Second, if you want Cloudways' free migration, you have to request it within the first four billing cycles.
How to claim the Cloudways discount
- Open the Cloudways promo page, click Grab This Deal and copy the code shown.
- Enter the code during sign-up. It cannot be added afterwards.
- Pick a cloud provider and server size from the pricing page and launch your server.
Three days is short for a trial. Use it to check that the dashboard suits you and that your application runs, and leave longer performance testing for the discounted months.
InterServer: $2.50 for the first month
InterServer offers shared, VPS and cloud hosting and advertises a price-lock guarantee. It has no free plan. Its web hosting costs $2.50 for the first month, then $7 a month on the monthly plan.
This is not free credit, but it is a cheap way to put a small site online for a month and see how the host behaves. We do not have a separate verified InterServer deal at the moment, so the first-month price on its own site is the offer to go by. Budget for the $7 monthly price from the second month if you plan to stay.
Novita AI: $100 in Sandbox credits, and more for startups
Novita AI is a different kind of provider. It sells GPU instances, serverless GPUs and low-cost LLM APIs, and it has an Agent Sandbox for running AI agents. There is no free plan; billing is pay as you go, although a few models are priced as free.
$100 for new users
New Novita AI accounts can get $100 in Novita AI Sandbox credits, valid for 90 days. No credit card is needed. The credits are for Agent Sandbox usage, and they are only granted after you complete the account setup survey, so do not skip it.
- Create a Novita AI account with Google, GitHub, Hugging Face or email.
- Answer the short account setup survey to receive the promotional Sandbox credits.
- Create an API key on the key management page and start your first sandbox.
Up to $10,000 for venture-backed startups
Funded AI startups can apply for a larger amount. Novita's startup program offers up to $10,000 in Novita AI credits for Model APIs and Agent Sandbox. It is for venture-backed, AI-native startups at Series B or earlier that are new Novita users.
The headline figure is not paid out at once. Up to $1,000 is given up front, and the rest is earned by matching your spend. Credits can be redeemed for one year, and Novita sets each amount case by case after reviewing your stage, team, spend, backing and traction.
- Confirm you are venture-backed, at Series B or earlier, building an AI-native product, and new to Novita.
- Click Apply on the startup page and fill in the form with your company, funding and expected usage.
- Wait for the review, after which Novita sets your credit amount.
- Use the upfront credits on Model APIs or Agent Sandbox. Further credits are matched as you spend.
The offers side by side
| Offer | What you get | Card needed | How long | Who qualifies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vultr | $250 credit | Billing details before deploying | Up to 30 days | New accounts from the promo page |
| Cloudways trial | Free trial | No | 3 days | Not stated |
| Cloudways promo | 40% off any plan | Not stated | First 4 billing cycles | New customers who sign up with the code |
| InterServer | Web hosting at $2.50 | Not stated | First month, then $7 a month | Not stated |
| Novita AI new users | $100 Sandbox credits | No | 90 days | New users who complete the setup survey |
| Novita AI startups | Up to $10,000 in credits, up to $1,000 up front | Not stated | Redeemable for one year | Venture-backed AI-native startups, Series B or earlier, new to Novita |
Which one fits your project
If you want a plain cloud server to benchmark, host an API or try a new stack, Vultr's credit gives you the most room. You manage the server yourself, and the 30-day window is enough for a proper test if you plan it.
If you would rather not manage servers at all and want a hosting platform that does it for you, Cloudways is the better fit. Use the 3-day trial to check the workflow, and sign up with the promo code so the first 4 billing cycles are discounted.
If all you need is a small website online for a few weeks, InterServer's $2.50 first month is the cheapest entry here, as long as you know what the plan costs after that.
If your project is an AI agent, Novita's $100 Sandbox credit is aimed squarely at you, with a longer 90-day window than Vultr's. Funded startups at Series B or earlier should look at the startup program as well, keeping in mind that most of the $10,000 is earned through matched spend.
Common mistakes and what happens when the credit runs out
- Leaving test servers running. Credits expire, servers do not. Delete what you no longer use before the window closes.
- Signing up to Cloudways without the code. The code cannot be added later, so you would lose the 40% discount for that account.
- Missing the Cloudways migration window. Free migration has to be requested within the first four billing cycles.
- Skipping Novita's setup survey. The $100 is granted after the survey, not at sign-up.
- Assuming an old account qualifies. Vultr's credit is for new accounts, and Novita's offers are for new users. If you have signed up before, do not plan around them.
- Letting credits expire unused. Vultr's credit lasts up to 30 days and Novita's Sandbox credit 90 days. Start when you have time to use them.
- Forgetting the price after month one. InterServer's web hosting moves to $7 a month on the monthly plan.
We recheck each of these offers against the provider's official page. The current details are on our tool pages for Vultr, Cloudways, InterServer and Novita AI.
