Credits are not cash
A cloud credit is a balance the provider applies against your usage charges. It behaves like a voucher rather than like money in an account: it reduces an invoice, it cannot be withdrawn, and it usually cannot be transferred to another account.
That distinction matters when you are comparing an account with credits against a cheaper account without them. Credits are only worth their face value if you actually spend that much, on services they cover, before they expire.
They expire, and the date is fixed
Every credit grant has an expiry. Promotional credits commonly run for a defined window from the date they are issued, and anything unused on that date is simply gone.
Find the expiry date in the billing console on day one and note it somewhere you will see it. Planning a workload around credits without knowing when they lapse is how people end up with an unexpected first invoice.
They do not cover everything
Credits typically apply to standard usage charges and exclude several categories. The exclusions vary by provider, but the recurring ones are:
- Third-party software bought through the provider’s marketplace
- Support plans
- Some licensing costs bundled into instance pricing
- Certain premium or reserved commitments
- Taxes, which are usually calculated on the pre-credit amount
Read the terms attached to the specific grant rather than assuming the general case.
Credits hide your real spend
This is the practical trap. While credits are covering the bill, the amount charged is zero, so any alert configured against charged amount stays silent. Usage can climb for weeks without anything drawing attention to it.
Set budget alerts against usage rather than against the amount due, so you see the real consumption figure from the start. Then the transition to paying is a known quantity rather than a surprise.
Order of application
Where an account holds several credit grants, providers generally apply the one expiring soonest first. That is usually what you want, but it means the balance you see is not a single pool and different parts of it lapse at different times.
What to do before they run out
- Note the expiry date and set a reminder two weeks before it.
- Look at the usage figure, not the charged figure, so you know what the monthly cost will actually be.
- Add your own payment method before the credits lapse, so nothing is interrupted.
- Shut down anything that was only running because it was free.
- Reconsider instance sizes, which are often chosen generously while somebody else is paying.
Related cloud accounts
This guide applies across providers. The cloud account catalogue lists every platform with its configurations and prices, and the comparison table puts them side by side.
Further reading
- AWS vs Hetzner: Which Cloud Account Should You Buy?
- Kamatera vs UpCloud: Which Cloud Account Should You Buy?
- IBM Cloud vs Oracle Cloud: Which Cloud Account Should You Buy?
- How to Enable MFA on Every Major Cloud Provider
Frequently asked questions
No. Credits offset usage charges on the account and have no cash value.
Generally not. Tax is usually calculated on the amount before credits are applied.
Usage from that point is charged to the payment method on file. If there is no valid payment method, the provider may restrict or suspend the account, so add one before the expiry date.
