Best offer on record: Public Cloud Free Trial (global, www.ovhcloud.com) — US$200 / 1 month. 6 verified findings, checked 2026-10-22.
Offers
Public Cloud Free Trial (global, www.ovhcloud.com) — US$200 / 1 month high confidence
US$200 free trial credit (displayed in local currency of the account's market/country, ex-VAT) valid for one month, activated when the first Public Cloud project is created. Applies to any Public Cloud service in the catalogue across all regions where Public Cloud is offered, incl. GPU/AI: the page's worked example covers 35 hours of AI1-1-GPU AI Notebook and 5 hours of AI Training on 4 AI1-1-GPU nodes. One voucher per natural or legal person (even across multiple NIC handles). Non-refundable, non-transferable, no combining with other offers; if the credit outlives on another NIC handle OVHcloud may terminate services; amounts covered by the voucher are excluded from SLA calculation. Offer live since 30 Jun 2022.
Eligibility
Any OVHcloud customer (new or existing) who has NEVER created a Public Cloud project (active or past). A valid payment method (credit card/bank) must already be saved in the account before starting — a card IS required, contrary to some listings. No .edu/education email requirement. Available in all regions where Public Cloud is offered. One per person/entity.
How to claim
1) Create/log in to an OVHcloud account (ovhcloud.com). 2) Ensure a payment method is saved. 3) In the Control Panel open Public Cloud and create your first project — the FREETRIAL voucher activates on project creation. 4) Deploy resources; the US$200 is auto-deducted from that project's bills for one month. 5) After the month or when the credit runs out, the saved payment method is billed for further usage.
Expiry
Voucher valid 1 month from project activation; non-renewable, non-exchangeable. After expiry the account reverts to standard pay-as-you-go billing.
Gotchas
It's a trial credit, not a free tier — payment method required and unused credit vanishes after 30 days. VPS and bare-metal/dedicated servers are NOT covered (Public Cloud only); the trial page's own examples show GPU AI notebooks/AI training. Third-party trackers (agentdeals.dev) recorded a terms tightening on 2026-04-01 and a 2026-10-01 price change (Gen3 B3/C3/R3 instances now bill local storage and a public IPv4 as separate lines, raising total bills 1.4–21.9% for small instances), which makes the US$200 burn faster on Gen3 instances.
Public Cloud Free Trial (OVHcloud US, us.ovhcloud.com) — up to $300 / 90 days high confidence
US$200 credit when creating the first US Public Cloud project PLUS an additional $100 credit for creating the first Managed Database service — up to $300 total. Credits valid 90 days from the date they are applied (applied automatically; operational target 2 business days, contractual outer bound 30 days after OVHcloud receives the required $0.99 purchase). Cover Public Cloud only: compute (VMs, Cloud GPU, Local Zones), Block/Object/File storage, network, Managed Kubernetes, managed databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Valkey, Kafka, OpenSearch, Grafana), AI & ML (AI Notebooks, AI Training, AI Deploy) and security/ops services. Do NOT cover bare metal, VPS or Hosted Private Cloud.
Eligibility
US datacenters only; customers who have not previously purchased Public Cloud services from OVHcloud. Must purchase at least $0.99 of Public Cloud services to trigger; a payment method with a $0.99 fee must be added when creating the first project — i.e. a card is required (though effectively cost-free via the $0.99 charge). No promo code, no .edu requirement.
How to claim
1) Sign up for an OVHcloud US account (us.ovhcloud.com). 2) Create your first Public Cloud project in the Control Panel — add a payment method ($0.99 fee applies). 3) Launch your first resource ($0.99 purchase triggers eligibility). 4) The $200 credit auto-applies within 2 business days; buy your first Managed Database service to unlock the extra $100. 5) Check balance in the account's Payment Methods > vouchers tab.
Expiry
Credits expire 90 days after being applied to the account. No renewal/extension; unusable balance is void. After expiry the account bills at standard rates via the default payment method.
Gotchas
The page's header says 'one-month free trial' but the terms state 90-day validity — treat 90 days as contractual. Charges continue automatically once credits are exhausted/expired via the card on file. US-only infrastructure: US regions with Public Cloud availability qualify. The $100 Managed-DB bonus is the part most easily missed.
OVHcloud Startup Program — Start level: €10,000 credits / 12 months (EU; $12,000 US) high confidence
12-month membership: €10,000 in free cloud credits (US program: up to $12,000; Canada site shows $14,000) usable on Public Cloud and Hosted Private Cloud, plus 6 hours of free 1-on-1 engineering consultation, regional manager access, free social visibility ('Shine On'), Showcase events with VCs, mentoring. Credits are vouchers valid 12 months; unused vouchers are lost at the end. Voucher-eligible products: Public Cloud compute (instances incl. GPUs — only V100, V100s and RTX5000 GPU instances, all other GPUs excluded), Block/Object/Cold Archive storage, Managed K8s, managed databases, AI & ML (AI Notebooks, AI Training, AI Deploy, AI Endpoints), Quantum Notebooks; Hosted Private Cloud VMware/Nutanix. Not eligible: VPS, dedicated/bare-metal servers, Web Cloud, telecom. Also: quantum emulators get 'free credits via the Startup Program or free trial offer' per the QPU product page. No equity taken, no exclusivity (competing programs allowed).
Eligibility
Selected pre-seed and seed startups with at least a Proof of Concept or MVP deployable on OVHcloud, and a professional startup/business activity. Excluded: NGOs, associations, resellers/integrators, crypto mining, black-hat SEO, gaming bots, companies that already joined the program (incl. former Digital Launch Pad). No published company-age cap and no published funding cap for Start (OVHcloud decides the tier; any prior funding round 'improves chances' but isn't required; pre-revenue and revenue-generating both apply). Geographic: apply on the country site matching your business address; US infrastructure companies use the separate US program with a US account; generally one program membership (country of incorporation/operation). No .edu email; individual students aren't the target — it's company-level.
How to claim
1) Pick the right country site at startup.ovhcloud.com (or us.ovhcloud.com/startup-program for US). 2) Click Apply and link an existing OVHcloud customer account or create a new one (use a business account, not personal). 3) Answer company questions; you may get an email requesting more info. 4) Decision within ~7 days. 5) On acceptance sign the program contract in the Control Panel; vouchers arrive within ~48 hours; a regional program manager onboards you. Spend vouchers on eligible services during the 12 months.
Expiry
Vouchers must be used within 12 months of the contract; remaining balance is automatically invalidated. No renewal; one membership per company, ever (re-applying after exit not allowed).
Gotchas
Credits can't pay for VPS or dedicated servers — the 'fronts: VPS' angle only works through Public Cloud instances/Bare Metal Cloud (Bare Metal Cloud IS listed eligible in OVH docs' eligible-products table, while classic 'Dedicated Servers' and 'VPS' are not). GPU access under the program is limited to V100/V100s/RTX5000 instances. Trial-vs-free: this is a selective, application-based credit grant, not self-serve. Application must be honest — false/vague info gets it rejected. If you order non-eligible products by mistake they bill your regular payment method.
OVHcloud Startup Program — Scale level: up to €100,000 credits / 12 months (EU; up to $120,000 US) medium confidence
12 months for Series A (and beyond) funded startups/scaleups: vouchers sized by OVHcloud's assessment of your expected 12-month infrastructure spend, capped at €100,000 (US: up to $120,000), plus up to 20 hours of 1-on-1 engineer time, Business-tier support, personalized quotes via Sales, personal visibility and market/funding event access. Same voucher eligibility rules as Start level (Public Cloud + Hosted Private Cloud; GPU only V100/V100s/RTX5000; no VPS/dedicated servers; AI Notebooks/Training/Deploy and Quantum Notebooks eligible). 'Enabler' route: accelerators/incubators/VCs that are OVHcloud partners can bring members to the same ceilings (up to €100k/20h); an event code is only mandatory when the support structure is a Premium partner.
Eligibility
Startups/scaleups that have raised Series A or later (funding stage is the main discriminator vs Start; OVHcloud makes the final tier decision). Same exclusions as Start level (NGOs, non-business projects, resellers, contentious activities, prior program members). Company site matching business address; US program requires a US OVHcloud account.
How to claim
Same as Start level: apply online at startup.ovhcloud.com (country site per your address) or us.ovhcloud.com/startup-program, link/create a business OVHcloud account, respond to follow-up, ~7-day decision, sign contract in Control Panel, vouchers within ~48h, manager onboarding.
Expiry
Vouchers valid 12 months from contract; unused balance lost. Participation capped at 12 months per level.
Gotchas
'Up to' — actual amount is set by OVHcloud from your projected spend, not guaranteed at the cap. Series A+ requirement means most seed-stage teams get the €10k Start level instead. No exclusivity with other cloud providers' programs. GPU instances other than V100/V100s/RTX5000 aren't voucher-eligible even at Scale level.
Public VCF-as-a-Service first month free (US promo, code VCFTRIAL) medium confidence
Limited-time promotion on OVHcloud US homepage: first month of Public VCF-as-a-Service (VMware Cloud Foundation workloads on shared infrastructure) free for new OVHcloud customers, using code VCFTRIAL at checkout. Standard Starter Pack only. This is a VMware-hosted private-cloud offering, not a GPU/VPS/dedicated-server product.
Eligibility
New OVHcloud US customers only; first 50 customers or until October 31, 2026, whichever comes first (i.e. it ends ~9 days after the 2026-10-22 reference date). No .edu requirement; payment at checkout after the free month.
How to claim
1) New OVHcloud US account. 2) Order Public VCF-as-a-Service Standard Starter Pack. 3) Enter code VCFTRIAL at checkout to waive the first month.
Expiry
Offer limited to first 50 customers or 31 Oct 2026. After the free month, standard pricing auto-renews unless cancelled before the promotional period ends.
Gotchas
Auto-renews to paid — cancel if you don't want it. Strict customer cap (50). The promo is US-only and VMware-specific; unrelated to the $200/$300 Public Cloud trial or the Startup Program (don't assume it can be stacked — page says 'additional terms apply').
Student/education offer: free access to OVHcloud quantum notebooks (Qualifying Students program) low confidence
Announced with the Quandela MosaiQ QPU inauguration (2024; rooted in the 2023 C12 notebook release): selected students from higher-education/research institutions (incl. QuanTEdu-France consortium members such as Telecom Paris) receive free access to OVHcloud's full quantum notebook range (Alice & Bob, C12, Eviden, Pasqal, Quandela, later Qiskit) and to the Quandela QPU via the cloud — original press announced 80 hours of notebook access per selected student. OVHcloud's current QPU product page says free emulation credits are 'available... particularly for startups, researchers or innovative companies — via the OVHcloud Startup Program or the free trial offer', i.e. students effectively ride the Startup Program/trial credits rather than a dedicated self-serve .edu offer.
Eligibility
Students at qualifying higher-education/research institutions; selection by application review (2024 program cited QuanTEdu-France/Telecom Paris). No .edu self-serve tier is published on ovhcloud.com today. Adjacent non-free education channel: OCRE 2024 framework (awarded to OVHcloud by GÉANT, 5-year agreement running since Feb 2025) gives research/education institutions in 9 European countries (BE, FR, DE, IT, NL, PL, PT, ES, UK) simplified procurement access to OVHcloud Public Cloud — negotiated framework terms, not free credits.
How to claim
No self-serve claim path published. Route: get your student/employer enrolled as an OVHcloud customer (e.g. via a startup/researcher account or OCRE-eligible institution) and use the US$200 Public Cloud free trial or apply to the Startup Program; request access to quantum notebooks/emulators in that account.
Expiry
No published expiry; the 2024 '80 hours' figure was per selected student. OCRE 2024 framework runs ~5 years from Feb 2025.
Gotchas
Low confidence this is still actively recruiting individual students — it was an announced ecosystem initiative, not advertised on current ovhcloud.com marketing pages as of 2026-10-22. Quantum notebook access is metered per-minute like other AI notebooks unless covered by trial/program credits. Don't count on a free .edu tier for VPS/dedicated servers — none exists.
As of 2026-10-22: (1) The legacy offer in the task's 'known so far' — 'US$200 free trial on new dedicated servers & VPS, 2-month, no commitment (refundable)' — is GONE: https://www.ovhcloud.com/en/free-trial/ returns 404; the only live trial is the Public Cloud US$200/1-month trial (and up to $300/90 days in the US). No dedicated-server or VPS trial credit is advertised anywhere on ovhcloud.com or us.ovhcloud.com. (2) 2026-04-01: third-party changelog (agentdeals.dev) records OVHcloud narrowing the free-trial terms; and on 2026-10-01 OVHcloud restructured Gen3 Public Cloud instance pricing — local storage and public IPv4 on B3/C3/R3 are now billed as separate lines (~€109/TB/mo storage, ~$1.97/mo IPv4), raising bills 1.4–21.9% (largest for small instances), which consumes trial credits faster. (3) VPS pricing: VPS 2026 list prices were raised 36–49% effective 2026-04-01 (e.g. VPS-1 €4.49→€6.49/mo); the new 'VPS 2027' range launched (VPS-1 2027 from ~$4.54/mo per www.ovhcloud.com/en/vps/). No VPS free tier/trial exists. (4) Bare metal: Kimsufi budget range was discontinued and replaced by the 'Eco' range (~$30/mo, us.ovhcloud.com/deals); bare-metal prices rose 9–11% for new deployments post-April 2026. (5) The VCFTRIAL first-month-free VMware promo is a sunset-in-9-days offer (ends 31 Oct 2026 or after first 50 customers). (6) No dedicated .edu/students free tier and no 'education license' for VPS/dedicated servers was found; the only education-adjacent channels are the qualifying-student quantum notebook program (2024, low visibility now) and the OCRE 2024 GÉANT procurement framework (institutional, negotiated, not free). 7) Startup Program structure is unchanged in substance (€10k Start / up to €100k Scale, 12 months) but currency values differ by country site (US $12k/$120k, CA $14k).