# Confluent Cloud Free Trial You can try Confluent Cloud with a free trial. When you [sign up for Confluent Cloud](https://www.confluent.io/get-started/), your [organization](../security/access-control/hierarchy/organizations/cloud-organization.md#cloud-organization) automatically receives free credit: a dollar amount Confluent credits to your billing account to offset your Confluent Cloud usage during the trial. The free trial has the following lifecycle: 1. Your free trial ends when you use all the credit or when the credit expires, whichever comes first. Your free credit expires 30 days after you receive it. 2. When the free trial ends, Confluent suspends your organization. While your organization is suspended, you cannot use Confluent Cloud features, and your data is inaccessible. To reactivate, log in to the Confluent Cloud Console and either enter a payment method or claim a promotional code for more free credit. 3. If you do not enter a payment method or claim a promotional code within 30 days of suspension, Confluent deletes your resources, but preserves your organization and users. After this period, you can reactivate your organization by entering a payment method in the Confluent Cloud Console. #### IMPORTANT If you claim a promotional code but do not enter a payment method before the promotional code credit is consumed or expires, Confluent suspends your organization again. This can result in disruption or data loss. For more information about promotional codes, see [Redeem a promo code or view balance](../billing/overview.md#promo-codes). To add a payment method during your free trial, see [Add payment methods](#add-a-card-free-trial). ## View your free credit balance To view your free credit balance and time remaining until your free credit expires, navigate to the [Payment details & contacts](https://confluent.cloud/settings/billing/payment) tab on the **Billing & payment** page in the Confluent Cloud Console. ## Estimate your Confluent Cloud costs Confluent provides a cost-estimation tool that provides you with an estimate of your costs. The tool allows you to specify your requirement for throughput, retention, and other cost-related factors and then generates an estimate. To get an estimate, see [Confluent Cost Estimator](https://www.confluent.io/pricing/cost-estimator/). ## Add payment methods During the free trial, you can add a payment method by navigating to the [Billing & payment page](https://confluent.cloud/settings/billing/payment/edit-card) in the Confluent Cloud Console. To avoid disruption and possible data loss, enter a payment method before the end of your free trial. For more information, see [Manage your payment method](../billing/overview.md#add-a-card). Any remaining free credit stays in your organization and is used before billing starts. After you use the free credit, your consumption is billed at the end of each monthly billing cycle. Your user account must have the [OrganizationAdmin](../security/access-control/rbac/predefined-rbac-roles.md#organizationadmin-role) role to enter a payment method or claim a promotional code. For more information, see [Role-based Access Control (RBAC) on Confluent Cloud](../security/access-control/rbac/overview.md#cloud-rbac). ## Free trial notifications During your free trial, Confluent sends email notifications about the status of your free trial. Confluent sends these emails to the person who originally signed up for Confluent Cloud. Confluent sends emails based on the following events during the free trial: - You have consumed 50% of the free trial credit. - 50% of the free trial credit expiration period has elapsed. - You have consumed 80% of the free trial credit, or the credit expires in less than three days. - The organization is suspended because the free trial has ended. The following exceptions apply to free trial emails: - If you enter a [payment method](#add-a-card-free-trial) before the end of your free trial, Confluent stops sending you free trial email notifications. - If you [redeem a promotional code](../billing/overview.md#promo-codes) before the end of your free trial, Confluent stops sending most free trial email notifications. You receive email notifications when: - One promotional code remains that is 80% consumed or expires in less than three days. - The organization is suspended because the free trial has ended.