While you can run Kubernetes locally using Docker Desktop, K3s, Kind, Minikube, or MicroK8s, at some point you'll want to deploy and test using a Cloud provider without breaking the bank. Good news, many Cloud providers offer free usage credits when creating new accounts so you can easily create a cluster using their managed Kubernetes services for free during the trial period.

Note that all Cloud providers are requiring a credit card at signup. When done testing, make sure to delete any resource you created to make the best use of your free credits!

 

Microsoft Azure
$200 credit that can be used for a 30 days period from the account creation. 

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/

 

Google Cloud Platform
$300 credit that can be used for a 3-month period from the account creation.

https://cloud.google.com/free

 

DigitalOcean
$100 credit that can be used for a 60 days period from the account creation. This requires a referral from existing users so the following link is a referral link.

https://kubectl.click/DigitalOcean100

 

Linode
$100 credit that can be used for a 2-month period from the account creation.

https://www.linode.com/lp/brand-free-credit

 

Civo
$250 credit that can be used for a 30 days period from the account creation. 

https://www.civo.com/signup

 

IBM Cloud

$200 credit that can be used for a 30 days period from the account creation. The 30-day trial period lets you create a single worker node Kubernetes cluster for free.

https://www.ibm.com/cloud/free

 

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