How To Grab $200 Free From AWS

GammaDot

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is giving away $200 in cloud credits. No scam. No sketchy links. Just an official promo for new users that started after July 15, 2025.

Basically:

$100 = free just for signing up
$100 = bonus if you survive a 5-minute baby quiz

Because handing out free money is apparently cheaper than explaining what S3 is.

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how to actually get it (idiot-proof version)

Go to aws.amazon.com
- Click “Create Account”
- New email only. Don’t recycle your cursed old one.
- Give your real info (card included, but they won’t charge… yet)
$100 appears like magic
- Boom. $100 in your account dashboard. No dancing required.
Now go take the AWS Onboarding Quiz
- It’s less “quiz” and more “read-and-click”
- Questions like “What is cloud?” (Hint: Not rain)
- You pass? Congrats, you’re now $200 fake-rich
Check it’s real
- Log in
- Go to Billing → Credits
- Stare at your two shiny $100 credits like they’re NFTs that actually do something

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pro tips (aka “please don’t mess this up”)

New email = new you
- Using the same old AWS account? No free lunch for you, sad cloud
Set budget alerts
- Or prepare for a lovely surprise bill that feels like a breakup text
Start with small stuff
- Like S3 (file storage), Lightsail, or EC2 micro servers
- If you don’t know what those are, good—now you won’t accidentally bankrupt yourself
Don’t be that guy
- The one who launches 16 GPU servers to train a potato filter and forgets to shut them down

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stack up your freebie backpack

AWS Free Tier Goodies (aka “Cloud Snacks”)

750 hours/month: tiny EC2 server (t2.micro)
5GB S3: like Dropbox, but nerdier
1M Lambda calls: for doing mysterious “functions” you’ll never use
DynamoDB, CloudWatch, Route53: sounds fancy, ignore for now

AWS Educate

aws.amazon.com/education/awseducate
Students and teachers = free extra credits
No credit card needed. Just your soul. (Kidding. Maybe.)

AWS Activate for Startups

aws.amazon.com/activate
Self-funded = $1K
VC-funded = $100K
Also comes with impostor syndrome

Rapid Ramp Credits

Up to $300 bonus for short-term cloud use
Apply on AWS site under “Free Offers”
Think of it as caffeine for your side hustle

GenAI Accelerator

aws.amazon.com/startups/accelerators/generative-ai
For people building the next Skynet
Up to $1M AWS credits
Yes. One. Million. (That’s a lot of pretend servers.)

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warning signs from the void

Already used AWS? No soup for you
Quiz not showing? Try clicking “Free Tier” homepage or clear browser cache like a real IT person
Phone verification failing? Stop reusing the same number like it’s a universal skeleton key
Under 18? Sorry kid, wait your turn or go play Roblox
Credit card required, but you won’t get charged unless you party too hard with compute instances

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reality check: stuff that might break (and how to cry less)

Problem	Quick Fix
Second $100 didn’t show	Wait an hour or two. If it doesn’t show, try redoing the quiz or message support like a professional panicker
Credits missing in dashboard	Go to Billing → Credits. If empty, something’s cursed
You went over free tier	Set a budget alert yesterday. AWS won’t stop you from financially imploding
AWS Educate denied you	Try again from a different browser or device. Or wear glasses to look more academic

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final thoughts before you ruin your weekend

AWS handing you $200 in credits is like your gym giving you free sessions:

You’ll say you’ll use it
You’ll forget it exists
Then one day you’ll log in and realize the cloud bill hit harder than reality

Use it. Break things. Learn stuff. But keep one hand on the off switch, and one eye on the billing page. Because the cloud is not made of rainbows. It’s made of receipts.

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aws.amazon.com — click it before Bezos changes his mind