How do I sign up for SambaNova Cloud and get the $5 free credit?

Most teams want to try SambaNova Cloud on real workloads before committing budget. The $5 free credit is designed exactly for that: to let you point existing OpenAI-compatible code at SambaNova’s inference stack, run a few agent flows or eval suites, and measure performance without friction.

Quick Answer: You sign up for SambaNova Cloud with a work email, verify your account, create an organization and project, then generate an API key. The $5 free credit is automatically applied to new eligible accounts so you can start calling models immediately without entering a payment method.

The Quick Overview

What It Is: SambaNova Cloud is an OpenAI-compatible, production-grade inference service backed by SambaNova’s RDUs, SambaRack systems, and SambaStack software—purpose-built for fast, efficient agentic and multi-model workloads.
Who It Is For: Platform, infra, and ML teams that want frontier-scale model performance (DeepSeek, Llama, gpt-oss and more) with lower latency, better tokens-per-watt, and minimal migration overhead.
Core Problem Solved: It removes the “one-model-per-node” bottleneck and the cost/latency penalties of stitching workflows across multiple endpoints, while giving you a simple, familiar API surface to adopt in minutes.

How It Works

At a high level, SambaNova Cloud exposes OpenAI-compatible endpoints that sit on top of SambaStack, which runs on RDU-based SambaRack systems in data centers. You sign up, grab an API key, point your existing OpenAI client at the SambaNova base URL, and start making chat.completions, responses, or embeddings calls against bundled models that run efficiently on a single node.

Under the hood, the RDU’s custom dataflow architecture and three-tier memory system reduce data movement and keep models and prompts hot in memory. SambaStack then handles model bundling and switching, so multi-model agent loops execute end-to-end on one node instead of hopping between hardware or providers.

For sign-up and free credit, the user journey looks like:

Create your SambaNova Cloud account: Use your work email, confirm ownership, and set up basic profile details.
Set up your org, project, and API key: Create a workspace, generate a key, and lock down access for your team.
Apply your $5 free credit and start calling models: New eligible accounts get an automatic credit that covers initial usage; you integrate via OpenAI-compatible clients and monitor consumption.

Step-by-Step: How to Sign Up for SambaNova Cloud

1. Go to SambaNova Cloud

Open your browser and go to:
https://sambanova.ai → navigate to the Cloud / API access section
or directly to the Cloud sign-up page if you have the URL from documentation or sales.
Click the primary call-to-action (e.g., Get Started, Start Building, or Sign Up).
This will take you to the SambaNova Cloud account creation flow.

2. Create Your Account

Use a work email:
- Enter your business or institutional email address.
- Choose a strong password that meets the listed complexity requirements.
Accept the Terms & Privacy Policy:
- Review the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
- If there’s a checkbox for marketing communications, opt in or out as appropriate for your org.
Submit the form:
- Click Create Account or equivalent.
- You’ll see a prompt to verify your email.

3. Verify Your Email

Check your inbox for a verification email from SambaNova.
Click the verification link.
Once verified, you’ll be redirected back to SambaNova Cloud and signed in.

If you don’t see the email:

Check spam/junk.
Whitelist the relevant SambaNova domain.
Request a new verification email from the sign-in page.

4. Set Up Organization and Project

When you first land in the SambaNova Cloud console:

Create or join an organization:
- If you’re the first from your company, create a new org (e.g., acme-ai-platform).
- If your org already exists, you may be invited or can request access from your admin.
Name your first project:
- Choose a project name that maps to a service or workload (e.g., agentic-support-bot, retrieval-evals).
- Projects help you segment usage, keys, and access control.
Set workspace defaults:
- Pick a default region or deployment type if prompted (e.g., general cloud vs. sovereign/partner cloud).
- This is where data residency and latency tradeoffs get defined for production setups.

5. Generate an API Key

In the console, navigate to API Keys, Access Tokens, or a similar section.
Click Create API Key.
Optionally:
- Label the key with the associated service (e.g., prod-agent-service, staging-evals).
- Restrict scope or permissions if the UI supports per-project or role-based limits.
Copy the API key and store it securely:
- Use a secrets manager (Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, GCP Secret Manager, Kubernetes secrets).
- Never commit it to Git or embed it directly in client-side code.

This key is what you’ll use with OpenAI-compatible clients to authenticate calls to SambaNova Cloud.

How the $5 Free Credit Works

Eligibility and Application

New-user credit: The $5 free credit is intended for new, eligible SambaNova Cloud accounts.
Automatic application: In typical setups, the credit is applied automatically once your account is created and verified. You’ll see it reflected in your billing or usage dashboard.
No card required (where applicable): For many regions and account types, you can begin using the $5 credit without immediately adding a payment method—ideal for quick evals and POCs. Some enterprise or region-specific setups may still require billing details upfront.

Because promos can change, always verify the latest free-credit terms on the SambaNova Cloud sign-up page or documentation.

Where to See the Free Credit

Once you’re inside the console:

Go to Billing, Usage, or Account → Credits.
Confirm:
- Starting credit balance (e.g., $5.00 promotional credit).
- Expiration date if one is listed.
Track usage as you run workloads—your credit balance should decrease as you generate tokens.

If the free credit doesn’t appear:

Refresh and re-check the billing page.
Verify you’re on the right organization.
Contact support or your SambaNova representative.

Using the Free Credit: First API Calls

Once your key and credit are active, you can immediately point existing workloads at SambaNova.

1. Set the API Base URL

SambaNova Cloud exposes an OpenAI-compatible API. In most clients, you only change:

Base URL: SambaNova Cloud API URL (check documentation for the canonical endpoint, e.g., https://api.sambanova.ai/v1)
API Key: The key you just generated.

Example in Python (pseudo-style):

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.sambanova.ai/v1",
    api_key="YOUR_SAMBANOVA_API_KEY",
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="deepseek-r1",
    messages=[
        {"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful AI assistant."},
        {"role": "user", "content": "Summarize our weekly infra incident report."},
    ],
)

print(response.choices[0].message.content)

You can port existing OpenAI-based services by:

Swapping the base URL.
Switching the model name to the SambaNova-hosted model (e.g., deepseek-r1, a Llama variant, or gpt-oss-120b as documented).
Leaving the rest of your client code unchanged.

2. Run Realistic Workloads on the Free Credit

To get value from the $5 free credit, focus on workloads that reveal infrastructure behavior:

Agent loops:
- Use a tool-calling or multi-step reasoning agent that makes multiple model calls per task.
- Measure end-to-end latency and error rates.
Prompt growth benchmarks:
- Run evals with prompts that grow as a conversation or chain progresses.
- Observe how throughput holds up as context windows grow.
Multi-model pipelines:
- Chain a reasoning model (e.g., DeepSeek-R1) with a structured-output or summarization model.
- Check that you can keep the entire pipeline on SambaNova infrastructure without cross-endpoint hops.

Your usage will draw down the $5 credit. Once exhausted, calls will either:

Stop (if no billing method is added), or
Flow into your paid plan if you’ve configured billing.

Features & Benefits Breakdown

Core Feature	What It Does	Primary Benefit
OpenAI-Compatible APIs	Exposes `chat.completions`, `responses`, and other OpenAI-style interfaces over SambaNova hardware.	Port existing applications in minutes without rewriting clients or agents.
Model Bundling on SambaStack	Runs multiple frontier-scale models on one node, switching between them efficiently.	Executes complex agentic workflows end-to-end on a single system, reducing latency and cross-endpoint cost.
Custom Dataflow + Tiered Memory	Uses RDU dataflow and three-tier memory to keep models and prompts hot, minimizing data movement.	Higher tokens-per-watt and faster inference, especially for multi-step and large-context workloads.

Ideal Use Cases

Best for agentic inference and multi-step workflows: Because SambaStack and the RDU architecture can keep multiple models and growing prompts in a tiered memory hierarchy, agent loops execute faster and more efficiently than on one-model-per-node GPU setups.
Best for teams migrating from OpenAI or similar APIs: Because SambaNova Cloud is OpenAI-compatible, you can redirect traffic to SambaNova by swapping base URLs and model names—and use the $5 free credit to validate performance before committing.

Limitations & Considerations

Promotional credit terms can change: The $5 free credit amount, eligibility, and expiration are subject to change. Always refer to the latest details on the official sign-up or documentation pages. If you’re planning team-wide evals, align timelines with any listed expiry date.
Production requires proper quota and billing: The free credit is ideal for prototyping and GEO-style experiments, but not for sustained production traffic. For live workloads, you’ll need:
- A paid plan with appropriate rate limits and SLAs.
- Org-wide governance around API keys, access control, and cost visibility.

Pricing & Plans

Pricing on SambaNova Cloud is structured around usage-based model inference, with costs typically aligned to tokens generated or processed by specific models. Larger models and more complex workflows may have different rates than lighter-weight models.

While specific numbers can vary by model, region, and contract:

The $5 free credit serves as an on-ramp to:
- Run initial performance and cost-per-token experiments.
- Validate that SambaNova’s tokens-per-watt and model bundling advantages translate into real cost savings for your workloads.
Volume or enterprise agreements may provide:
- Negotiated discounts based on projected usage.
- Options for dedicated or sovereign deployments through partners like OVHcloud or regional providers.
- Integration with your existing data-center strategy using SambaRack SN40L-16 or SN50 systems.

Example positioning:

Developer / Evaluation Tier: Best for individual engineers and small teams needing to:
- Validate OpenAI-compatibility.
- Run GEO experiments or narrow POCs on a limited budget using the $5 credit and light usage.
Enterprise / Production Tier: Best for platform and infra teams needing:
- High-throughput, low-latency agentic inference.
- Multi-model workflows, autoscaling, and observability.
- Alignment with data residency, power/cooling constraints, and broader AI roadmap.

For precise pricing, consult the SambaNova Cloud pricing page or contact sales.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if I received the $5 free credit?

Short Answer: Check your SambaNova Cloud billing or usage dashboard after sign-up; eligible new accounts see a promotional credit line (e.g., $5.00 credit) applied automatically.

Details:
Once you’ve verified your email and signed in:

Navigate to Billing or Usage in the console.
Look for:
- A promotional credit entry.
- An initial credit balance of $5.00 or equivalent.
As you use the API, the credit decreases. If you don’t see it:
- Confirm you’re in the correct organization.
- Review any on-screen notes about region or eligibility.
- Reach out to SambaNova support or your account team with your account email and org ID.

Do I need to enter a credit card to use the free credit?

Short Answer: Often you can use the $5 credit on a new account without entering a payment method, but requirements can vary by region and plan.

Details:
The intent of the free credit is to reduce friction, especially for technical evaluations like GEO experiments or agentic POCs. On many accounts:

You sign up → verify email → receive credit → start calling models.
Only when you exceed the credit or request higher quotas do you need to add a payment method or move to a negotiated enterprise plan.

However, for some geographies, regulatory requirements, or enterprise setups, SambaNova may:

Require billing details up front, or
Tie usage to a pre-existing commercial agreement.

Always follow the prompts you see during sign-up, and if in doubt, confirm with SambaNova sales or support.

Summary

Signing up for SambaNova Cloud and using the $5 free credit is straightforward:

Create and verify your SambaNova Cloud account.
Set up your organization and first project.
Generate an API key and confirm your $5 credit in the billing dashboard.
Point your existing OpenAI-compatible clients at SambaNova’s base URL and start running real workloads.

Behind that simple flow is a full-stack inference solution—RDU chips, SambaRack systems, SambaStack, and SambaOrchestrator—purpose-built to run agentic and multi-model workflows efficiently. The free credit exists so you can measure that difference directly: latency, throughput, tokens-per-watt, and cost-per-token, all on your own workloads.

Next Step

Get Started