RunPod referral link, bonus and review

RunPod (Runpod, Inc.) is a GPU cloud for AI training and inference: on-demand GPU pods, autoscaling Serverless endpoints and multi-GPU clusters, billed per second. New users who sign up through a referral link with Google and add $10 get a one-time credit bonus between $5 and $500. This page covers the bonus rules, prices and limits to know before you top up.

Your bonus via our link

One-time RunPod credit of $5–$500 when you sign up through this link and add $10 for the first time

Get RunPod →

Referral link disclosure: the button above is our referral link. If you sign up through it, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The bonus and terms are set by RunPod and can change — check them on the official site before you sign up.

How to get started

Open RunPod through the referral link on this page; the referral code is already in the URL.
Sign up with Google SSO. The bonus only applies to Google sign-ups by first-time RunPod users.
Use an email that has never had a RunPod account, even a deleted one.
Add at least $10 in credits by card or cryptocurrency (crypto requires KYC first).
The one-time bonus credit is added to your balance after the $10 load; use it on pods or Serverless.

What is RunPod?

RunPod calls itself "the AI developer cloud". It rents NVIDIA GPUs by the second for training, fine-tuning and inference. The main products:

Pods – GPU instances for development and persistent workloads, from consumer cards (RTX 3090, 4090, 5090) up to A100, H100, H200, B200 and B300. Pods run in Secure Cloud (RunPod's data-center partners) or Community Cloud (cheaper capacity from vetted hosts).
Serverless – autoscaling GPU endpoints that scale to zero when idle; you write a handler and push it. RunPod states sub-200ms cold starts with its FlashBoot technology.
Clusters – multi-GPU compute connected by InfiniBand for distributed training and large-batch inference.

RunPod lists 31 regions and 30+ GPU types. It states SOC 2 Type II certification.

Who it's for

RunPod suits developers and small teams who need GPUs without long contracts: running Stable Diffusion or ComfyUI, fine-tuning open models, hosting an inference API on Serverless, or renting H100/B200 capacity for a few hours. There are no minimum commitments. It is less suited to anyone wanting a fixed-price server: billing is prepaid and usage-based.

Pricing at a glance

On-demand pod prices per GPU-hour from the pricing page:

GPU	Community Cloud	Secure Cloud
RTX A5000 24 GB	$0.16	$0.27
RTX 3090 24 GB	$0.22	$0.50
RTX 4090 24 GB	$0.34	$0.89
RTX 5090 32 GB	$0.69	$1.19
L40S 48 GB	$0.79	$1.09
A100 SXM 80 GB	$1.39	$1.79
H100 SXM 80 GB	$2.69	$3.99
H200 141 GB	$3.59	$5.29
B200 180 GB	$5.98	$7.99

Serverless is billed per worker time: for example $0.69/hr for 24 GB GPUs (L4, A5000, 3090), $1.10/hr for a 4090 and $4.79/hr for an H100. Standard network storage is $0.07/GB per month under 1 TB.

Compute and disk are billed per second, network volumes hourly, and there are no data transfer fees.

Referral bonus terms

RunPod's referral program, per its referral documentation:

What you get: a one-time credit after you load $10. For customers outside Europe it is a random, weighted amount between $5 and $500; RunPod says most people receive $5 and about 96% receive $10 or less. European customers get a fixed $5.
Eligibility: you must sign up with Google SSO, be a first-time RunPod user (no previous account on the same email, even a deleted one) and load at least $10.
Credits only: the bonus is RunPod credit, usable on RunPod services, not cash.

Once registered, you can also refer others: referrers earn credits of 5% of a referee's Serverless spend and 3% of Pod spend for the first six months, and users with 25+ paying referrals can opt into a cash affiliate tier (10% for six months, paid through PartnerStack). Opting into the affiliate tier is permanent.

Billing rules and limits

Prepaid credits, no refunds. You can start with $10. Credits are non-refundable, cannot be withdrawn and can only be used on RunPod.
Payment methods: Visa, Mastercard, American Express and other cards via Stripe; cryptocurrency (KYC is required before the first crypto payment); invoicing for business payments over $5,000.
Zero balance stops pods. Pods without a network volume are terminated and their data is lost.
Spend limit: $80 per hour across all resources by default, raised over time or on request.
Sanctions: the Terms exclude embargoed jurisdictions (Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Crimea, and the Donetsk and Luhansk regions) and people on sanctions lists.

Pros and cons

Pros

Wide GPU range, from $0.16/hr RTX A5000 to B200 and B300
Per-second billing with no data transfer fees
Serverless endpoints that scale to zero
Low $10 entry and a referral credit of at least $5

Cons

Credits are non-refundable and cannot be withdrawn
Referral bonus requires Google sign-up and is usually $5–$10
European users get a fixed $5 instead of the random bonus
Running out of balance terminates pods without a network volume

Frequently asked questions

How does the RunPod referral bonus work?

Sign up through a referral link with Google SSO as a first-time user and load at least $10. You then receive a one-time credit between $5 and $500 (fixed $5 in Europe); most users get $5.

Is there a RunPod promo code to type in?

No. The referral code is part of the link, so just open RunPod through the link and sign up with Google. There is no field to enter it later, and it does not work for existing accounts.

Is RunPod legit?

RunPod is operated by Runpod, Inc., based in New Jersey, USA, with published Terms of Service, documentation and email support at help@runpod.io. It states SOC 2 Type II certification. The main caveat: deposited credits are non-refundable, so top up only what you plan to use.

How much does RunPod cost?

Pods are billed per second. On-demand prices start at $0.16/hr for an RTX A5000 on Community Cloud; an RTX 4090 is $0.34/hr (Community) or $0.89/hr (Secure) and an H100 SXM is $2.69–$3.99/hr. You can start with a $10 deposit.