Signup Credits and Credit Codes
Every new InstaWP account gets free signup credits to try the platform before paying for anything. Some campaigns, partners, and events hand out a credit code (or a ready-made credit link) that grants a different, usually larger, amount.
This page explains how both work.
Table of Contents
- The default $25 signup credit
- Redeeming a credit code
- When the credit is added
- Checking your credit balance
- Rules and limits
- Troubleshooting
The default $25 signup credit
When you create a new InstaWP account and add a payment method, InstaWP adds $25 in free credits to your account. The credits are applied automatically to your usage, so you can launch real WordPress sites and explore paid features without being billed until the credit runs out.
The default signup credit expires 60 days after it is granted. Anything you spend before then comes out of the credit first.
The Add Credit Card screen confirms the offer before you submit anything:
Adding a card is a verification step, not a charge. See Create Account for the full signup flow.
Redeeming a credit code
A credit code is redeemed by signing up through its credit link — there is no "enter a coupon code" box in the dashboard. If someone gave you a plain code, build the link yourself:
https://app.instawp.io/register?cr_ref=YOUR-CODEReplace YOUR-CODE with the code you were given (for example https://app.instawp.io/register?cr_ref=WPSUMMIT).
Steps:
Open the credit link in your browser. It takes you to the normal InstaWP signup screen — the code travels with you in the background, so there is nothing extra to fill in here.
Sign up as usual — email + password, or Google / Facebook / X — and verify your email address.
Add a payment method when prompted.
The credits attached to that code are added to your account instead of the default $25.
The amount and the validity period come from the code itself, so a campaign code may grant more (or less) than $25 and may expire sooner or later than 60 days. The description you see on the credit in your billing history tells you which code it came from.
Open the link before you sign up
The code is picked up from the link at the moment you land on the signup page. If you create your account first and open the credit link afterwards, the code will not apply.
"Apply Code" is not for credit codes
The Apply Code field on the Add Credit Card screen is for discount coupons (percentage-off offers). A signup credit code entered there is rejected as invalid — credit codes are only ever applied through the ?cr_ref= signup link.
When the credit is added
Signup credits — default or code-based — are granted at the moment you add and verify a payment method, not at the moment you register. Until a card is on file, your credit balance stays at $0.
Checking your credit balance
Your available credit balance is shown in the account menu at the top right of the dashboard:
For the full breakdown, including each credit's expiry date:
- Account Settings >> Payment >> Billing Details, or
- the credits page directly.
For a line-by-line record of what was granted and what was spent, see Credit History.
Rules and limits
- One signup credit per account. The signup credit — whether default or from a code — is granted once, on the first payment method you add. A second code will not add more credit to an account that already received one.
- New accounts only. Credit codes apply to the signup credit, so they cannot be applied to an existing account that has already received its signup credit.
- Codes can expire or run out. A code has its own expiry date and can have a maximum number of uses. If it is expired, deactivated, or fully used by the time you sign up, you receive the standard $25 signup credit instead.
- Signup credits expire. Unlike purchased credits (which never expire), signup credits have an expiry date. See InstaWP Credits for how expiry ordering works.
Troubleshooting
I signed up with the link but only got $25. The code was most likely expired, deactivated, or had reached its usage limit. It can also happen if the link was opened in a different browser or an incognito window from the one you completed signup in. Contact support with the code and your account email and we will check it.
My balance is still $0 after signing up. Signup credits land only after a payment method is added and verified. Add a card under Account Settings >> Payment, then reload the dashboard.
I have a code but no link. Append it to the register URL yourself: https://app.instawp.io/register?cr_ref=YOUR-CODE.
Support
Still stuck? Reach us at support@instawp.com or via live support in your dashboard — include the credit code and the email address you signed up with.