# Getting started with blitz.cloud

> Create a free blitz.cloud account, claim your address, connect GitHub if you like, and put your first app, Docker image or project online. No credit card, no terminal needed.

Web page: https://blitz.cloud/docs/getting-started/
Updated: 2026-09-26

To get started, create a free account at [dashboard.blitz.cloud](https://dashboard.blitz.cloud/auth/login?register=1), confirm your email address, claim a name like `lena.blitz.cloud`, and click "Host something new". Your first app can be online a few minutes later. There is no credit card step and no waiting list.

## Create an account

Sign up with an email address and a password of at least 10 characters, or with GitHub or Google. If you use email, we send a confirmation link. You can look around before you click it, but creating apps and databases only works once the address is confirmed.

Throwaway mailbox providers are turned away at signup. That's one of the ways we keep a free platform usable for the people on it.

## Claim your address

The first thing the dashboard asks for is your address. It becomes `<name>.blitz.cloud`, and every app you host lives under it.

- 3 to 30 characters: lowercase letters, digits and hyphens
- no hyphen at the start or end, and no two hyphens in a row
- some names are reserved (platform words, brand names and a few you can guess)

The field checks availability while you type. You can rename the address later, but only once every 14 days. The details are in [addresses and HTTPS](https://blitz.cloud/docs/addresses-and-https/).

## Connect GitHub, or skip it

Next the onboarding offers to connect GitHub. If you keep code there, connect it: we can then build your projects, private ones included, and put a new version online every time you push. At GitHub you choose which repositories blitz.cloud may read. No code on GitHub? Click "Skip for now". You can connect later from Settings, and public projects build from a pasted link without connecting at all. More in [deploy a GitHub project](https://blitz.cloud/docs/deploy-from-github/).

## Put your first app online

Click "Host something new" in the dashboard. You get three choices:

1. A ready-made app from the [App Store](https://blitz.cloud/docs/app-store/), such as Vaultwarden, Ghost or Uptime Kuma.
2. My own code: a [project from GitHub](https://blitz.cloud/docs/deploy-from-github/), picked from your list once GitHub is connected, or any public repository by its link.
3. An app from Docker Hub: a public [Docker image](https://blitz.cloud/docs/deploy-docker-image/) from Docker Hub or another public registry.

Next you pick a short name for the app. It becomes a subdomain of your address, so `uptime` turns into `uptime.lena.blitz.cloud`. One app can also sit on your main address itself.

Then click "Put it online" ("Build it and put it online" for your own code). The progress list reports what the cluster is actually doing, step by step. When it's done you get a working HTTPS link.

## What to read next

- [Deploy a Docker image](https://blitz.cloud/docs/deploy-docker-image/) if you have your own image
- [Deploy a GitHub project](https://blitz.cloud/docs/deploy-from-github/) if your code is on GitHub
- [Databases](https://blitz.cloud/docs/databases/) if your app needs PostgreSQL, MariaDB or Redis
- [Limits](https://blitz.cloud/docs/limits/) to see how many apps fit in the free plan
- [App status and logs](https://blitz.cloud/docs/app-status-and-logs/) if something doesn't come online