---
title: Create an account
description: Sign up for the Metis Cloud console with your email and a password, or with Google or GitHub.
---

You need a Metis Cloud account to buy and manage instances. This account is for the console only. Your instance has its own accounts, and you create the first one later, in [Finish setup](/cloud/get-started/finish-setup).

The email address of your Metis Cloud account matters: it becomes the owner email of every instance you create. Only that address can create the owner account on the instance.

## Sign up with your email

1. Open [console.trymetis.email](https://console.trymetis.email). The **Metis Cloud** page has two tabs, **Sign in** and **Create account**.
2. Click **Create account**.
3. Enter your **Name**, your **Email** and a **Password**. The password needs at least 10 characters.
4. Click **Create account**. The form is replaced by **Check your email**: "We sent a confirmation link to ana@example.com. Open it to finish creating your account."
5. Open the email with the subject "Confirm your email for Metis Cloud" and click **Confirm email address**.

The link confirms your address, signs you in and opens the **Instances** page.

Until you confirm your address, you cannot sign in with your password, and you cannot create an instance.

If your account cannot be created, a message appears under the form, such as "Could not create the account."

## Sign up with Google or GitHub

1. Open [console.trymetis.email](https://console.trymetis.email).
2. Click **Google** or **GitHub** above the form.
3. Sign in with that provider. Google always asks which of your Google accounts to use.

Your new account opens on the **Instances** page. If the provider does not report your email address as verified, Metis Cloud sends you a confirmation email instead. You must confirm your email before you can create an instance.

If you already have a Metis Cloud account with the same email address, and you have confirmed it, signing in with Google or GitHub opens that account. The provider must also report the address as verified.

If the provider sign-in does not work, you come back to the sign-in page with the message "Sign-in with that account did not work. Try again, or use your email and password."

An account you create with Google or GitHub has no password. To also sign in with your email and a password, set one in **Settings**. See [Sign in and passwords](/cloud/account/sign-in-and-passwords).

## Protect your account

Two-factor authentication on your Metis Cloud account is optional, but you need it to prepare and download an export of your instance. See [Two-factor authentication](/cloud/account/two-factor-authentication).

## Next step

[Create an instance](/cloud/get-started/create-an-instance): pick an address and a plan, then pay.