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Linode $100,000 Giveaway!

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UPDATE: The giveaway has ended! We sold out in about 130 minutes. Thanks everyone!

We are giving away $100,000 in Linode services!  Starting this Friday December 17th at 9:00 AM Eastern the first 1,000 new customers to sign up will each receive $100 in service credit.

Here’s how it works:  Be one of the first 1,000 people to sign up after 9:00 AM Eastern this Friday. If you make the cut, a $100 credit will immediately be placed onto your account to use as you see fit. That’s it! The only fine-print is that the credit is non-transferable and non-refundable.

We’re excited to be able to make this offer and hope that everyone who has been thinking about trying Linode will take this opportunity to experience our service and support first hand.

If you have a Twitter account, please spread the word!


Comments (81)

  1. Author Photo

    Awesome!

    My only complaint? I’m already a customer, dangit. 🙂

  2. Author Photo

    You guys are awesome!

    First more RAM for free for customers, and now credits gratis for new customers.

    I love your service and I recommend you at every opportunity I have.

  3. Author Photo

    What about people that want to take another linode (second one)?

  4. Author Photo

    How will that interact with referral codes? No referral bonus on $100 free users? Or, they have to remain active 90 days after their $100 runs out?

  5. Christopher Aker

    @Andrea – new customers only, sorry.

    @Chris – referral codes work like normal. Refer your friends and if they stay for 90 days you get $20 credit.

  6. Author Photo

    Hey, that’s great news, but appears to be more capacity than you have spare (Homepage reads: 267+326+153+82+62+16 across all plans) – should existing customers be concerned about overloading?

  7. Christopher Aker

    @Lee – We don’t instantly put every new host into the pool. We always have a HUGE reserve of machines online and ready to go, and are constantly bringing new hosts into the mix as demand dictates. There is no overselling. We always have capacity waiting.

  8. Author Photo

    @caker thanks, I’m a customer (via my employer) – but I’ve wanted a private slice for a while, I didn’t want to find myself with “4096 or nothing” come Friday morning! Great work guys, didn’t mean to take the wind out of your sales, I actually figured the homepage was some javascript counter designed to increase click through by adding percieved value for people that aren’t already using your execllent service!

    Roll on Friday!

  9. Author Photo

    I second the “Dang, I’m already here.”

    If I roll a new Linode on a new account, can I get the credit? I would love to play with a second Linode, but not if it means sidestepping the rules.

  10. Author Photo

    It’s a shame I will probably be unavailable at that time, would have signed up otherwise. 😉

    PS. signing up requires one to buy atleast 1 linode right?

  11. Author Photo

    Awww… no love for your existing customers?

    *pouts*

  12. Christopher Aker

    @Les – hey, another Aker! We’d really prefer these to be new customers, but we won’t stop you.

    @Tom – Yup, sign up for any Linode and the credit will be applied.

  13. Author Photo

    I’ve been thinking about taking out a second linode – am I eligible?

  14. Christopher Aker

    @Luke – see comment above. A new customer account is required.

  15. Author Photo

    Could we have a bit more of the “fine print”, please?

    If I have a Linode in America, could I use this to start a new one in the UK and would the 100 dollars basically give me the first five months free?

  16. Author Photo

    @Chris, I’m thinking about that too. I can only assume it’s the same

    Too bad I’m already a customer!

  17. Author Photo

    So you convinced me to sign up to Linode and give it a try.. but now I can’t do it until friday, otherwise I won’t get the $100!!!

    So unfair! 🙂

  18. Author Photo

    Pretty sure SparkFun Electronics did this exact same thing last January and is doing it again this coming January…

  19. Author Photo

    Great 🙂 Linode rocks. I may be the first one to get this amazing offer 😉
    9AM Friday EST == Friday, 17 December 2010, 19:30:00 Indian Standard Time. Am I correct? http://bit.ly/er4zTt

  20. Author Photo

    Will you know if you’re one of the first 1000, or will it tell you only after you’ve put in your credit card number? 🙂

    I want free stuff, darnit!

  21. Author Photo

    Just out of curiousity, why would anyone want to “spread the word” about this? The fewer people that know, the greater the chances of free service, no?

  22. Author Photo

    what if linode in fremont out of stock? would you add more linodes to fremont datacenter

  23. Author Photo

    We just took a new Linode yesterday 🙁 Is there anything for us? Didn’t know it starts tomorrow.

  24. Author Photo

    Barry: Because most of the people reading this already have accounts here, so the best way for us to earn off this deal is to convince as many people as we can to sign up during the deal, thereby raking in referrals and the subsequent payoff.

  25. Author Photo

    Is the $100 credit applied immediately at sign-up? Or do we have to pay for one month first? i.e. for a 512 plan, do we still need to pay $19.95 for one month and then use the $100 credit for the next 5 months?

  26. Christopher Aker

    @Barry – It won’t show in the sign-up system. You’ll see a notice when you log in for the first time.

    @Alex we won’t be out of stock, ever, so don’t worry about it.

    @Evaryont – You sign up and pay for a Linode and then the credit is applied to your account.

  27. Author Photo

    Really, had to go with 6am Pacific time for this? Why do you hate Californians?

  28. Author Photo

    Hi Caker,

    I’m a new customer, I was going to sign-up for a linode 512 this morning until I saw this giveaway on twitter. It’s a great news for our new customers. However, I have a question regarding the $100 credit. If i sign-up a linode 512 for one year on friday morning and I’m one of the first 1000, I’ll need to pay ~$220 in order to get access to my account, and then I’ll see the $100 credit on my account. Can I use the credit to pay for this year’s fee? (like a $100 refund off the $220)
    Thanks!

  29. Author Photo

    I’m looking for a solid VPS provider, seems I’ve found the right offer 🙂 hope to be one of the first 1,000 signups

  30. Author Photo

    Can the referral code be appended to this blog post (and still function)?

  31. Author Photo

    lame. where’s the love for existing customers?

  32. Christopher Aker

    @Craig – indeed. Next time we’ll do something later in the day, although I’d guess we won’t sell out within the first few hours (we’re taking bets here at Linode HQ).

    @Alan – you need to pay for whatever you’re buying at sign up. The credit gets applied after your account is created, not at sign up. If you really wanted to pay annually using the credit, sign up monthly first, get the credit, and then submit a ticket asking to be switched to annual.

    @Luke – the referral codes are compatible with this promotion, but you gotta send them to your referral URL. The referral code won’t stick if attached to the blog URL.

    @pete – your time will come.

    -Chris

  33. Author Photo

    Hi,

    Just would like to 100% clarify something if I may.

    If you sign up for say a 512 ($19.95) linode, you pay for the first month at signup. Is it correct that then the account will be in credit, so therefore Linode will not take any payments from your bank until the $100 has gone.

    Meaning that the customer efficiently gets 5 months free hosting.

    Is this deal valid for old customers? As in for customer who were once Linode customers, and have recently left? As in if I use the same email address as I originally used, will Linode still honour this deal?

    Thanks,
    Tom

  34. Christopher Aker

    @Tom – you are correct. You pay for a month or whatever, and then the credit is applied when the account is created. Also, we’re not excluding anyone (old customers or otherwise) from participating. It needs to be a new account, however.

  35. Author Photo

    @Caker – sounds great. Thanks

  36. Author Photo

    @Caker – Can multiple accounts use the same billing information? I’ve a client that I was going to setup with a linode on Friday.

    I typically just setup my clients on my account and then charge them the monthly cost of the server, but if I can save him a few bucks then that would be great.

  37. Author Photo

    How about making affiliates more motivated by creating a URL that has a part for our affiliate ID and redirects to this page?

  38. Author Photo

    Aww, I suppose caker just gave us the go-ahead to sign up for a second account, but I feel that would be against the spirit of the deal.
    Hopefully more love for existing customers will come :)(maybe more HDD *hinthintnudgenudge*)

  39. Author Photo

    How can I know whether I am before 1000 or not before payment?

  40. Author Photo

    Is there an option to choose a datacenter when you sign up for a plan?
    Looking through the FAQ I do not see this mentioned anywhere.

  41. Author Photo

    Kinda bummed out that existing customers get no love… Even though we’re planning on getting a second linode soon, that wouldn’t even count.

  42. Author Photo

    @Val – Yes. You can choose a data centre upon sign up.

    https://www.linode.com/screencasts/gettingStarted.mov

    It’s after you have signed up, its a the process of setting up your linode.

  43. Author Photo

    I would really like to see a white label reseller program, so we could resell Linodes to our hosting clients if they want more advanced VPS services like you offer. Even a co-branded solution would be great cuz it’s better that linode supports clients on their end and we provide value-add to those clients by referring and/or assisting them in development or outsourced setup, management/configuration. The goal I’m after is residual income, even if its $5/Month per account. Just a thought. 🙂

  44. Author Photo

    I was trying to decide between Linode and vps.net… That certainly made my decision a lot easier =D

  45. Author Photo

    I echo mojvps’s question — will we know if we’re getting the credit prior to signing up, or will we only find out afterwards?

  46. Christopher Aker

    @Mojvps @chris There is a ticker on the signup page which shows you how many slots are remaining. Once you sign up, the next page will tell you if you received the credit. If you are in the process of signing up and the ticker is displaying that there are only a few slots left, you run the risk of not making the cut.

  47. Author Photo

    @caker great, thank you.

  48. Author Photo
    Alexandre de Oliveira

    Be ready to scale your service. Good quality means you’re gonna get more and more customers, and I hope this doesn’t make your quality get low.

  49. Author Photo

    Alexandre..unfortunately it’s probably only a matter of time till Linode reaches this point. Practically all companies do. And the ones that don’t either went out of business or start charging much higher prices. By then though there will be some other newcomers on the scene mixing things up…and off we go.

  50. Author Photo

    Well, tried rtwice so far and got errors both times!

  51. Author Photo

    Tried to sign up, and all I get is a big “WHOOPS” error page. Doesnt exactly inspire confidence when your *sign up* page is broken already!

  52. Author Photo

    Getting an error trying to complete the giveaway. Sucks because I’ve seen the countdown go down 100+ (from 999) and I’m not getting in on the action.

  53. Author Photo

    I guess 3rd try really is a charm. Got it!

  54. Author Photo

    I successfully availed the offer, but the only catch (which was not mentioned) was that they charged for 1.5 months as they bill monthly, and post 16th day of the month, they charge for the next month also… probably that tells us why you chose 17th as the offer date……;)

    Anyways…looking forward to a great service…I have heard a lot about linode, time to experience it… 🙂

  55. Author Photo

    I had to reload the signup page and re-enter my info, but I felt safe doing so, because I realized that you’d have created the username if you were getting as far as charging me (at least I find it highly unlikely you wouldn’t). Anyway, you can moderate this and my other comment into the trash if you feel like it.

  56. Author Photo

    @caker my credit card tell me 30$ was taken, why??

  57. Christopher Aker

    An amazing response so far! The “Whoops”s were actually the signup system rate-limiter, and didn’t cause any dupe charges or anything – although to be sure we’ll be auditing this afternoon. The slow loading was identified as problem with one of the loadbalancers and was resolved. Things should be rocking since about 9:30!!

  58. Author Photo

    I got an error too.. but I tried again and was able to complete it and get the $100 credit.

    But I got a payment receipt for the first month’s pro-rated amount.
    I had assumed that the first billing would be from the $100 credit. turns out I’m mistaken. slightly smells of a bait-and-switch. I will have to wait for my credit card statement to be sure.

  59. Author Photo

    Just signed up (10:09AM EST), there were 200 slots left.

    Can’t wait to get started!

  60. Christopher Aker

    @yisohoo Orders placed mid month were charged for the remaining days in December, and then all of the next month.

    @Logan no deception was intended. If the announcement wasn’t clear enough, and the sign up system wasn’t clear that it was about to charge your credit card, and you’re not happy just submit a ticket and we’ll cancel your account and void the transaction.

  61. Author Photo

    After a few unsuccessful attempts, I was able to sign up. Now 100$ credit is loaded into my account. That’s awesome.
    Thanks 🙂

  62. Author Photo

    “The only fine-print is that the credit is non-transferable and non-refundable.”

    My ass it is. I was charged over $30 for “remainder of December and January”. Apparently I can start using my $100 “giveaway” credits in February. Screw this.

  63. Author Photo

    Calade, if you read into the offer as they were going to give you $100 for absolutely free, then you need to sit down and rethink you’re entire life.

  64. Author Photo

    Well, I’ve been a customer for 2+ years but I don’t mind on “missing out” on this promotion. The referral program has been more than generous to me, thanks Linode!

  65. Author Photo

    Uhh, Calade, that’s what the description said.

  66. Author Photo

    Looks like the giveaway is over! That was quick. Wish I could have got in on it.

  67. Author Photo

    There was few failed attemps and one another problem about my account but linode team solved that issue very quickly. I’m an old linude user and happy to return to linode. I hope i will stay much and much longer 🙂 Thank you.

  68. Top Five Christmas Gifts For The Geek In Your Family | Stephen J Nims - Random Musings of an Internet Addict

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  69. Author Photo

    @Ryan

    $100 free? Yes, I was expecting them to send me $100, Ryan! Seriously though. There are hosting companies who give you servers like this free for a year during promotions (OVH). But I’ll sit down and think.

    @ Brian Manahan

    Where exactly does it say so? Of course it talked about the $30 payment during registration, but I simply thought it would be taken from the $100.

  70. Author Photo

    It seems that multiple people were surprised to find out that their credit cards were charged for the initial 1.5 months of hosting. This appears to be Linode’s fault. The initial blog post wasn’t clear about this, and several people asked about it, getting misleading answers from Caker. Here is a typical conversation (taken from the comments above):

    Tom:
    “Linode will not take any payments from your bank until the $100 has gone.
    Meaning that the customer efficiently gets 5 months free hosting.”

    Caker:
    “Tom – you are correct”

    I am still a fan of Linode, but I feel that they should have been clearer about this.

  71. Author Photo

    I signed up specifically due to this giveaway. I have a dedicated server and decided, “what the heck”, if it doesn’t work out I’ll just cancel it after a few months.

    Although I was initially skeptical due to the “Whoops” page that I received on sign up, I have to say, otherwise I’ve been pretty impressed.

    A Linode VPS is definitely the way to go — no KVM over IP rental charges, no OS reload fee, great support, and a usable management front end.

  72. Christopher Aker

    @Calvin You’re taking things out of context. If you read the previous sentence of Tom’s comment, he says “If you sign up for say a 512 ($19.95) linode, you pay for the first month at signup.” To which I reply: “you are correct. You pay for a month or whatever, and then the credit is applied when the account is created“. Also, the sign up system clearly stated it was going to charge your credit card.

    Anyone who complains about this, imo, just didn’t pay enough attention. However, if we ever do anything like this again I’ll make sure and make it absolutely obvious.

    Again, no deception was ever intended. If anyone is not satisfied with getting a $100 credit, we’d be happy to remove it, cancel the account, and void any transactions we may have charged.

    Thanks,
    -Chris

  73. Author Photo

    I have been a Linode customer for nearly 2 years, and although I missed this promotion, reading through the blog post and the comments this makes perfect sense to me – I thought it was very clear how the promotion would work.

    Excellent value, totally reliable and supportive service as always from Linode – Good job guys!

  74. Author Photo

    Signed up for 512MB, 16GB Linode 🙂
    Got the $100 credit too on Friday…

    Enjoying the linode – seems very fast on the config I have selected – will upgrade it when I think it will be busy.

    for now, i will be testing my linux skills against it.

    Thanks Linode !

  75. Author Photo

    I signed up for and got the $100 credit & just to add to discussion – I was completely aware that the credit would be applied to my account after signup.

    Furthermore, I’m really impressed with linode so far. I’m a former slicehost customer & I’m amazed at how much faster my new server is. Partly due the UK located datacentre, but the speed at which is processes requests is far faster than I’m used to. My first chat with the support guys was positive too.

    So, it’s thumbs up from me!

  76. Author Photo

    Just signed up but I dont see $100 credit 🙁
    Guess 1000 signups are done already! Anyway, setting up the host was straight forward and snappy. Looking forward for a trouble free ride.

    Cheers

  77. Author Photo

    Well guys, it seems this is the end of the story. I registered 2 days ago and I did not get the 100$ credit. However the service you provide is even better than my friend told me so thumbs up for me too

  78. Author Photo

    I opened an account on December 23 and unfortunately didn’t get the $100 credit, but I always viewed it as an added bonus and was not the reason for opening an account. I am really very happy with Linode’s service so far.

  79. Author Photo

    I love my linode. It serves as a dedicated database for my heroku app. Thank you so much linode.com!

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  81. Author Photo

    Any plans to do similar “giveaway” in the future? I would like to move my server to linode and $100 credit can be a good argument to do it early.

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