Can you transfer or sell Google Cloud credits?
Google Cloud's terms have no clause on selling credits, but that isn't permission. What governs a transfer, how to read your credit type, and what to check first.
When we read the five major providers' terms side by side, Google Cloud was the one that surprised us. AWS, Anthropic and OpenAI prohibit transferring credits in plain words. The Google Cloud Platform Terms of Service contain no clause specifically about selling or transferring credits at all.
That is easy to misread as "Google allows it". It doesn't.
What actually governs a transfer
Without a credit-specific rule, an attempt to transfer is governed by the general assignment clause in the Google Cloud terms. It says neither party may assign the agreement without the other's prior written consent, and an attempted assignment without that consent is void. A credit exists under your agreement with Google, so moving it to someone else runs into that clause. The restriction is still there; it just comes through a different part of the contract.
On top of that:
- Paid credit is governed by Google's Supplemental Paid Credit Terms.
- Programme credit, such as startup or research credits, carries the programme's own conditions, including who may use it and for what.
- Free trial credit belongs to a new account under the free trial terms and expires on a short timer.
Links to each document, with the date we last read them, are on our credit transfer rules page.
Find out what kind of credit you have
In the Google Cloud console, open Billing, pick the billing account, and go to Credits. Each credit line shows its name, the remaining value, the expiry date and its scope, meaning which projects and services it applies to. Record all four for every line. A single billing account often holds several credits with different scopes and expiry dates.
The credit name usually tells you where it came from. That matters, because a startup-programme credit with eligibility conditions is a very different object from paid credit you bought in advance.
What a "Google Cloud credit sale" turns out to be
Since the credit itself can't move to another billing account, arrangements sold as a GCP credit sale are usually one of these:
- The buyer's workload runs in a project on your billing account. Nothing transfers. Your billing account pays for their usage and they pay you. Whether that's permitted depends on the credit's terms, and you carry the liability for what runs there.
- The billing account goes with a company or asset sale. That's a corporate transaction under the commercial agreements, and it should be raised with Google as part of the deal.
- The buyer is given access to your console. Never do this. IAM roles that let someone spend your credit generally let them do much more than that.
If you're the buyer
The same analysis applies in reverse. A "discounted Google Cloud credit" is almost always a project on somebody else's billing account. They can see your resources, shut off your billing, or lose the credit, and your workload goes with it. Google's own routes, such as committed use discounts, the startup programme if you qualify, and pricing through an authorised Google Cloud partner, put the discount in your own account, which is where you want it.
Questions to answer before you do anything
- What is the credit's name, and which programme or purchase did it come from?
- What is its scope? Does it cover the services the other party would use?
- When does each line expire?
- Does the arrangement you have in mind need Google's consent, and do you have it in writing?
If those answers point to a permitted route, we can help make an introduction. If they don't, we'll tell you. Submit the details and a person will reply within 24–48 hours.