# Getting started

Create an account, add a payment method and deploy your first database or model.

This guide takes you from a new account to a running database or model on the On-Demand plan.

## Create an account

1. Go to [nistro.ai/signup](https://nistro.ai/signup).
2. Enter your name, email, company and a password of at least 8 characters, then select **Sign up**. Signing up accepts the [Terms of Service](https://nistro.ai/terms) and [Privacy Policy](https://nistro.ai/privacy-policy).
3. Open the verification email and follow its link to activate your account.
4. [Sign in](https://nistro.ai/signin) with your email and password.

You can also sign up and sign in with Google or GitHub.

## Add a payment method

You need a payment method on file before you can deploy. Until you add one, the console shows a banner, and a deploy fails with "A payment method is required before deploying. Add one under Billing."

1. In the console, open **Billing**.
2. On the **Payment Method** card, select **Configure**. This opens the billing provider's page, where you add your payment details.

When the card shows **Configured**, you're ready to deploy.

## Deploy a database

1. Open **Postgres Deployments** and select **Create**.
2. Keep the **On-Demand** plan. Set vCPU and storage; memory follows vCPU at 4 GiB per vCPU.
3. Optionally pick a workload preset, such as **OLTP**, and change the database name and username (both default to `app`). Leave the password blank to have one generated.
4. Keep **Location** on **Any** to let Nistro AI pick the lowest-priced location, or choose US, EU or Asia. Then select **Load pricing**.
5. Review the offer and select **Deploy**.

![The On-Demand requirements step: capacity sliders, workload presets and database settings](https://nistro.ai/images/docs/postgres-create.png)

The deployment's page opens. When its status is **Running**, the **Quick test** card has a ready-made `psql` command:

```bash
psql 'postgresql://<username>:<password>@<host>:5432/<database>'
```

See [Nistro AI Postgres](https://nistro.ai/docs/postgres) for connection details and everything else you can configure.

## Deploy a model

1. Open **Inference Deployments** and select **Create**.
2. Keep the **On-Demand** plan. Enter a Hugging Face model id, such as `google/gemma-4-26B-A4B`, or paste its huggingface.co URL. The console checks the model as you type.
3. Keep **Location** on **Any**, or choose US, EU or Asia, and select **Recommend hardware**.
4. Review the recommended hardware, select **View pricing**, then select **Deploy**.

![The Hardware step with the required VRAM, topology, model format and sizing details](https://nistro.ai/images/docs/inference-hardware.png)

When the deployment is ready, its **Overview** shows the **OpenAI-compatible endpoint**, and the **Call the API** tab shows the API key and example requests. Save the key as `NISTRO_TOKEN`, then send a request:

```bash
curl <endpoint>/openai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NISTRO_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"<model>","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hello"}]}'
```

Replace `<endpoint>` with the deployment's endpoint and `<model>` with the model name shown in the console's examples. See [Nistro AI Inference](https://nistro.ai/docs/inference) for the OpenAI SDK and streaming.

## Next steps

- Invite your team and set their roles: [Teams and roles](https://nistro.ai/docs/usage-guide#teams-and-roles).
- Track spend on the **Usage** page: [Usage and billing](https://nistro.ai/docs/usage-guide#usage-and-billing).
- Move to dedicated machines with the Scale plan: [Postgres plans](https://nistro.ai/docs/postgres#plans) and [Inference plans](https://nistro.ai/docs/inference#plans).