import { consoleOrigin } from '../../../../lib/docs-env';

This page walks through creating an account, picking a region, and
verifying your email. It takes about a minute. For the developer flow
that follows sign-up, see the
[Quickstart](/developers/quickstart).

## Pick a region

Your data lives in the region you sign up under. The platform does not
replicate customer data across regions, so the choice is sticky — pick
the one that matches where your customers live.

- **US** — <a href={consoleOrigin('us')}><code>{consoleOrigin('us')}</code></a>
- **EU** — <a href={consoleOrigin('eu')}><code>{consoleOrigin('eu')}</code></a>

If you operate in both jurisdictions you create two separate
organizations, one in each region. API keys, webhook endpoints,
workflow templates, and applicant verifications belong to one region and
cannot be queried from the other. For the full residency posture, see
[Where is my data hosted?](/guides/faq/data-residency).

## Sign up

Open the console URL for your region and pick **Sign up**. You can
sign up with email + password or with a corporate Google account.

The first user in a new organization becomes the owner. Owner is the
only role that can manage billing and invite other owners — see
[Pick the right role](/guides/getting-started/invite-your-team#pick-the-right-role).

## Verify your email

Email + password sign-ups receive a verification message. Click the
link to finish creating the account. The link expires; if it does,
request a new one from the sign-in page. Google sign-ups skip this
step because Google has already verified the email.

## Accept the service agreement

On first sign-in you accept the service agreement and the data
processing addendum. The acceptance is recorded on the organization
with the actor, the timestamp, and the document version. You can find
it later under **Settings -> Compliance**.

## What ships with a new account

A new organization gets:

- A **$10 trial credit** in your wallet, valid for 14 days from
  sign-up. The trial covers an end-to-end run of the verification flow
  with no card required — spend it on real checks at their per-check
  price.
- Both modes enabled: `test` mode for development, `live` mode for
  production traffic. Resources created in one mode are invisible to
  the other.
- A single wallet, in US dollars, holding the trial balance. You can
  run verifications whenever the wallet has a positive balance — add
  funds with a one-time [top-up](/guides/billing/top-up) before the
  trial expires, and [subscribe](/guides/billing/subscription) to a
  tier (Basic, Pro, or Max) when you want a monthly grant and premium
  features.

## Next steps

- [Invite your team](/guides/getting-started/invite-your-team) so other
  people can pick up where you left off.
- [Create your first verification](/guides/getting-started/create-your-first-verification)
  to walk through the applicant flow end to end.
- [Quickstart](/developers/quickstart) for the developer
  onboarding.
- [Glossary](/glossary) for the terms used across the console and
  the API.