# Get Started with EMQX Broker

This guide walks you through your first experience using EMQX Broker, including signing up, creating projects, and deploying your first MQTT broker.

## EMQX Broker Free Trial

You can explore and try EMQX Broker products through our Serverless free quota or the Dedicated Flex plan's 14-day free trial.

### Serverless Plan (Free Tier)

- **1 million** session minutes per month
- **1 GB** of traffic per month
- **1 million** rule actions per month

### Dedicated Flex Plan (14-Day Free Trial)

* 1000 sessions
* 100 GB free traffic
* Data integration, monitoring management, and other proprietary features
* Supports MQTT and WebSockets protocol connections.

### Trial Limitations and Behavior

If no clients connect for **5 consecutive days**, the deployment is paused. You can manually restart it from the console.

After the trial period:

- If you have credits, the deployment continues with hourly billing.
- If no credits are available, the deployment is retained for **3 days**, then **automatically deleted**.

## Create and Log into an EMQX Cloud Account

### [Sign Up](https://accounts.emqx.com/signup?continue=https://www.emqx.com/cn/cloud)

1. Enter the required information, such as name, email, password, and mobile number. According to regulatory requirements, registration requires mobile verification for real-name authentication.
2. Click **Start free trial**, and EMQX Cloud will automatically send a confirmation email to the email address you provided.
4. Confirm your account via the email verification link.

### [Sign In](https://accounts.emqx.com/signin?continue=https%3A%2F%2Fcloud-intl.emqx.com%2Fconsole%2Fdeployments%2F0%3Foper%3Dnew)

Enter your email and password, then click **Sign In** to be redirected to the [EMQX Cloud console](https://cloud.emqx.com/console/).

### [Password Recovery](https://accounts.emqx.com/forgot-password?continue=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.emqx.com%2Fcn%2Fcloud)

If you forget your password, you can click **Forgot your password?** on the login page, and reset it via email.

## First-Time Login: Create Your First Project

When you log in for the first time, the **Overview** page will be empty, and you’ll be prompted to create a project.

### Create a Project

Projects help you organize EMQX deployments across teams, departments, or use cases.

1. On the **Overview** page, click **+ New Project**.
2. Enter the **Project Name** and **Note**.
3. Click **Confirm**.

Your new project will appear in the **Projects** section on the **Overview** page. 

>Learn more: [Project Management](../feature/project.md)

## Create a Deployment

After creating a project, you can deploy an EMQX broker.

1. On the **Overview** page, click the project card to enter the project you have created.

2. Click **+ New Deployment** to go to the New Deployment page.

3. Select the **Serverless** plan. Leave the default settings or configure them as needed.

   For detailed descriptions of deployment settings, refer to [Create a Serverless Deployment](../create/serverless.md). 

4. Review your deployment information in the **Summary** section. Check the box *I have read and accept the EMQX Serverless Usage Terms*, then click **Deploy**.

The deployment will begin. The deployment's progress can be tracked on the **Overview** page. Once the status updates to **Running**, your deployment is successfully established and is now operational.

## View Deployment Information

After creation, your deployment will appear under **EMQX Brokers** on the **Overview** page. Each card shows:

- **Deployment name**
- **Region**
- **Session limit**
- **EMQX version**
- **Status**

Click the deployment card to access the **Deployment Overview** page. From the left menu, you can configure settings, view metrics, manage clients, and more.

![serverless_overview](./_assets/serverless_overview.png)

## Configure Authentication

To secure your deployment, set up authentication before connecting clients.

1. Open your deployment and go to **Access Control > Authentication**.

2. Click **Add**, then enter a **Username** and **Password**.

3. Click **Confirm**.

   ::: tip

   Keep these credentials safe. They are required for connecting clients.

   :::

>Learn more: [Default Authentication Guide](../deployments/default_auth.md)

![add_users](./_assets/auth.png)

## Use MQTTX to Verify Connection

EMQX recommends using [MQTTX](https://mqttx.app) to test connectivity. You can also use SDKs or other tools. Before connecting, make sure:

- You have the **deployment host** (MQTT endpoint)
- You’ve created **authentication credentials**

To test the connection:

1. Download and open MQTTX.
2. Create a new connection using your deployment info.
3. Click **Connect** to verify success.

Full guide: [Use MQTTX to Test Connection](../connect_to_deployments/mqttx.md)