# Getting started with Textual

Note that these instructions are for setting up a new account on Textual Cloud. For a self-hosted instance, depending on how it is set up, you might either create an account manually or use single sign-on (SSO).

## Signing up for Textual <a href="#getting-started-signup" id="getting-started-signup"></a>

To get started with a new Textual account:

1. Go to <https://textual.tonic.ai/>.
2. Click **Sign up**.
3. Enter your email address.
4. Create and confirm a password for your Textual account.
5. Click **Sign Up**.

Textual creates your account and sends you an email message to activate the account.

After you activate your account and log in, Textual displays the Textual home page, which you can use to preview how Textual detects and replaces values. For more information, go to [Previewing Textual detection and redaction](/textual/textual-playground.md).

<figure><img src="/files/EBrVjJBxb173NtWMqNDs" alt=""><figcaption><p>Home page for a new account</p></figcaption></figure>

## Using the Textual free trial <a href="#textual-free-trial-using" id="textual-free-trial-using"></a>

When you set up an account on Textual Cloud, you start a Textual free trial.

### Using the Getting Started options <a href="#free-trial-getting-started" id="free-trial-getting-started"></a>

On the home page, the **Getting Started** section provides links to tasks and information related to:

* Using the [Textual Python SDK](/textual/tonic-textual-api/textual-api-install.md)
* Working with [datasets](/textual/datasets-create-manage/datasets-flows.md)
* Working with [guided redaction](/textual/guided-redaction/guided-redaction-about.md)
* Working with [custom entity types](/textual/dataset-configure-redaction/dataset-custom-entity-types.md)

<figure><img src="/files/KsjxWQ4wnQ0jrUQSYVux" alt=""><figcaption><p>Getting started section on the Home page</p></figcaption></figure>

To view the available options for a panel, hover the mouse over it. Hover over an option to display a tooltip to identify the action that  the option performs.

<figure><img src="/files/K1DhsJMRVLf2lT8WL7TQ" alt=""><figcaption><p>Hovering over a Getting Started panel to display the available options</p></figcaption></figure>

### Word count limit  <a href="#free-trial-word-count" id="free-trial-word-count"></a>

During the free trial Textual scans up to 100,000 words for free. Note that Textual counts actual words, not tokens. For example, "Hello, my name is John Smith." counts as six words.

After the 100,000 words, Textual disables scanning for your account. Until you purchase a pay-as-you-go subscription, you cannot add files to a dataset.

### Viewing your current usage <a href="#free-trial-usage" id="free-trial-usage"></a>

To display your current usage, in the navigation menu, click the usage icon.

<figure><img src="/files/5fNUymVzGrH1BwC6DQfO" alt=""><figcaption><p>Available usage for an account</p></figcaption></figure>

### Next steps - pay-as-you-go or product demo <a href="#free-trial-next-steps" id="free-trial-next-steps"></a>

Textual also prompts you to purchase a [pay-as-you-go subscription](/textual/textual-install-administer/textual-pay-as-you-go.md), which allows an unlimited number of words scanned for a flat rate per 1,000 words.

You can also request a Textual product demo.


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