---
id: platform/hosted-setup
title: Hosted setup
description: Create or join a hosted Bex workspace, complete verification and payment readiness, then deploy your first web service.
keywords: [bex, hosted, onboarding, signup, invitation, workspace, first deploy]
last_updated: 2026-09-23
---

Use this guide when you will run applications on **hosted Bex**
([dashboard.bex.co](https://dashboard.bex.co)). It gets you into the right
workspace and through the readiness steps that hosted Bex requires before a
create is allowed. It does not replace the [local operator quickstart](./quickstart.md),
which runs the operator on your machine and does not install the hosted
dashboard.

Self-hosted installations use their own dashboard URL and can set different
verification and payment gates. Treat the steps below as the hosted bex.co
path, and confirm what your installation's login and billing screens actually
require.

## Before you begin

You need an email address you can verify. If a teammate invited you, use **that
same address**. Hosted Bex is a paid service: a bound payment method is required
before you can create resources, including on a free instance plan. If you will
not bind a card, [self-host Bex](https://github.com/bex-co/bex) instead.

Do not expect a marketing "starter" link to survive registration. Sign-up
lands you in the hosted onboarding flow; after readiness, create the service
from the workspace that should own it.

## New account, personal workspace

1. Open [Create an account](https://dashboard.bex.co/auth/sign-up) or
   [Sign in](https://dashboard.bex.co/auth/login) if you already have one.
2. Complete the identity service's sign-up form (password and any social
   provider your installation shows). A successful registration mints a
   session immediately.
3. Verify your email **while signed in**. Enter the code from the courier
   email. The verification page can resend the code. A later sign-in from an
   unverified account is refused until that address is verified.
4. If hosted billing still requires a payment method for this workspace, the
   dashboard sends a billing manager to **Add a payment method**
   (`/setup/payment`). Bind a card there, or leave through **Self-host bex
   instead** if you will run the platform yourself. Cancelled checkout and
   `PAYMENT_REQUIRED` recovery are in [Billing setup](./billing-setup.md).
5. Select the personal workspace that was created for your account. Then
   follow [Web services](./web-services.md) to create the first HTTP service
   in that workspace.

If a step asks for a billing manager and you cannot manage billing, ask an
admin of that workspace. Members without billing permission are not sent to
the payment wall; creates they attempt are refused until someone who can
manage billing binds a method.

## Invited to an existing workspace

1. Open the invitation from the workspace admin. Pending invitations are
   reviewed **after** you authenticate and verify email, and **before**
   personal-workspace payment setup.
2. Sign in or register with the **matching email**. Invitation email-match
   redemption is refused for unverified addresses.
3. On the invitation screen, join or open the membership you were offered,
   then **select that workspace** in the dashboard. Choosing **Not now**
   resumes ordinary onboarding in your current (usually personal) workspace.
4. Payment readiness is per workspace. Joining a workspace that already has a
   bound method does not require you to bind a card on your personal
   workspace first. If that workspace still requires a method, only a member
   who can manage billing can complete [Billing setup](./billing-setup.md).
5. Confirm the workspace name and your [role](./members.md), then create the
   service with [Web services](./web-services.md).

Your sign-in method does not choose your role. An admin invitation does.
Hobby workspaces are single-member; a personal workspace is not a substitute
for an invitation into a teammate's project.

## What this guide does not change

- The [Quickstart](./quickstart.md) remains the local operator path.
- SSO and social login behavior is in [SSO](./sso.md).
- Roles, seats, and invitation API details are in
  [Workspaces, members, & roles](./members.md).
- Account deletion is covered in [Delete your account](./account-deletion.md).
- Pricing numbers, credits, and exemptions are not documented here; hosted
  Bex does not treat a free instance plan as a billing exemption.