Get started with Aiven

Aiven provides managed open source services for streaming and databases across major cloud providers.

The Aiven Platform streamlines your operations by centralizing your cloud infrastructure, security, and observability in one unified control plane. You can access the platform through the Aiven Console, Aiven API, Aiven Provider for Terraform, Aiven CLI, and Aiven Operator for Kubernetes®.

Try the Aiven Platform for free

Sign up for a free trial to explore the Aiven Platform and try Aiven's managed services.

Aiven services are also available on the AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud marketplaces.

Sign up for free

Marketplace signup

First steps

Set up your organization and create your first service.

Step 1: Set up billing

Billing overview

Learn how billing and payments work.

Create a payment method

Add a credit card to pay for your Aiven services.

Configure your billing group

Add your payment method and other details to the default billing group.

Step 2: Set up your organization

Organizations overview

Learn about organizing your resources with organizations, units, and projects.

Optional: Create organizational units

Use units to group your Aiven projects.

Create projects

Create projects in your organization or units to hold your Aiven services.

Organization setup with Terraform

Follow an example to set up your organization using the Aiven Provider for Terraform.

Step 3: Manage organization users

Start collaborating by adding users to your organization, creating groups, and assigning them to projects. You can add users manually to your organization or create managed users through your identity provider (IdP).

Add users to your organization

Add users manually

Invite users to your organization

Email your team invites to join your organization on Aiven.

Create managed users

Make your organization users managed users by verifying a domain and configuring an identity provider.

Aiven also supports automatic user provisioning with Okta through System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM).

Managed users

Understand the benefits of managed users.

Add a domain

Add a verified domain to your organization using a DNS TXT record or HTML file.

Add an identity provider

Let your users access Aiven through your preferred IdP.

Set up user groups

Add users to groups to streamline access management to your Aiven projects and services.

Create groups

Create and add users to groups.

Give groups access to projects

Grant roles and permissions to a group of users to access a project and its services.

Create and assign groups with Terraform

Follow an example to create a user group and give it access to a project.

Step 4: Secure your organization

Configure an authentication policy

Determine how your organization users log in and use tokens.

Permissions and roles

Learn how access is controlled at the organization, project, and service level.

Manage organization admin

Control who can manage the organization, its billing, and all projects.

Application users

Learn how application users provide more secure programmatic access to the Aiven Platform.

Create application users

Use application users to access the Aiven API, Terraform Provider, CLI, and Kubernetes Operator.

Create a virtual private cloud

Connect private networks with each other without going through the public internet.

Step 5: Create your first service

Start deploying services in your project to stream, store, or analyze your data.

Create a service in the Aiven Console

View all services

Choose a service to learn more about it.

Create a service using the dev tools

The get started guide for each service includes examples for creating a service using the Aiven Provider for Terraform.

You can try out more service and integration examples using code samples for the Aiven Terraform Provider or Aiven Operator for Kubernetes®.

Aiven Provider for Terraform examples

Aiven Operator for Kubernetes® examples

Create a service using the Aiven CLI or API.

Aiven CLI

Aiven API

Create and manage services using AI assistants.

Aiven MCP

Create and manage services using AI assistants like Claude and Cursor.

Step 6: Earn credits by referring others to Aiven

Invite colleagues and friends to sign up to Aiven. Both of you earn credits when they sign up and start using services.

Next steps

Explore Aiven Console

Read about cloud security

Integrate your services