# Sign in with Google, Microsoft or LinkedIn

Instead of a HostTracker password, you can sign in with an existing **Google**, **Microsoft** or **LinkedIn**
account.

## Sign up or sign in with a provider

1. On the sign-in or sign-up page (or an instant-check result card, for Google), click **Google**,
   **Microsoft** or **LinkedIn**.
2. Complete that provider's sign-in flow.
3. You're returned to HostTracker, signed in, on a persistent 30-day session.

## How account linking works

HostTracker links a provider sign-in to your account **by email address**, and only when the provider
vouches for that email:

- Google's sign-in is trusted only when Google reports the email as verified; Microsoft and LinkedIn account
  emails are treated as provider-verified by default. This stops someone from claiming an email they don't
  actually control just because a provider handed it back unverified.
- **If no HostTracker account exists yet with that (verified) email**, a new account is created automatically
  and starts on the same 30-day trial every sign-up gets.
- **If a HostTracker account already exists with that email** - including one you originally created with a
  password, or with the email-only passwordless sign-up - the provider sign-in links to that **same**
  account. You don't end up with two separate accounts; future sign-ins with either the password or the
  linked provider reach the same one.
- If the provider doesn't return a usable, verified email (or you were completing a teammate invitation),
  you're routed to the sign-up page instead, with the email pre-filled where available, so you can finish
  manually.

## Related

- [Account & billing overview](/account/overview/)
- [Subaccounts & permissions](/account/subaccounts/)