Forest referral code — £10 ride bonus each side
Transport, Ride-Hail & Shared Mobility · UK 2026
Did this code work?
Editorially verified 27 May 2026. Terms and bonus amounts are set by Forest and may change.
Join Forest e-bikes through this referral link or use code iCJtXwST and both you and the referrer earn £10 of free riding time (roughly 30 minutes at Forest's 29p-per-minute pay-as-you-go rate) once you take your first ride. The credit lands in the app's My credits balance and is applied automatically to your next rides, but only the riding time is covered — the £1 unlock fee and any daily service fee still apply. Forest's bonus minutes expire 7 days after they're credited.
Use Forest referral code iCJtXwST (or this link) for £10 of free riding time on Forest's London shared e-bikes — both you and the referrer receive the credit after the new rider's first ride. Forest is London's largest dockless shared e-bike operator with around 20,000 bikes across more than 18 boroughs, B Corp certified and Verra-validated for CO2 offsets. Credit expires 7 days after issue; the £1 unlock fee and any daily service fee are not covered. The code must be entered during sign-up.
How the Forest referral code works
- Tap 'Join Forest' below — the iCJtXwST referral code is applied automatically to the link
- Download the Forest app (iOS or Android) and sign up. Enter code iCJtXwST during registration — it cannot be added later
- Find a Forest bike on the in-app map and unlock it for £1 to take your first ride
- After your first ride completes, both you and the referrer receive £10 of free riding time in Account → My credits
- The credit auto-applies to your next ride(s). Use it within 7 days — referral credits expire after that. Unlock and daily service fees still apply on credit-covered rides
Who's eligible
UK riders in London, aged 18+, with no prior Forest account. The referral code must be entered during sign-up in the Forest app — it cannot be applied retroactively to an existing account, and the £10 credit is only useful in Forest's operating area (currently more than 18 London boroughs).
About Forest
Forest is the trading name of Human Forest Limited, a London-based shared e-bike operator and the largest dockless e-bike fleet in the capital. It was founded in 2019 by Agustin Guilisasti (CEO, previously a founding-team member at Cabify), Ignacio Gutiérrez, Caroline Seton and Michael Stewart. A test fleet of 200 bikes launched in Islington in 2020; after a brake-related injury the service was paused, bikes recalled and re-engineered, and the service relaunched in 2021. The brand was renamed from HumanForest to Forest in August 2023 alongside an upgraded e-bike with air tyres.
Forest is B Corp certified (re-certified 2024) and the only micromobility company globally with Verra validation for its CO2-offset programme. All bikes and service vehicles run on certified renewable energy. The economic model is partly ad-supported — riders watch one short advert before and one after each ride, which subsidises the free riding allowance Forest gives every customer.
As of December 2025, Forest operates around 20,000 e-bikes across more than 18 London boroughs, including Hounslow and Richmond, which Forest won from Lime in borough tenders in 2024 and 2025 respectively. Forest does not operate outside London. A Paris launch was announced for late 2025 but is outside the scope of UK directory listings.
What you get with the referral
Forest's refer-a-friend programme is two-sided. When a new rider signs up with a referral code and takes their first ride, both the new rider and the referrer receive £10 of free riding time — the help-centre wording is verbatim "£10 worth of free riding time". At Forest's standard Pay-As-You-Go rate of 29p per minute, £10 buys approximately 34 minutes of riding — the in-app marketing copy rounds this down to "30 minutes" for clarity.
The credit lands in the Forest app's Account → My credits screen and is applied automatically to your next rides. There is no separate voucher code to enter and no need to top up a wallet. It is best described as an in-app riding-time balance that the app draws down as you ride.
Two important caveats apply, both quoted directly from the Forest help centre:
- The £1 unlock fee and any daily service fee are not covered by the free minutes. Verbatim: "While the free minutes cover the cost of riding, any unlock/daily service fees are not covered by the free minutes." You will pay the £1 unlock on each credit-covered ride.
- The credit is valid for only 7 days. Verbatim: "Referral credits are only valid for 7 days." Use it on your next two or three rides — or it lapses.
What counts as a qualifying first trip
The Forest help centre defines the trigger as "signs up and takes their first ride using your referral code". There is no published minimum ride duration, no minimum spend threshold, and no requirement that the ride finishes inside any specific window. In practice, a single unlock-and-ride is enough to release the £10 bonus to both sides.
Two operational requirements matter:
- The referral code must be entered during sign-up registration. Forest is explicit: "This code must be entered during the registration process, and cannot be used as a voucher code post-account creation." If you create the account without the code, the bonus is forfeited — Forest will not retroactively attach the referral.
- The friend's first ride must happen on a real Forest bike in London. The bonus releases on the first completed unlock; it does not release at sign-up alone. Without a Forest bike to unlock, the referral never triggers.
Where Forest operates
Forest is London-only as of May 2026. Dockless e-bike operators in London are licensed borough-by-borough, not centrally by Transport for London — TfL only runs the docked Santander Cycles scheme. That means Forest's coverage map is a patchwork shaped by individual borough tenders.
| Borough type | Status |
|---|---|
| Inner London boroughs (Islington, Camden, Hackney, Westminster, Lambeth, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, etc.) | Forest active across the inner core. Hackney specifically expanded in 2024-25. |
| Outer London boroughs (Hounslow, Richmond upon Thames, Kingston, Sutton, etc.) | Forest active in Hounslow (won tender from Lime, 2024) and Richmond (won tender from Lime, early 2025). Other outer boroughs vary. |
| Total coverage | More than 18 London boroughs (Wikipedia, December 2025) |
| Cities outside London | None in the UK. Paris launch announced for late 2025. |
If you live outside London or the M25 and rarely visit, the referral credit will likely expire unused inside its 7-day window. Riders without regular London access should treat this referral as a "next time I am in London" offer rather than an everyday discount.
Pricing without the referral
Forest restructured its pricing on 7 November 2025, retiring the flat "10 minutes free daily" claim that had been the subject of an open Advertising Standards Authority investigation. The current published structure:
| Component | Price |
|---|---|
| Unlock fee (Pay-As-You-Go) | £1.00 per ride |
| Free ride minutes per bike | 0 / 5 / 10 / 30 minutes — tier assigned dynamically by the app based on whether the bike sits in an over-supplied bay or has been idle a long time |
| £1-for-30-minutes bikes | More than 1,000 bikes daily are flagged in the app as "unlock for £1, get 30 free minutes" (must finish within 90 minutes of unlock) |
| Per-minute rate after the free period | 29p / minute |
| Bundles and subscription | Forest sells pre-paid minute bundles and a monthly subscription that removes the unlock fee on £1-marked bikes. Exact pricing varies by in-app campaign. |
The "30 mins for £1" headline on the in-app referral screen refers to Forest's standard £1-for-30-minutes Pay-As-You-Go promotion — not the referral. The two offers can be combined.
Forest vs Lime vs Voi
The three dockless e-bike operators most UK riders compare:
| Forest | Lime | Voi | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating in London | Yes — 18+ boroughs | Yes — most boroughs | Limited London presence; stronger in regional UK e-scooter trials |
| Unlock fee | £1 PAYG | Around £1 | Variable by city scheme |
| Per-minute rate | 29p after free period | Around 31p in London (raised from 29p in November 2025) | Varies |
| Free riding allowance | Tier-based per bike (0 / 5 / 10 / 30 mins); plus referral credit | None standard; promo codes occasionally | None standard |
| B Corp certified | Yes | No | No |
| CO2-offset validation | Verra | None | None |
| Referral programme | £10 each side, 7-day expiry, London-only | £4 each side, 60-day expiry, multiple UK cities | Varies by city |
Forest's selling points are price (often the cheapest per minute for short rides if you hunt free-minute bikes) and sustainability credentials. Lime tends to have higher bike density in central London and broader UK coverage. Voi is more relevant for non-London UK riders, especially e-scooter trial cities, and is not directly comparable for London e-bikes.
Honest framing on the "10 minutes free" claim
Until November 2025, Forest's bikes carried a "first 10 mins free" message. In late 2024, the Advertising Standards Authority opened a formal investigation into whether that claim was misleading, because every Pay-As-You-Go ride still attracted the £1 unlock and any daily service fee. The November 2025 tier-pricing restructure replaced the unconditional "10 minutes free daily" claim with the tier-based scheme, where free-minute allocations vary per bike. As of May 2026, no ASA ruling has been published.
For honesty, this page does not parrot the old "10 minutes free daily" claim. The current programme is: variable free minutes assigned to bikes in the app, plus the £10 referral credit described above.
Source documentation
This page summarises the current Forest refer-a-friend programme as published in the Forest Help Centre, article 110 — "Refer a Friend eBike Programme" (help.forest.me/en/articles/110-refer-a-friend-ebike-programme, last updated 9 July 2025). Pricing figures are taken from Forest's published help-centre Pricing & Fees category, Cycle Saver's Forest profile and BikeRadar's November 2025 tier-pricing reporting. Fleet size, borough count and corporate background are sourced from the Forest blog (London Action Plan 2025), Time Out London (January 2025), Wikipedia's Forest article and Forest's own press history. Programme terms are set by Forest and may change without notice — HonestCodes re-verifies every brand page monthly and the date at the top of this page reflects the last full check.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Forest £10 free riding referral still active in 2026?
Confirmed — as of the verification date shown above. Both sides receive £10 of free riding time (about 30 minutes at Forest's 29p-per-minute pay-as-you-go rate, which Forest's in-app marketing rounds down to "30 mins") once the new rider takes their first ride. The terms sit in the Forest Help Centre, article 110 — "Refer a Friend eBike Programme", last updated 9 July 2025. HonestCodes re-verifies monthly.
Is the in-app "30 mins for £1" the same as the referral?
No — these are separate offers. The "30 mins for £1" is Forest's standard Pay-As-You-Go promotion on selected bikes (more than 1,000 each day are flagged in the app as £1 unlock + 30 free minutes, to be used within 90 minutes). The referral gives both sides £10 of free riding time after the new rider's first trip, credited as in-app credit valid for 7 days. They can be combined — a new rider can use the £1-for-30-mins offer on their first qualifying trip and then receive the £10 referral credit afterwards.
Where do my free minutes from the referral go?
Straight into the My credits screen in the Forest app (Menu → Account → My credits). The credit applies automatically to your next ride or rides — there is no separate voucher code to enter. The £10 is denominated as a balance, so it draws down at Forest's 29p Pay-As-You-Go per-minute rate.
Does the referral waive the £1 unlock fee?
No. Per the Forest Help Centre: "While the free minutes cover the cost of riding, any unlock/daily service fees are not covered by the free minutes." You will pay the standard £1 unlock fee on each ride even when drawing down the £10 credit.
How long do I have to use the referral credit?
Seven days from when the credit lands. Forest's help centre is explicit: "Referral credits are only valid for 7 days." Plan to take your next ride or two within the week, or the credit lapses.
Can I use the Forest referral if I live outside London?
The code itself can be entered by anyone, but Forest only operates in London (across more than 18 boroughs as of December 2025). If you do not have access to a London Forest bike within the 7-day credit window, the £10 will expire unused. A Paris launch was announced for late 2025 but is outside the UK directory's scope.
What does Forest's Pay-As-You-Go cost without the referral?
£1 unlock fee per ride, then up to 30 free minutes on bikes the app marks with the £1-for-30-mins tier (must be finished within 90 minutes of unlocking), or 29p per minute after the free period on other bikes. Forest also sells minute bundles and a monthly subscription that removes the unlock fee on £1-marked bikes — pricing varies by in-app offer.
Is Forest a safer bet than Lime?
Forest and Lime both run regulated dockless e-bike fleets in London under borough-by-borough agreements (no central TfL licensing exists for dockless rental bikes). Forest is B Corp certified and the only micromobility operator globally with Verra validation for its CO2-offset programme. Forest currently undercuts Lime on Pay-As-You-Go per-minute rates and is the sole operator in Hounslow and Richmond after winning those borough tenders in 2024-25. Pick by whichever fleet density is higher in the area you ride most often.
Who runs Forest?
Forest is the trading name of Human Forest Limited, founded in 2019. The company first launched bikes in Islington in 2020, paused after an injury-related recall, then relaunched in 2021 and rebranded from HumanForest to Forest in August 2023. It has raised over £17m in Series A funding and operates with B Corp certification.
Disclosure
The link above is a Forest referral. Using it costs you nothing and may unlock a sign-up bonus. How HonestCodes is funded.
