Startup credits and grants: eligibility & application checklist

Startup credits and grants: eligibility & application checklistCredits offset eligible bills. They are not cash, guaranteed awards, or amounts you can simply add together.

AWS Activate Founders

$1,000 initially; selected startups may qualify for up to $5,000 over time.

Self-funded, new to Activate Credits, functioning company website, founded within 10 years.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Prepare your company website and business details.
Check whether you have received Activate credits before.
Review credit expiration in AWS Billing.

Credits apply to eligible services, not all AWS charges. Approval is not automatic.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

AWS Activate Portfolio

Provider-backed credits, with a dated AWS guide advertising up to $200,000.

Activate Provider affiliation and Org ID, pre-Series B, founded within 10 years. Previous equal or larger awards can prevent another award.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Ask your provider for its Org ID and package amount.
Prepare funding date and previous-credit history.
Confirm the award available for your provider.

Official AWS pages differ: some still advertise $100,000. Prior awards reduce incremental credits; tiers are not additive.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Google Cloud Start

Up to $2,000 in Google Cloud credits, valid for one year.

MVP-stage technology startup founded within 24 months, planning to seek venture funding, no previous Google Cloud credits beyond the trial.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Prepare your working MVP, website and business model.
Check prior Google Cloud credits.
Confirm founding date.

Admission is reviewed. The one-year award is not cash.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Google Cloud Scale

Up to $200,000 over two years: year one covers 100% of eligible usage up to $100,000; year two covers 20% up to $100,000.

Qualifying VC funding, company founded within five years, no more than $5,000 in prior Google Cloud credits. Funding recency conditions apply.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Prepare funding verification and company founding date.
Check prior credits and round recency.
Budget for the year-two usage you pay yourself.

Year two is a partial subsidy, not $100,000 of unrestricted free usage. Confirm eligible charges.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Google Cloud AI Scale

Up to $350,000 over two years: year one up to $250,000 at 100% coverage; year two up to $100,000 at 20% coverage.

Scale eligibility plus using, or planning to use, Gemini as a foundation of the primary product or solution.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Document how Gemini underpins your primary product.
Prepare qualifying funding verification.
Check model and service exclusions.

Enhanced Scale benefits replace the ordinary Scale package; do not add them together. Third-party models are not covered.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Microsoft for Startups

Azure credit milestones range from $200 to $150,000, with verification and sustained usage requirements.

Initial identity verification, registered business verification for later benefits, and workload adoption requirements for larger limits.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Complete identity and registered-entity verification.
Review the milestone and time limits before using credits.
Ask an affiliated investor about its referral route.

$150,000 is not an instant signup award. The published top milestone requires 10 or more workloads and about $3,000 monthly usage sustained for 60 days. Milestones are not additive.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Cloudflare for Startups

Public tiers advertise $10,000 bootstrapped, $100,000 partner-funded, or $350,000 for qualifying larger partner-funded startups.

Bootstrapped tier under $1 million raised. Larger tiers depend on funding bands and an affiliated partner.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Prepare funding totals and company details.
Confirm partner affiliation for larger tiers.
Check product sublimits against your workload.

Credits expire after one year or when exhausted. Workers AI and R2 have separate sublimits. Tiers are alternatives.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

OpenAI startup partner benefits

Additional API credits and support through eligible VC partners; no public award amount confirmed.

Ask your investor whether it participates in the OpenAI partner program and how to access benefits.

Availability: partner_access

Before you apply

Ask your investor about partner participation.
Request redemption conditions and expiration.
Confirm prior-customer restrictions.

A startup-community signup is not a credit award. The VC partnership application is for firms, not founder applications.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Claude Startups

Current cohort is full. The page lists partner benefits worth up to $45,000, not a $45,000 Claude API award.

New applications are currently closed. No reopening date confirmed.

Availability: closed

Before you apply

Check the official page for a reopened cohort.
Do not budget on an unapproved award.

Older program terms do not establish current availability. No direct API-credit amount confirmed in this review.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Together AI Startup Accelerator

Conditional tiers advertise up to $15,000, $30,000 or $50,000 depending on funding.

Selection-based program for AI-native startups. Funding bands determine the tier; no universal partner referral requirement established.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Prepare your AI product description and funding total.
Check the exact funding-band boundary with Together.
Confirm award expiration.

Reserved GPU Clusters are excluded. Maximums are not guaranteed awards. The $5 million boundary overlaps in public wording.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Modal for Startups

Thousands of GPU credits plus engineering support; precise award amount not publicly confirmed.

New Modal customers meeting the published venture-funding routes. Seed to Series A route includes partner-network funding or over $1 million from another fund.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Check new-customer status.
Prepare funding and investor details.
Confirm your route, expiration and amount with Modal.

One-time award per tier. Ordinary free-compute allowances are separate from startup awards.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Fireworks for Startups

Startup support and Build Credits were announced; exact current award and application availability need confirmation.

Detailed current funding, age and prior-spend requirements were not publicly established.

Availability: contact_to_confirm

Before you apply

Contact the program to confirm it is accepting applications.
Request written amount, eligibility and expiration terms.

A dated launch announcement is not proof of an open award today.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

NVIDIA Inception

Free membership with technical support and conditional partner offers. No fixed credit award confirmed.

Incorporated, under 10 years old, functioning website, actively operated by at least one founder and a clear NVIDIA technology use case. Excluded business types apply.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Prepare company and developer information.
Describe your NVIDIA technology use case.
Check excluded business categories.

Membership does not guarantee GPU hardware or cash. Individual partner offers have separate conditions.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Supabase Free plan

Public $0 per month backend plan, not a verified startup-credit award.

Public free plan; no funding requirement stated.

Availability: free_plan

Before you apply

Review database, storage and usage limits.
Plan for project pausing and paid usage before production.

Two active projects; free projects pause after a week of inactivity. No current startup credit amount confirmed.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Emergent Ventures

Selective project grants. No fixed public award amount confirmed.

Applicants age 13 or older worldwide, with ambitious projects. Profit-making projects can apply.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Write your application yourself.
Describe the project and its possible impact.
Choose one point of contact for a team.

The official form rejects AI-written applications; proofreading is permitted. Confirm award agreement terms. No deadline established in this review.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

1517 Medici Project

Minimum $1,000 stipend with no project, IP or future equity ownership.

High-school students, college students and dropouts pursuing independent projects. Teams must be in North America. Projects cannot be for grades or admissions.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Prepare the requested five-minute Loom about your project.
Follow the application instructions on the official page.
Confirm North America eligibility.

Minimum stipend is not a universal maximum. Do not confuse the project grant with other 1517 investments.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Thiel Fellowship

$250,000 over two years. The official FAQ says no company equity is taken.

Age 22 or younger, no undergraduate or graduate university degree, meaningful progress on a concrete vision. Must leave school to accept if enrolled.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Confirm age and degree requirements.
Show meaningful progress on your work.
Consider the requirement to leave school before accepting.

Highly selective fellowship, not an automatic grant or an SF relocation requirement. Applications accepted year-round.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Vercel for Startups

Up to $30,000 in platform credits for 12 months, usable on compute, seats, bandwidth, AI Gateway and v0.

Pre-seed to Series A, applying within 12 months of your latest round, no prior Vercel startup credits.

Availability: partner_access

Before you apply

Company email on your domain
Live website
Proof of partner VC or accelerator

A card is required before credits activate. Credits do not apply to past invoices.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Lovable for Startups

10,000 build credits for the first year, then 50% off up to 20,000 credits in year two.

Early-stage startups shipping a product, through a participating accelerator or fund.

Availability: partner_access

Before you apply

Portfolio affiliation with a partner accelerator or fund

Distributed through partner portals (YC, Antler, Plug and Play, 500 Global reported). Confirm with your accelerator.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Replit for Startups

Up to $25,000 in Replit credits on the Select Partners track, or 1 year of Replit Pro on the Partner Network track.

Startups backed by an approved VC, accelerator or incubator.

Availability: partner_access

Before you apply

Work email on company domain
Portfolio proof

Partner credits expire in 6 to 12 months depending on the partner.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

PostHog for Startups

$50,000 in PostHog credits for 12 months, plus partner perks.

Company under 2 years old, under $5M raised, company email domain.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Free PostHog account
Usage-based billing on (a $0 cap is fine)
Startup form

Since Sept 14, 2026 credits exclude token-based add-ons like PostHog AI.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Sentry for Startups

Up to $5,000 in error monitoring and tracing credits for 12 months.

Founded within 2 years, under $5M raised, new paying customer.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Free Sentry organization
Organization slug and company URL

Accelerator-specific Sentry deals do not stack with this one.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Datadog for Startups

Up to $100,000 in Datadog credits for 12 months across APM, logs, metrics and RUM.

Series A or earlier, founded within 5 years, under 200 staff, backed by a partner VC or incubator.

Availability: partner_access

Before you apply

Partner VC intro or accelerator code

New accounts only.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Mixpanel for Startups

1 year free on the Startup plan, up to 1 billion events.

Incorporated under 5 years ago, no more than $8M raised, new to Mixpanel paid plans.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Company email
Product link

Billing starts at month 13 if you stay above free limits.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

GitHub for Startups

$10,000 in GitHub credits for up to 12 months across Enterprise, Copilot, Actions and Advanced Security.

Series B or earlier, not on GitHub Enterprise in the past 6 months.

Availability: partner_access

Before you apply

Referral link from a partner VC or accelerator

GitHub Enterprise Cloud only, not self-hosted Server.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Retool for Startups

100% off Team or Business for 1 year (up to $60,000), then 25% off in year two.

Bootstrapped through Series A, under 10 years old, under $10M raised.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Free Retool org
Monthly Team or Business plan selected (card on file)
Startup form

Monthly plans only, not annual or Enterprise.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Linear for Startups

Up to 6 months free on the Business plan.

Under 50 employees, unpaid workspace, backed by a partner VC or accelerator.

Availability: partner_access

Before you apply

Workspace admin account
Partner code

Existing paid workspaces are not eligible.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Notion for Startups

Up to 6 months free on the Business plan with Notion AI.

Under 100 employees, new paid customer.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Company email
Workspace created

6 months with a partner code, 3 months applying directly. Does not stack with other promos.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

ElevenLabs Startup Grants

33 million characters (about 680 hours of conversational audio) for 12 months.

Under 25 employees, building a product. Agencies excluded.

Availability: open

Before you apply

ElevenLabs account with business email
Product description

Account drops to the free tier after 12 months or when characters run out.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Deepgram Startup Program

Up to $100,000 in speech-to-text and voice API credits for 12 months.

Early-stage startups building voice or transcription into the product.

Availability: contact_to_confirm

Before you apply

Company website
Short technical outline

Larger amounts go through a review with Deepgram. Confirm current tiers on the page.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Pinecone for Startups

Standard plan access plus Pro Support and usage credits.

Series A or earlier, under 100 employees.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Account on app.pinecone.io
Company stage and cloud provider

Does not combine with the standard trial credits.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

MongoDB for Startups

Tiered Atlas credits, Voyage AI tokens and developer support.

Under 7 years old, Series A or earlier, one software-based product or service. Agencies excluded.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Activate the code within 12 months

MongoDB does not publish dollar amounts per tier.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

DigitalOcean Startups

12 months of infrastructure credits (up to $10,000 of usage per month) plus support.

Under $10M raised, company email, referred by a partner.

Availability: partner_access

Before you apply

DigitalOcean team account with a card

Replaced the open Hatch program. GPU droplets need separate approval.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Stripe Atlas

$2,500 in Stripe fee credits for year one, plus partner perks, when you incorporate.

Founders incorporating a Delaware C-Corp or LLC through Atlas ($500 fee).

Availability: open

Before you apply

Founder names
Equity split
Address

Credits offset processing fees and expire one year after incorporation. Not tax or legal advice.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

HubSpot for Startups

Up to 90% off Pro and Enterprise in year one, 50% in year two, 25% in year three.

Pre-seed to Series A, through HubSpot or a partner.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Company email
Funding stage

Discount level depends on how you qualify. Confirm on the page.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Aiven for Startups

$12,000 to $100,000 in Aiven credits over 12 months, plus technical guidance.

Early-stage startups; the credit tier depends on growth stage and funding.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Company website
Funding stage

Tier and amount are set by Aiven after review.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

TiDB Cloud Startup Program

Up to $100,000 in TiDB Cloud credits.

Qualified startups, reviewed by PingCAP.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Company website
Product description

"Up to" amount; most approvals are likely smaller.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Amplitude for Startups

12 months of the Growth plan free (Amplitude values it at $60,000), then a standing startup discount.

Early-stage startups; check funding limits on the page.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Company email
Funding details

Amplitude sends a usage-based quote for year two 60 days before the free year ends.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Algolia Startup Program

$10,000 in Algolia credit to use within 12 months.

Under seven years old and less than $15M raised.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Company age
Total funding raised

Credit expires 12 months after approval.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Auth0 for Startups

One year of the Auth0 B2B Professional plan free.

Early-stage companies; the page references limits around $5M funding and $1M ARR.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Funding raised
Annual revenue

Confirm current eligibility limits on the page before applying.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Atlassian for Startups

Premium edition of Atlassian Cloud products (Jira, Confluence and more) free for 12 months, up to 50 users.

Startups reviewed by Atlassian; the page references a $10M external funding limit.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Funding details
Team size

Jira Product Discovery is limited to 3 free creator users.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Intercom Early Stage

Discounted Intercom: Helpdesk from $65/month, 300 free Fin outcomes and 15 free sales qualifications per month.

Startups with up to $10M in funding.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Funding details

This is a discount, not free. Pricing steps up year over year.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

JetBrains Startup Program

50% off JetBrains IDEs, team tools and JetBrains AI, up to 10 subscriptions each.

Eligible new businesses, reviewed by JetBrains.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Company registration details

Discount, not free. Seat caps apply per product type.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Neon and Databricks Startup Program

Up to $1,000 in Neon credits if you raised under $1M; up to $200K in Neon and Databricks credits if VC-backed with $1M+.

Two tracks split at $1M in funding.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Funding amount
Investor names

The $200K figure is combined Neon and Databricks credit for the VC-backed track only.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

NSF America's Seed Fund (SBIR/STTR)

Up to $2 million in non-dilutive federal funding for deep-tech R&D.

US small businesses doing high-risk technical research; a project pitch comes first.

Availability: contact_to_confirm

Before you apply

Project pitch
US company with majority US ownership

Federal SBIR timing no longer depends on Congress reauthorizing the program. Check open solicitations before planning around it.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Render for Startups

$500 Founder credits; higher Build, Scale and AI tiers through partner accelerators or VCs.

Seed funding of at least $25K.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Have your funding details ready.
Ask your accelerator or investor if they are a Render partner.

Credits are valid for 1 year from approval.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Miro for Startups

Free Miro credits for early teams; up to 25% discount through the scale offer.

Early-stage startups; scale offer is through partner VCs.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Apply with your company details.

Credit amount is not published on the page.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Clerk for Startups

Discounted Clerk Pro features for early-stage startups.

Up to 1 year after launch with up to $5 million in venture funding.

Availability: open

Before you apply

Apply when you are ready to upgrade, since the discount period starts at approval.

Discount percent is not published on the page.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Snowflake for Startups

Free usage on your first Snowflake contract for eligible startups.

Eligible startups building on Snowflake; terms set per contract.

Availability: contact_to_confirm

Before you apply

Talk to Snowflake sales about first-contract terms.

Amount of free usage is not published.

Official program

Source checked 2026-11-04

Grants and funding guide