Launch & Directories
Startup Credits for Cloud and AI in 2026: Who Actually Qualifies
AWS Activate, Google Cloud, Microsoft and 26 more startup credit programs, sorted by what it takes to qualify: open, gated on funding, or referral-only.
The largest startup credit programs this year top out at $350,000 — Google Cloud's AI Startup Program, spread over two years, and Cloudflare for Startups — with AWS Activate at up to $200,000 and Microsoft for Startups at up to $150,000 in Azure credits. Those are ceilings: AWS's larger tiers need an accelerator or VC behind you, and Google's $250,000 first year is for AI-first startups in its scale tier. Below, every offer in our startup programs list — cloud, AI APIs, databases, dev tools — is sorted by what it actually takes to get: nothing, a funding or age bracket, or an investor or accelerator behind you.
How to read "up to"
Most "up to" figures here are the top of a tiered program, and your funding, stage or application route decides the tier. Render is the clearest case: $10,000 if you have raised under $1M, $25,000 at $1M or more, $100,000 in its Scale tier from $2.5M. Together AI's up to $50,000 is tiered by funding too; its Build tier is up to $15,000 plus three hours of engineering.
Three more things shrink a headline:
- Scope. Microsoft's credits cover eligible Azure services only; Claude for Startups covers the first-party Claude API, not Bedrock or Vertex; Baseten's up to $25,000 is for dedicated deployments and training, with up to $2,500 for Model APIs.
- Bundling and commitments. Neon's up to $200,000 is combined with Databricks. RunPod's $25,000 is a bonus on a $50,000 commitment, and Vercel's up to $30,000 is a "flexible commitment" — find out what that means for your bill first.
- Expiry. Most credits last 12 months; MongoDB gives 12 to activate and 12 to spend. What counts is what you can burn inside the window.
No application: sign-up credits
Four offers need no startup status at all. They are welcome credits and free tiers that come with the account:
- Google Cloud Free Program — $300 welcome credit, consumed within 90 days; the Always Free tier continues after. Card required.
- Oracle Cloud Free Tier — $300 credit plus Always Free resources. The credit is valid 30 days, one account per person. Card required.
- E2B — $100 one-time usage credits on the free Hobby tier, up to 20 concurrent sandboxes of an hour each. No card.
- Railway — $5 trial credit that expires in 30 days, plus $1 a month of usage on the free plan. No card.
Model APIs with free tiers and no application are in the AI APIs section; the ones that reset or never expire are compared in free AI API tiers that last.
Open to most startups
Light gates only: a self-funded tier, a region, or being a new customer.
Neon Startup Program
The Neon Startup Program has a self-funded tier worth up to $1,000, so you do not need investors to get in. The headline up to $200,000 is combined with Databricks; check the page for what unlocks the upper range. Valid 12 months.
fal Startup Program
The fal Startup Program starts you at $1,000 and grows the grant with your monthly usage; the thresholds are not published. It is listed for startups in the EU and Asia. One-time grant.
LangSmith for Startups
LangSmith for Startups gives $10,000 in credits, valid a year — two years if you are in YC. It is for first-time customers only, so apply before you start paying. See LangChain in the catalog.
Gated on funding, age or size
These programs cap how much you have raised, how old you are or how many people you employ — or scale the credit with what you have raised.
Google Cloud AI Startup Program
The Google Cloud AI Startup Program offers up to $350,000 over two years, with year one up to $250,000 for AI-first startups in the scale tier. Check the page for what counts as scale tier. No card required.
PostHog Startup Program
The PostHog Startup Program gives $50,000 in credits to companies that have raised under $5M and are under two years old. Valid 12 months.
Sentry for Startups
Sentry for Startups uses the same gate — founded in the last two years, raised under $5M — for $5,000 in credits that expire in 12 months. Catalog entry: Sentry.
Render Startup Program
The Render Startup Program goes up to $100,000, in the three funding tiers above. Duration varies.
Together AI Startup Accelerator
The Together AI Startup Accelerator gives up to $50,000 in inference credits, tiered by funding raised. One-time.
Modal for Startups
Modal for Startups is a tiered one-time credit grant; Tier 1 covers Seed to Series A, and you cannot reapply within a tier. Card required; duration varies.
RunPod Startup Program
The RunPod Startup Program offers $1,000 in starter credits, or a $25,000 bonus on a $50,000 commitment. The Starter tier is for pre-Series A companies; the Growth tier covers Seed through Series B and beyond. One-time.
Pinecone for Startups
Pinecone for Startups gives a free Standard tier plus Pro access to companies under 100 employees at Series A or earlier. Duration varies.
Needs an investor, accelerator or partner
AWS Activate
AWS Activate goes up to $200,000 in credits for 12 months. The Founders tier starts at $1,000; the larger tiers need an accelerator or VC. Card required.
Linear Startup Program
The Linear Startup Program is a free Business plan, but you must be affiliated with an official Linear partner and have under 50 employees. Duration varies. See Linear.
Notion for Startups
Notion for Startups is up to $12,000 of credit. Come through a partner VC or accelerator and you get six months free; self-serve gets three.
Requirements not spelled out: check the page
The terms we verified for these carry no funding cap, age limit or referral rule. That does not mean there is none — read the page before you plan around the credit.
Microsoft for Startups
Microsoft for Startups: up to $150,000 in Azure credits, eligible services only, for 12 months.
Cloudflare for Startups
Cloudflare for Startups: up to $350,000 in credits, valid a year or until consumed. A payment method is required.
GitHub for Startups
GitHub for Startups: $10,000 in platform credits, for up to 12 months from approval. Card required.
Claude for Startups
Claude for Startups: API credits for eligible startups, first-party Claude API only; duration varies. See the Anthropic API.
NVIDIA Inception
NVIDIA Inception: cloud credits from NVIDIA and partners, with no fixed amount, plus preferred pricing and technical support. Duration varies.
MongoDB for Startups
MongoDB for Startups: Atlas credits, with 12 months to activate and 12 to spend.
Vercel for Startups
Vercel for Startups: up to $30,000 flexible commitment and Enterprise-tier access, with startup-focused eligibility. One-time. See Vercel.
Atlassian for Startups
Atlassian for Startups: 12 months at $0 for up to 50 seats of Jira, Confluence and Loom. One enrollment per startup.
DigitalOcean Hatch
DigitalOcean Hatch: credits over a 12-month program, with a $10,000 monthly credit limit; overage is billed. Card required.
ElevenLabs Startup Grants
ElevenLabs Startup Grants: $5,500 (33M characters), about 680+ hours of Agents usage over 12 months. See ElevenLabs.
Baseten AI Startup Program
Baseten AI Startup Program: up to $25,000 for dedicated deployments and training, up to $2,500 for Model APIs. One-time.
All programs at a glance
| Program | Headline credit | Key requirement | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Cloud AI Startup | Up to $350,000 | AI-first scale tier for year-one max | 2 years |
| Cloudflare | Up to $350,000 | See page; payment method | 12 months |
| AWS Activate | Up to $200,000 | Accelerator/VC above Founders tier | 12 months |
| Neon | Up to $200,000 with Databricks | Self-funded tier up to $1,000 | 12 months |
| Microsoft | Up to $150,000 | See page | 12 months |
| Render | Up to $100,000 | Tiered by funding raised | Varies |
| PostHog | $50,000 | Under $5M raised, under 2 years | 12 months |
| Together AI | Up to $50,000 | Tiered by funding raised | One-time |
| Vercel | Up to $30,000 commitment | See page | One-time |
| Baseten | Up to $25,000 | See page | One-time |
| RunPod | $1,000, or $25,000 on $50K commit | Starter: pre-Series A | One-time |
| Notion | Up to $12,000 | Partner for 6 months, 3 self-serve | 6 months |
| GitHub | $10,000 | See page; card | 12 months |
| LangSmith | $10,000 | First-time customers | 12 months |
| ElevenLabs | $5,500 | See page | 12 months |
| Sentry | $5,000 | Under 2 years, under $5M raised | 12 months |
| fal | $1,000 to start | EU/Asia startups | One-time |
| Atlassian | 12 months at $0, 50 seats | See page; one enrollment | 12 months |
| Linear | Free Business plan | Linear partner, under 50 staff | Varies |
| Pinecone | Standard + Pro access | Under 100 staff, Series A or earlier | Varies |
| Modal | Tiered one-time grant | Tier 1: Seed to Series A | Varies |
| Claude | API credits | See page | Varies |
| NVIDIA Inception | Cloud credits | See page | Varies |
| MongoDB | Atlas credits | See page | 12 + 12 months |
| DigitalOcean Hatch | $10,000/month credit limit | See page; card | 12 months |
Application order and stacking
Each program covers one part of the stack — cloud, model API, database, analytics — so you will likely want several. The limit is not the count but the clocks.
- Apply to capped programs while you still fit. PostHog and Sentry want under two years old and under $5M raised; Pinecone, Series A or earlier; RunPod's Starter tier, pre-Series A. A round can close those, while Render pays more after one — check which side of each threshold you are on.
- Ask your investor or accelerator which programs they partner with. AWS's larger tiers, Notion's six months and Linear's plan need one behind you. Go direct and you get the smaller version — or, for Linear, nothing.
- Start clocks only when you will spend. Most run 12 months, GitHub's from approval; sign-up credits last 30 days at Oracle and 90 at Google Cloud. Claim the platform you run production on first.
- Treat one-shot applications as one-shot. Modal allows no reapplying within a tier, Atlassian one enrollment per startup, LangSmith first-time customers only.
- Set budget alerts wherever a card is on file. DigitalOcean Hatch, for one, bills anything over its monthly credit limit.
FAQ
AWS Activate or Google Cloud's startup program — which is better?
The one on the cloud you will actually run; credits on a platform you do not use are worth nothing. On the numbers, AWS Activate is up to $200,000 over 12 months with a card on file, and its larger tiers need an accelerator or VC. Google's is up to $350,000 over two years with no card, and the $250,000 first year is for AI-first scale-tier startups.
Can I get startup credits without raising money?
Yes. Neon has a self-funded tier worth up to $1,000, AWS's Founders tier starts at $1,000, Notion has a three-month self-serve route, and Render's lowest tier is for companies that have raised under $1M. PostHog and Sentry cap funding at under $5M, so a bootstrapped company under two years old clears that bar.
Do startup credit programs require a credit card?
Some do: AWS Activate, Cloudflare (a payment method), GitHub, DigitalOcean Hatch and Modal, plus the Google Cloud and Oracle sign-up credits. None of the others required one when we checked.
Where can a startup get AI credits?
Google Cloud's AI Startup Program for infrastructure and Claude for Startups for the Claude API, then Together AI (up to $50,000 in inference credits), Baseten (up to $25,000), ElevenLabs ($5,500) and fal ($1,000 to start). To prototype first, the free tiers in AI APIs need no application.
Every program above, with its card requirement and the date we last checked it, is in the startup programs list. When there is a product to show, the Launch & Directories section covers where to submit it.