27 startup programs with up to $350k in free cloud and AI credits

Short answer: the biggest programs are Google for Startups Cloud and Cloudflare for Startups, at up to $350,000 each, followed by the Databricks Startup Program (with Neon) and AWS Activate at $200,000 each. Most top amounts need funding from a partner VC or accelerator. Without investors you can still get Grafana Labs (up to $100,000), Kong (up to $100,000), a free year of Mixpanel, PostHog ($50,000), LiveKit ($23,000), Cloudflare ($10,000) and Algolia ($10,000).

My list of startup credit programs was seen more than 150,000 times on LinkedIn. The question I got most was: where do I apply? And the comments added 12 programs I had missed, several from the companies themselves. So here is the full list of 27, with links, the fine print and who actually qualifies.

I checked every program against the vendor's own page on October 6, 2026. These programs change often, so confirm the details on the vendor's page before you count on the money.

#The list

#Which ones can you get?

The big numbers are maximums, and most of them go through investors. Here is what is realistic for where you are.

Bootstrapped or not funded yet. You can still collect a good amount:

• Grafana Labs: up to $100,000, if you're not a paying Grafana Cloud customer yet
• Kong: up to $100,000 (most get $25,000 or more)
• Mixpanel: a free year, which Mixpanel values at up to $145,000
• PostHog: $50,000
• LiveKit: up to $23,000, if your product is voice or video AI
• Together AI: up to $15,000, if they pick you
• Cloudflare: $10,000 (under $1M raised)
• Algolia: $10,000
• OVHcloud: €10,000
• Sentry: $5,000
• AWS Activate Founders: $1,000 to $5,000
• Google Cloud Start: $2,000, if you have a working product and plan to raise
• Deepgram: $1,000 to start, growing with usage
• Neon (Databricks Startup Program): $1,000
• ElevenLabs: 33 million characters
• Notion: 1 to 3 free months
• Confluent: up to $20,000, a year of Confluent Cloud
• MongoDB and Pinecone: credits, amounts not published

Raised from a VC or an accelerator. On top of the list above (each with its own limit on money raised), you can get:

• Google Cloud Scale: $200,000, or $350,000 if AI is the core of your product
• Databricks and Neon: up to $200,000 with $1M+ raised or an accelerator
• OVHcloud: up to €100,000 from Series A
• Fly.io: $15,000
• Claude credits
• Modal GPU credits, with $1M+ raised

Then ask your investors which programs they are partners of. AWS Activate, Microsoft, Datadog, Vercel, GitHub, OpenAI, Modal, Notion's 6-month offer and Cloudflare's top tiers all run through partner investors and accelerators. If one of yours is a partner, ask them for the code or referral.

#Before you apply

• Apply when you're ready to build. Most credits expire after 12 months, some after 2 years, and some starter tiers after just 90 days. If you apply while you're still at the idea stage, most of the credits expire unused.
• Most programs are once only. Cloudflare, Fly.io, Datadog, GitHub and Vercel only take first-time applicants, and Google turns you down if you've already had more than $5,000 of its credits. Don't spend them on a side project.
• Use an email on your company's domain. Many programs reject Gmail and Outlook addresses and check that your email matches your website.
• Pick one main cloud. Stacking AWS, Google and Azure credits looks clever on paper, but your product will run on one of them. Use the others for experiments.

#The programs in detail

#1. Google for Startups Cloud Program

• Up to: $350,000 for AI-first startups, $200,000 for other startups from pre-seed to Series A, and $2,000 if you haven't raised yet.
• Covers: Google Cloud, including Gemini and Gemma. Third-party models and Marketplace purchases are not covered.
• How long: 2 years. Year one covers all of your spend, up to $100,000 ($250,000 for AI startups). Year two covers 20% of your spend, up to another $100,000.
• Who qualifies: Founded in the last 5 years, with equity funding from an institutional investor (a Series A must be from the last 12 months). SAFEs count; angels, friends and family, crowdfunding and grants don't. "AI-first" means AI is built into the product, not bolted on.
• How to apply: cloud.google.com/startup. You need your Google Cloud billing account ID and an email on your company's domain. No referral needed.

#2. Cloudflare for Startups

• Up to: $350,000 if you've raised $5M or more from a Cloudflare partner investor, $100,000 if you've raised less from one, and $10,000 if you're bootstrapped (under $1M raised).
• Covers: Cloudflare's developer platform: Workers, D1, KV, Queues, Durable Objects, Vectorize, Pages and more. R2 storage and Workers AI have lower caps. Core security and CDN are included for free.
• How long: 1 year.
• Who qualifies: Founded in the last 10 years, funded up to Series B, building a tech product, with a live website and an email on your own domain. First-time applicants only.
• How to apply: cloudflare.com/startups. Approval usually takes up to 48 hours.

#3. Databricks Startup Program (incl. Neon)

• Up to: $200,000 in Databricks and Neon credits if you're venture-backed, and up to $1,000 in Neon credits if you're self-funded.
• Covers: The Databricks Data and AI Platform and Neon's serverless Postgres, plus technical guidance.
• How long: 12 months.
• Who qualifies: For the big tier, venture-backed with at least $1M raised, or in a recognized accelerator such as YC. The self-funded tier is for startups under $1M raised that are building an MVP or early product. Neon's startup program is now part of this one, so it's one application for both.
• How to apply: neon.com/startups or databricks.com/product/startups.

#4. AWS Activate

• Up to: $200,000 with an Org ID from an Activate Provider (your VC, angel group or accelerator), and $1,000 to $5,000 if you're self-funded. Invite-only credits for AI startups can go higher.
• Covers: Most AWS services, including third-party models on Amazon Bedrock. Not most Marketplace purchases, upfront Savings Plan or Reserved Instance fees, or domain registration.
• How long: Usually 1 to 2 years, depending on the package.
• Who qualifies: Before Series B, founded in the last 10 years, with a working website. For the $200,000, apply within 12 months of your latest funding round.
• How to apply: aws.amazon.com/startups/credits. Reviews take 5 to 10 business days.

#5. Microsoft for Startups

• Up to: $150,000 in Azure credits. With a referral code from an investor in Microsoft's Investor Network, most startups start at $100,000 and unlock more as they grow. Without a code, you get small starter credits.
• Covers: Azure, including Azure AI, plus Azure support and other Microsoft perks.
• How long: Up to 2 years. Activate them within 90 days of joining.
• Who qualifies: Privately held, for-profit companies with their own software or AI product that have received no more than $350,000 in free Azure credits. Agencies and consultancies don't qualify. Microsoft's own pages disagree on whether Series C companies can join, so check when you apply.
• How to apply: microsoft.com/startups. Enter your Investor Network code to get the higher tier.

#6. Mixpanel for Startups

• Up to: A free first year of Mixpanel's Startup plan, which Mixpanel values at up to $145,000. It's free plan time, not cash.
• Covers: The full product: up to 1 billion events a year, Session Replay, Experiments and Feature Flags, plus the Data Pipelines, Group Analytics and Warehouse Connectors add-ons.
• How long: 12 months.
• Who qualifies: Incorporated less than 5 years ago, $8M or less raised, and never on a paid Mixpanel plan. No VC or accelerator needed. You must start sending data within 90 days.
• How to apply: mixpanel.com/startups.

#7. OVHcloud Startup Program

• Up to: €100,000 for selected startups funded at Series A or later, and €10,000 for everyone else. Both tiers include hours with OVHcloud's engineers.
• Covers: OVHcloud Public Cloud and Hosted Private Cloud. Bare Metal and Web Cloud are not included.
• How long: Up to 12 months.
• Who qualifies: Startups with a technical product that has at least a proof of concept or MVP and will need cloud soon. Being in an incubator or accelerator helps but isn't required.
• How to apply: startup.ovhcloud.com.

#8. Datadog for Startups

• Up to: $100,000, as a free year of Datadog Pro.
• Covers: The whole Datadog platform, for observability and security.
• How long: Your first year.
• Who qualifies: Series A or earlier, new to Datadog, and referred by an official Datadog partner such as a VC, an accelerator or a cloud provider's startup program. Direct applications are not accepted.
• How to apply: datadoghq.com/partner/datadog-for-startups. Pick your partner in the form.

#9. Grafana Labs Startup Program

• Up to: $100,000 in Grafana Cloud credits, then 20% off list price.
• Covers: Any Grafana Cloud service (metrics, logs, traces, profiling, k6, synthetics and more), plus 24/7 support.
• How long: 12 months, or until your next funding round, whichever comes first.
• Who qualifies: New Grafana Cloud customers (free-tier and open-source users count). Ideally under $10M raised and under 25 employees, but Grafana says to apply even if you miss those. No VC needed. You agree to be a reference customer.
• How to apply: Through the application form in Grafana's announcement.

#10. Kong for Startups

• Up to: $100,000 in Kong Konnect credits. Most early-stage startups get $25,000 to $100,000, and YC companies are pre-qualified for the full amount. After that, 50% off for 24 months.
• Covers: Kong Konnect: AI Gateway, API Gateway, metering and billing, Mesh and Event Gateway.
• How long: 12 months.
• Who qualifies: AI and API startups from pre-seed to Series A with under $10M raised, in production or launching within 6 months. No VC needed.
• How to apply: konghq.com/solutions/startup-program.

#11. Deepgram Startup Program

• Up to: $100,000 in API credits. Direct applicants start at $1,000 and move up as usage grows, and startups referred by partner VCs and accelerators get bigger offers.
• Covers: Speech-to-text, text-to-speech and Voice Agent APIs.
• How long: Each credit grant lasts 12 months.
• Who qualifies: AI builders and early-stage startups with under $10M raised (more is considered case by case), in production or launching within 6 months. Agencies and consultants don't qualify.
• How to apply: deepgram.com/startup-program.

#12. PostHog for Startups

• Up to: $50,000, plus about $12,000 in partner perks.
• Covers: Most of PostHog: product analytics, session replay, feature flags, experiments, error tracking and the data warehouse. Since September 14, 2026, the credits don't cover PostHog's AI tools.
• How long: 12 months, or until the credits run out.
• Who qualifies: Under 2 years old, under $5M raised, signed up with a company email. No investor needed.
• How to apply: Sign up for a paid plan (you only pay for what you use), then fill in the startup form linked from posthog.com/startups.

#13. Together AI Startup Accelerator

• Up to: $50,000 if you've raised over $10M, $30,000 if you've raised $5M to $10M, and $15,000 if you've raised less. Every tier includes hours with Together's engineers.
• Covers: Together's AI platform: serverless inference, dedicated endpoints, fine-tuning and GPU clusters (not reserved clusters).
• How long: Not stated.
• Who qualifies: AI startups. It's selective: Together's team picks who gets in.
• How to apply: together.ai/startup-accelerator.

#14. Vercel for Startups

• Up to: $30,000 in Vercel usage. The exact amount depends on your partner.
• Covers: Vercel usage, including seats, bandwidth, compute and v0, with Enterprise features. At most half of it can go to AI Gateway.
• How long: Up to 1 year. Unused credit doesn't roll over.
• Who qualifies: Series A or earlier, backed by an approved Vercel partner, applying within 12 months of your latest round, with a website and email on the same domain. First time only.
• How to apply: vercel.com/startups/credits. You'll upload proof that you're backed by the partner.

#15. LiveKit Startup Program

• Up to: $23,000: a year of the Scale plan, $10,000 in LiveKit Cloud credits and $7,000 in inference credits.
• Covers: LiveKit Cloud (agents, media, telephony and observability) plus speech and model inference through LiveKit Inference.
• How long: 12 months.
• Who qualifies: New customers whose core product is voice, video or physical AI, with under 50 employees and under $5M raised (more is reviewed case by case). No VC needed.
• How to apply: livekit.com/startups.

#16. Confluent for Startups

• Up to: $20,000 in Confluent Cloud credits, according to Confluent's launch announcement. The program page now describes it as up to a year of free Confluent Cloud.
• Covers: Fully managed Confluent Cloud (Apache Kafka and Apache Flink), plus expert sessions and office hours.
• How long: Up to 1 year.
• Who qualifies: Early-stage startups. Confluent's page doesn't name an investor requirement.
• How to apply: confluent.io/startups.

#17. Fly.io for Startups

• Up to: $15,000.
• Covers: Machines, Sprites, Managed Postgres, volumes and bandwidth. Not support plans, compliance packages or Machine reservations.
• How long: 1 year from when the credits land.
• Who qualifies: Seed or Series A startups backed by a VC or an accelerator. Fly.io may ask for an email introduction to your investor.
• How to apply: fly.io/startups. A two-minute form, reviewed by a person, with an answer within a week.

#18. Notion for Startups

• Up to: $12,000 in value: 6 free months of the Business plan with Notion AI for up to 100 seats. It's free plan time, not cash.
• Covers: Notion Business plan seats, with Notion AI.
• How long: 6 months with a Notion startup partner. Without one, 3 months, or 1 month in some cases.
• Who qualifies: Under 100 employees, a work email, and not already paying for Notion.
• How to apply: notion.com/startups.

#19. GitHub for Startups

• Up to: $10,000 in credits.
• Covers: GitHub Enterprise and its add-ons: Copilot, Advanced Security, Actions and Packages.
• How long: Up to 12 months.
• Who qualifies: Funded up to Series B, applying through a GitHub for Startups partner, and new to GitHub Enterprise. You can't get it twice, including through Microsoft for Startups.
• How to apply: Through one of the partners listed on github.com/enterprise/startups.

#20. Algolia Startup Program

• Up to: $10,000 in Algolia credits, plus partner perks.
• Covers: Algolia search and discovery.
• How long: 12 months.
• Who qualifies: Incorporated no more than 7 years ago, under $15M raised, and never a paid Algolia customer (free users are fine).
• How to apply: algolia.com/industries/startups.

#21. ElevenLabs Grants

• Up to: 33 million characters, which ElevenLabs values at more than $5,500.
• Covers: The whole platform: voice agents, text to speech, speech to text, voice cloning, sound effects and music.
• How long: 12 months.
• Who qualifies: Startups with fewer than 25 employees, a business plan and a business email. No funding needed. Agencies and consultancies don't qualify.
• How to apply: elevenlabs.io/startup-grants. Decisions come within a week.

#22. Sentry for Startups

• Up to: $5,000.
• Covers: Everything Sentry offers.
• How long: 12 months.
• Who qualifies: Founded in the last 2 years, under $5M raised, and not yet paying for Sentry (the free plan is fine).
• How to apply: sentry.io/for/startups. Replies usually take 2 to 3 days.

#23. Claude for Startups (Anthropic)

• Up to: Not published.
• Covers: Claude API credits in the Claude Console (not on AWS Bedrock or Google Vertex AI), plus higher rate limits.
• Who qualifies: For credits, you need equity funding from an institutional investor, a company founded in the last 4 years, and no Anthropic credits before. Backing from an Anthropic partner VC can unlock more.
• How to apply: claude.com/programs/startups. It takes about two minutes.

#24. OpenAI for Startups

• Up to: Not published.
• Covers: OpenAI API credits, sometimes with higher rate limits and time with OpenAI's engineers.
• Who qualifies: Startups backed by a VC in OpenAI's partner network.
• How to apply: Ask your investor for a referral code. There is no public application. Program page.

#25. MongoDB for Startups

• Up to: Not published. MongoDB sets the amount by tier, from bootstrapped to VC-backed.
• Covers: MongoDB Atlas (database, search and vector search), plus Voyage AI embedding tokens and technical advice.
• How long: 12 months to activate the code, then 12 months to use the credits.
• Who qualifies: Under 7 years old, Series A or earlier, with one software product. Dev shops and agencies don't qualify. Bootstrapped startups can apply directly.
• How to apply: mongodb.com/solutions/startups.

#26. Modal for Startups

• Up to: Not published. Modal sets the amount by traction, funding and investor.
• Covers: All Modal compute, including GPUs. Not team or enterprise subscription fees.
• How long: 1 year.
• Who qualifies: New to Modal, with funding from a VC in Modal's partner network (such as YC, a16z or Sequoia), or more than $1M raised from any fund.
• How to apply: modal.com/startups.

#27. Pinecone for Startups

• Up to: Not published: a free Standard tier, Pro support and usage credits.
• Covers: Pinecone's vector database and support.
• How long: Not stated.
• Who qualifies: Under 100 employees, Series A or earlier.
• How to apply: pinecone.io/startup-program.

#Missing a program?

This list started with 14 on LinkedIn. Readers and the companies themselves sent most of the rest, including Kong, Grafana Labs, OVHcloud, Confluent, LiveKit and Fly.io. If you know another good one, send it to me on LinkedIn and I'll check it and add it.