Cloud infrastructure, AI APIs, developer tools and business software are among the largest operating expenses for many early-stage startups. To support founders, hundreds of technology companies now offer startup programs that include free cloud credits, software discounts, technical support and other benefits.
Depending on a startup’s stage and eligibility, the combined value of these offers can exceed $200,000-500,000+. However, most programs have specific requirements: larger credit packages are often available through participating investors or accelerators, many benefits expire within 6-24 months, and some offers vary by partner rather than providing a fixed amount to every startup.
This guide reviews 20 startup programs available in 2026, including their current benefits, eligibility requirements and application process.
Cloud and infrastructure
1. AWS Activate
What you get: Eligible startups can currently apply for up to $200,000 in AWS Activate credits. AWS also maintains the Founders package, which provides $1,000 to qualifying self-funded startups, while larger awards are generally distributed through AWS Activate Providers such as venture funds, accelerators and incubators.
Credits can be used against eligible AWS infrastructure, data and AI services. AWS says qualifying credits may also cover eligible third-party models offered through Amazon Bedrock.
Who qualifies: The Founders package is designed for early-stage, self-funded companies that have not previously received Activate credits. Larger Portfolio packages require an Organization ID or referral from an approved Activate Provider.
How to apply: Startups apply through the AWS Activate portal. For a Portfolio package, founders must obtain the relevant Organization ID from their investor, accelerator or other participating organization.
What to watch: The amount advertised as “up to $200,000” is not a standard grant for every applicant. The actual award depends on eligibility, previous AWS credits and the referring provider’s agreement with AWS. Credits cannot be treated as cash, transferred between companies or assumed to cover every AWS or Marketplace charge.
2. Google for Startups Cloud Program
What you get: Google now divides its early-stage offering into several tracks:
- Pre-funded startups can receive $2,000 in Google Cloud credits, 12 months of Google Workspace Business Plus and additional training and partner benefits.
- Seed to Series A companies can receive up to $200,000 in Google Cloud credits.
- Eligible AI-first startups can receive up to $350,000 over two years.
- Scale-tier participants can also receive up to $12,000 in Enhanced Support credits for one year.
Who qualifies: The program primarily supports technology startups from the pre-funded stage through Series A. Eligibility varies by tier and considers factors including funding stage, company age, previous participation and whether the startup is building an AI-first product.
How to apply: Founders can apply directly through the Google for Startups Cloud Program. A participating investor or accelerator may also refer a company.
What to watch: The maximum package is specifically for qualifying AI startups, not every business using an AI feature. The two-year structure also means founders should review how credits are allocated across each program year rather than assuming that the full amount is immediately available.
3. Microsoft for Startups
What you get: New applicants can begin with $1,000 in startup credits while Microsoft verifies their eligibility. Microsoft says approved startups can progressively unlock up to $150,000, based on verified progress, product adoption and sustained Azure usage. Eligible startups connected to Microsoft’s Investor Network may unlock as much as $200,000 and additional support.
The program also provides access to eligible Azure services and Microsoft’s AI development environment, including models available through Microsoft Foundry.
Who qualifies: Microsoft’s current criteria generally cover privately held, for-profit companies developing their own software-based product. The company must operate in a market where Azure is available, must not have reached Series C or later and must remain below Microsoft’s lifetime limit for previously received Azure credits. Agencies, consultancies and several other non-product business models are excluded.
How to apply: Startups apply through Microsoft for Startups. Microsoft says application reviews normally take around three business days.
What to watch: Microsoft has moved away from the older, simple milestone ladder frequently described in startup perk directories. The current program awards additional credits over time and does not guarantee the maximum amount to every accepted company. Credit validity also depends on the specific offer, so founders should check the expiration date before migrating production infrastructure.
4. Cloudflare for Startups
What you get: Cloudflare’s current program advertises up to $350,000 in credits for one year. Its publicly listed entry tier provides $10,000 to bootstrapped or self-funded startups that have raised less than $1 million. Larger tiers are connected to a company’s stage and, in many cases, its relationship with a participating startup partner.
Credits support eligible Cloudflare products across application development, security, performance and infrastructure, including products within the Cloudflare Developer Platform.
Who qualifies: The entry tier has no minimum funding requirement. Higher tiers require stronger evidence of company development and may depend on an approved investor, accelerator or ecosystem referral.
How to apply: Startups can submit an application through Cloudflare’s program page. Applicants should use a company email and provide consistent information about the product, team and funding.
What to watch: Older Cloudflare documentation and regional pages may still show a $250,000 maximum or the previous $5,000 entry tier. The current main program page advertises $10,000 at entry and up to $350,000, illustrating how quickly these offers change. Credits are valid for a limited program period and do not automatically convert into an extension or cash reimbursement if unused.
5. DigitalOcean for Startups
What you get: DigitalOcean’s startup program, previously widely known as Hatch, provides qualifying companies with up to $100,000 in compute credits. Eligible AI and machine-learning startups can also use credits with DigitalOcean’s Gradient AI platform. The package includes complimentary paid support, with the current program page advertising access to Standard-tier support for 15 months.
Who qualifies: DigitalOcean evaluates startup applicants individually, with the largest benefits intended for companies that are actively building and scaling technology products. Admission and the credit amount are not automatic.
How to apply: Applications are submitted through DigitalOcean’s startup program page. Partner accelerators and investors may have their own referral routes.
What to watch: “Up to $100,000” is the ceiling rather than the default award. DigitalOcean’s legal terms also include usage and monthly credit thresholds, so teams expecting substantial compute consumption should review the account-specific restrictions before moving workloads.
AI and machine learning
6. Anthropic’s Startup Program
What you get: Venture-backed startups can apply for Anthropic API credits, priority rate limits and other technical resources. Anthropic does not publish a universal credit amount for the general startup program.
Specific partner initiatives may disclose their own packages. For example, companies selected for Menlo Ventures’ Anthology Fund were offered $25,000 in Claude credits, but that is a separate fund-specific benefit and should not be presented as Anthropic’s standard startup award.
Who qualifies: The program is aimed primarily at startups backed by venture capital firms. Anthropic asks applicants to identify their investor and also operates a separate partner program through which participating funds can offer benefits to portfolio companies.
How to apply: Funded startups can apply directly through Anthropic’s startup page and name their investor. VCs can separately apply to become Anthropic partners.
What to watch: Any fixed figure found in an accelerator directory may belong to that particular partner rather than to Anthropic’s general program. Official terms state only that selected companies may receive credits and other benefits, leaving both the award and its size discretionary.
7. OpenAI for Startups
What you get: OpenAI offers eligible startups free API credits, potential rate-limit upgrades, technical and go-to-market support, access to solutions engineers, and invitations to founder events. The benefits are primarily available to portfolio companies of participating venture firms, including Thrive Capital, Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins and Conviction.
OpenAI does not publish a standard credit amount available to every startup. The size and conditions of an award depend on the participating VC’s arrangement with OpenAI.
Who qualifies: The official credit route is designed for startups backed by an eligible OpenAI VC partner. OpenAI advises founders to ask their investor whether it participates in the network.
How to apply: Founders obtain a unique referral code from their VC and submit:
- A description of the product and its planned use of the OpenAI API
- The company name and key contacts
- A valid business email
- Basic funding information
- The startup’s OpenAI organization ID
A pitch deck is not required. OpenAI may also distribute credits through events such as hackathons.
Additional free-token route: Separately from OpenAI for Startups, some API organizations may qualify for complimentary daily tokens when they voluntarily opt in to share API inputs and outputs with OpenAI. Shared data may be used to identify usage patterns, measure model quality, and inform future model evaluation and training.
For eligible organizations in API usage tiers 3-5, the current allowance is up to 1 million tokens per day across selected larger models and up to 10 million tokens per day across selected smaller models. Organizations in tiers 1-2 may receive up to 250,000 and 2.5 million tokens per day, respectively. The quotas reset daily at 00:00 UTC.
This offer is not guaranteed. Organization owners must check the Data Controls section of the OpenAI API platform: if the complimentary-token message is not displayed there, the organization is not currently eligible. Free usage applies only to traffic from enabled projects that is shared with OpenAI. Fine-tuned models, fine-tuning jobs, evaluations and tool use are excluded, and the account must maintain a positive balance. Usage above the daily allowance is charged at standard rates.
8. NVIDIA Inception
What you get: NVIDIA Inception is a free, non-equity program for AI and deep-tech startups. Members receive access to NVIDIA technical training, SDKs and developer resources, preferred pricing on selected hardware and software, partner offers, potential cloud credits, and opportunities for investor introductions and go-to-market support.
Eligible members can also access discounted NVIDIA AI Enterprise licences. NVIDIA’s current pricing guide lists an Inception rate of $1,125 per GPU per year, compared with a $4,500 list price, for up to 64 one-year subscriptions.
Who qualifies: Incorporated technology startups less than 10 years old, with at least one developer, a working company website and their own technology product. Funding, revenue and previous use of NVIDIA products are not required. Consultancies, resellers, crypto businesses and public companies are excluded.
How to apply: Submit a free online application with company, product and technical information, including a pitch deck. There are no fixed cohorts or application deadlines.
What to watch: NVIDIA does not guarantee a standard amount of cloud credits. Offers vary by startup and partner, and often require a separate application through the Inception portal. Preferred GPU pricing may also be provided through supplier rebates rather than a direct NVIDIA discount.
Developer tools, data and observability
9. GitHub for Startups
What you get: Eligible companies receive $10,000 in GitHub credits for up to 12 months. The credits can be applied across GitHub Enterprise licensing and eligible add-ons, including GitHub Copilot and GitHub Advanced Security.
Who qualifies: Startups must:
- Be affiliated with an approved GitHub for Startups partner
- Have received external funding and be at Series B or earlier
- Be new to GitHub Enterprise, meaning they have not used an Enterprise plan during the previous six months
- Have never received GitHub startup credits or free Enterprise licences before
How to apply: Founders need a referral from a participating investor, accelerator or incubator.
What to watch: The current offer is credit-based rather than a simple promise of 20 free seats for every applicant. The number of seats a startup can cover depends on its selected products and usage. Some external platforms, including Brex, continue to advertise a 20-seat version under their own partner agreement.
10. MongoDB for Startups
What you get: MongoDB provides Atlas credits, Voyage AI tokens, technical guidance, partner benefits and potential go-to-market support. The expanded program also gives eligible companies access to matched offers from partners including Fireworks AI and Temporal.
MongoDB does not currently publish one universal maximum credit amount on its main program page. Benefits are organised into several tiers, from baseline support for bootstrapped companies to larger packages for scaling VC-backed startups.
Who qualifies: At minimum, applicants should be:
- Less than seven years old
- At Series A or earlier
- Building one scalable software product or service
- New to the MongoDB for Startups program
- Operating an active company website and LinkedIn profile
Agencies and development shops are not eligible.
How to apply: Startups can apply directly or request a referral from a participating VC, accelerator or incubator.
What to watch: MongoDB increased Atlas credits by 50% in its 2025 program expansion, but it did not publish a single new dollar amount applicable to every participant. Claims that all companies receive exactly $5,000 should therefore be treated as outdated or partner-specific.
11. Vercel for Startups
What you get: Eligible companies can receive up to $30,000 in Vercel platform credits for one year. Credits can be applied to eligible Pro-plan costs such as seats, compute and data transfer.
Who qualifies: The offer is distributed through Vercel’s startup partners. Applicants generally need to be early-stage companies affiliated with one of these organizations and new to the program.
How to apply: Founders apply through the Vercel for Startups page using their partner route.
What to watch: Credits are divided into equal monthly amounts. A $30,000 award, for example, becomes $2,500 per month for 12 months. Unused monthly credits do not roll over, cannot be postponed once activated and currently cannot be used for v0.
Vercel also operates a separate, competitive AI Accelerator. Its 2026 cohort received more than $200,000 per company across Vercel and numerous partner platforms, but this is not part of the standard startup offer and applications for that cohort have closed.
12. Datadog for Startups
What you get: Datadog offers up to $100,000 in credits and up to one year of access to its full observability and security platform. The program covers products across infrastructure monitoring, APM, logs, real-user monitoring and other eligible Datadog services.
Who qualifies: Companies must be Series A or earlier, new to Datadog and referred through an official program partner. Current or previous customers generally do not qualify.
How to apply: Applications are submitted through a participating Datadog partner and the Datadog for Startups portal.
What to watch: Credits cannot be used for taxes, premium support, professional services or activity in a different Datadog organization. Teams should also model their eventual paid usage carefully: logging, tracing and monitoring costs can rise quickly as infrastructure and traffic expand.
13. Linear for Startups
What you get: The Linear Startup Program gives eligible startups up to six months free on Linear’s Basic or Business plan. Teams can use Linear to manage product development, issues, projects, roadmaps and development cycles, with integrations including GitHub, Slack, Figma and Notion.
Who qualifies: New, non-paying Linear customers with fewer than 50 employees. The startup must be affiliated with an official Linear partner, such as a participating VC, accelerator or startup platform.
How to apply: Use the referral link or partner code provided by your investor or accelerator. The applicant must be logged in and be an administrator of the company’s Linear workspace.
What to watch: Startups cannot apply directly without a participating partner. Companies that do not qualify can still use Linear’s free plan, which currently includes unlimited workspace members, up to 250 active issues and unlimited archived issues.
Sales, customer support and productivity
14. HubSpot for Startups
What you get: HubSpot currently offers two principal discount routes:
- Eligible bootstrapped startups receive 30% off during the first year.
- Qualifying funded startups affiliated with an approved partner can receive 90% off in year one, 50% in year two and 25% in year three.
The discount applies to eligible paid HubSpot products, while joining the startup program itself is free.
Who qualifies: The 90% tier is intended for pre-seed, Seed or Series A startups that are affiliated with an approved HubSpot partner or have qualifying verified venture funding. Series B and later companies are excluded from this tier.
How to apply: Applications are submitted through HubSpot for Startups. Partner-backed companies select or identify their participating organization during the process.
What to watch: Founders should calculate the undiscounted cost before building their entire marketing and sales infrastructure around HubSpot. The price increase is gradual rather than immediate, but the company reaches standard pricing after the discounted years end.
15. Notion for Startups
What you get: Notion offers:
- Six months free on the Business plan, including Notion AI, for qualifying partner-affiliated startups
- Three months free for eligible startups applying without a partner
- One month free for qualifying smaller businesses and teams with fewer than ten employees
Notion says the six-month package can represent more than $12,000 in savings, although the actual value depends on team size.
Who qualifies: Applicants must be new, non-paying Notion customers and use a professional company domain. Additional requirements depend on the route selected.
How to apply: Partner-affiliated startups request a code from their VC, accelerator or other participating organization. Other startups can use Notion’s direct application.
What to watch: The upgrade begins immediately after approval. Existing paying customers cannot normally retroactively apply the startup offer to invoices they have already incurred.
16. Intercom Early Stage
What you get: Intercom’s current direct Early Stage offer provides 93% off during the first year, followed by 50% off in year two and 25% off in year three. The package starts at approximately $33 per month and includes two Advanced seats, two Copilot seats, 20 Lite seats and selected proactive-support features.
Startups also receive one year of Fin AI Agent usage, including 300 Fin outcomes and 15 sales qualifications per month under the current package.
A separate partner route offers qualifying venture-backed startups a 100% discount during the first year.
Who qualifies: Eligibility depends on whether the startup applies through Intercom’s direct Early Stage program or through one of its participating venture partners.
How to apply: Founders can apply directly through the Early Stage page or use the referral supplied by their investor or accelerator.
What to watch: Phone, SMS and WhatsApp usage is billed separately at list price. The free or heavily discounted package also has defined seat and Fin-usage allowances, so it should not be described as unrestricted use of every Intercom product.
17. Mixpanel for Startups
What you get: Eligible companies receive their first year of Mixpanel free, including the company’s dedicated Startup plan and access to advanced product analytics features and add-ons. Mixpanel describes the package as providing up to $50,000 in free credits, with capacity for substantial event volumes.
Who qualifies: Startups must generally:
- Have been incorporated less than five years ago
- Have raised no more than $8 million
- Be new to the startup program
Additional application requirements may apply.
How to apply: Companies apply through Mixpanel’s startup application page.
What to watch: The free period begins when the company enrols, not when it later decides to make Mixpanel central to its product analytics. Founders should apply when instrumentation is ready and should model what event volumes will cost after the first year.
Incorporation, finance and perk platforms
18. Stripe Atlas
What you get: For a one-time $500 fee, Stripe Atlas provides:
- Formation of a Delaware company, including state filing fees
- An Employer Identification Number
- Founder equity issuance and share-purchase documentation
- 83(b) election filing
- The first year of registered-agent services
- $2,500 in Stripe product credits during the first year
- Access to more than $50,000 in partner discounts
Stripe currently names companies including Mercury, Xero and AWS among the available partner offers.
Who qualifies: Atlas is open to founders internationally who want to create a US company. The service can form either a Delaware C corporation or, for qualifying applicants, an LLC.
How to apply: Founders submit company and identity information through Stripe Atlas.
What to watch: Atlas is a paid incorporation service, not a grant. Forming a US entity creates continuing responsibilities that may include tax filings, state fees, accounting and compliance obligations. Founders should select the entity structure based on legal and tax needs rather than solely to unlock software discounts.
19. Brex
What you get: Brex for Startups combines a corporate card, business account, expense management, bill pay and access to more than $350,000 in AI and SaaS credits and discounts. Current offers include $5,000 in AWS credits, subject to AWS Activate eligibility; $2,500 in OpenAI credits for one year; 20 GitHub Enterprise seats for one year; six months of Notion Business with Notion AI; six months of Linear Business; and discounts from Deel, Carta, Slack, Drata, ElevenLabs and other providers.
The Brex corporate card does not require a personal guarantee. Credit limits are based on company factors such as available cash, revenue and funding rather than the founder’s personal credit score.
Who qualifies: Companies must be incorporated and registered in the United States as a C-corp, S-corp, LLC or LLP and have an EIN. Sole proprietors, consumers and unincorporated partnerships are not eligible. Approval remains subject to Brex’s compliance and underwriting review.
How to apply: Submit company, ownership, incorporation and financial information through Brex. After approval, eligible offers can be redeemed from the Rewards → Perks and discounts section of the Brex dashboard.
What to watch: The advertised $350,000+ is the combined potential value of many separate offers, not a cash grant or a guaranteed package for every company. Each partner applies its own eligibility rules, deadlines and restrictions, and offers may change or disappear from the dashboard. AWS and Google Cloud benefits also remain subject to their providers’ existing startup-program rules and credit limits.
20. Mercury
What you get: Mercury provides business checking and savings accounts with no monthly fees or minimum balances, free USD wires and ACH payments, team cards, invoicing, bill pay and expense management. Eligible deposits can receive up to $5 million in FDIC insurance through Mercury’s partner banks and their sweep networks.
Customers also gain access to more than 300 software perks. Current offers include $5,000 in AWS credits, Google Cloud startup credits, $10,000 in GitHub credits, six months of Notion with AI, six months of Linear, one year of ElevenLabs and discounts from HubSpot, Deel, Slack and other providers.
Who qualifies: Companies must be formed and registered in the United States or a US territory and have existing or planned US operations. International founders can apply without US citizenship or residency, subject to identity, ownership and country restrictions.
How to apply: Submit the company’s formation documents, EIN, business details and identification for the controlling person and owners holding at least 25%. Mercury says the online application takes around 10 minutes, although approval is subject to compliance review.
What to watch: Mercury does not guarantee that every customer will qualify for every perk. Each provider applies its own eligibility rules, and the offers can change. Mercury is also a fintech company, not currently an FDIC-insured bank; banking services are provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A. Mercury received conditional approval to establish Mercury Bank in April 2026, but final regulatory authorisation is still pending.