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GitHub vs JetBrains: startup credits compared

Side-by-side amounts, eligibility and access paths, both verified against the official program pages.

At a glance

FactGitHubJetBrains
Value$10,000 in GitHub credits for up to 12 months50% off up to 10 IDE, team-tool and AI subscriptions for 5 years
TypeCreditsDiscount
Duration1 year5 years
StagesPre-seed, Seed, Series A, Series B+Pre-seed, Seed, Series A, Bootstrapped
RegionsGlobalGlobal
Max funding raisedNot statedNot stated
Max company ageNot stated5 years
Ways to get it
  • GitHub for Startups partners (VCs, accelerators, incubators) — $10,000 credits, 12 months
  • Apply directly — 50% off for 5 years
  • JetBrains partner incubators and accelerators — Incubator/accelerator benefits (use before applying directly)
Requirements
  • Affiliated with a GitHub for Startups partner
  • Received outside equity funding (up to Series B or earlier)
  • New to GitHub Enterprise (not on an Enterprise plan in the past six months)
  • Never received GitHub credits or Enterprise licenses before
  • Privately owned
  • Founded within the last five years
  • Website or other findable online presence
Not eligible
  • Companies that received GitHub Enterprise credits from Microsoft or GitHub for Startups previously
  • GitHub Enterprise Server and Data Residency deployments
  • Non-equity funding does not count toward the funding requirement
  • Subsidiaries of an organization that already received the discount
  • Non-commercial licenses
  • Cannot be combined with other JetBrains discounts
VerificationVerified· Nov 3, 2026Verified· Nov 3, 2026

Which should you pick?

The two programs are not directly comparable on dollar value. Both accept the same range of funding stages. JetBrains credits last longer (60 months versus 12). If you qualify for both, there is usually no reason not to apply to both; the programs are independent.