Free startup credits
65 live programs that give startups free credits, sorted by the largest amount each official page publishes. 58 take direct applications and are listed first; the other 7 are only available through an investor, accelerator or partner platform. Amounts are each program's published maximum, so check the tiers before you plan around them.
Each row shows how you get in, who qualifies and when the credits expire. “Bootstrapped OK” comes from the program's official eligibility rules and only appears when a team with no outside funding can apply directly. See how we verify.
- Live credit programs
- 65
- Apply directly
- 58
- Partner only
- 7
- Expire within 12 months
- 41
Latest check against official pages: Nov 4, 2026
Credits you can apply for directly 58
No referral needed to apply. Funding, age or usage rules may still apply; see who qualifies.
Amount
$10,000 (self-serve) to up to $350,000 (partner-funded) in Cloudflare credits
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Cloudflare-affiliated investors and accelerators
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OK- Under 10 years old
Amount
$2,000 (Start) to $350,000 (Scale AI) in Google Cloud credits usable on Firebase
Expires after 2 years
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Google for Startups partner VCs and accelerators
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OKAmount
Up to $200,000 over 2 years (up to $350,000 for AI startups); $2,000 Start tier
Expires after 2 years
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Accelerators, VCs and investors
Who qualifies
Funding rules not stated- Under 5 years old
Amount
Up to $5,000 (Founders) or up to $200,000 (Portfolio) in AWS Activate credits
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via AWS Activate Provider
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OK- Under 10 years old
Amount
Up to $200K in Databricks + Neon credits
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Databricks partner VCs
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partnerAmount
Up to $200,000 in Neon + Databricks credits (up to $1,000 if self-funded)
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Y Combinator and other recognized accelerators
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OKAmount
Up to $150,000 in Azure Startup credits
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Microsoft for Startups Investor Network
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OKAmount
Up to $120,000 in cloud credits + up to 2B Model Studio tokens
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OKAmount
€10,000 (Start) to up to €100,000 (Scale); US: up to $12,000 / $120,000
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Funding rules not statedAmount
$12,000 to $100,000 in Aiven credits for 12 months (tier by stage and funding)
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Aiven for Startups partner network
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partner- Under 7 years old
Amount
$1,000 API credit + 1 year Claude Team (5 seats); up to $100K more via partner VCs
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Anthropic VC partner network · AWS Activate +1 more
Who qualifies
Funding rules not stated- Under 5 years old
Amount
$10K on acceptance; up to $100K per Daytona's page ($50K per its terms)
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Daytona VC and accelerator partners
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OK- Under $15M raised
- Under 5 years old
Amount
$1,000 starter credits, tiers up to $100,000 (12 months)
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Deepgram VC, accelerator and startup-network partners
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OKAmount
Up to $23K in plan fees and credits for 12 months; $100K in Cloud credits for YC companies
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Y Combinator
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OK- Under $5M raised
Amount
$500 to $100,000 in Render credits by tier, valid 1 year from approval
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Render partner accelerators and VCs
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partner- Under $50M raised
- Under 5 years old
Amount
USD 5,000 to USD 60,000 in OCI credits (12-month validity)
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OKAmount
Up to $50,000 in Civo credits (Launchpad $1K / Propel $10K / Elevate $50K)
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OKAmount
$1K–$5K (Startup Program, Europe and Asia) or $10K–$50K via YC, a16z or Entrepreneur First
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Y Combinator · a16z +2 more
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partnerAmount
$50,000 in credits for 12 months
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OK- Under $5M raised
- Under 2 years old
Amount
$12,000 in credits over 12 months ($1,000/month); $50,000 for the current YC batch
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Y Combinator
Who qualifies
Funding rules not stated- Under $7M raised
- Under 3 years old
Amount
Up to $15K / $30K / $50K in platform credits by funding stage
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Y Combinator
Who qualifies
Funding rules not statedAmount
2× your annual plan's monthly credits for a year (extra capped at $30K/yr); YC up to 5×
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Y Combinator
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OK- Under $10M raised
- Under 5 years old
Amount
Up to $25,000 (Dedicated Deployments/Training) + up to $2,500 (Model APIs)
Expires after 6 months
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partner- Under 5 years old
Amount
Up to $25,000 credits (Select Partner-backed) or 1 free year of Replit Pro
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Replit Select Partners
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partnerAmount
One-time $20,000 in E2B credits + Pro tier membership
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Y Combinator, a16z Speedrun or Antler
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OK- Under $5M raised
- Under 3 years old
Amount
$10,000 in Algolia credits, valid 12 months
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Funding rules not stated- Under $15M raised
- Under 7 years old
Amount
Free US payroll for founders (first 5 seats, for life) + up to $10,000 partner credits
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Techstars · Y Combinator Startup School +2 more
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partnerAmount
Up to $10,000 in LangSmith credits (Scale) or discounted seats (Build)
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via LangChain premier VC partners · Y Combinator
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partner- Under $50M raised
Amount
Up to $10,000 in Prisma Postgres credits for up to 1 year
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OK- Under 5 years old
Amount
$6,000 in Temporal Cloud credits for 1 year (Business plan)
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partner- Under $30M raised
Amount
33M characters over 12 months (ElevenLabs values it at $5,500+)
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via ElevenLabs VC partners
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OKAmount
One-time credit of up to $5,000 (1M+ search API calls)
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OKAmount
$1K (Starter) or $5K (Venture) in GPU credits; bonus credits on $25K+ commits
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via a16z or Neo
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OKAmount
Up to $5,000 in credits, valid 12 months
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Y Combinator / a16z speedrun
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OK- Under $5M raised
- Under 2 years old
Amount
$5,000 in SurrealDB Cloud and Agent Memory credits (valid 12 months)
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partnerAmount
$2,000 in LlamaParse platform credits, valid for one year
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partner- Under $50M raised
Amount
$1,500 off the Team plan (credits expire 1 year after upgrading)
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OKAmount
$1,000 credit via a partner, $500 direct, or 25% off Enterprise
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Miro startup partners · AWS Activate +1 more
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partnerAmount
Free Ultimate (20 seats) for 12 months then 50% off, or 50% / 25% off for Series A-B
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partner- Under $20M raised
Amount
$1,000 in credits every month until you raise $5M; 50% off for everyone else
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Unkey-listed VCs and accelerators
Who qualifies
Funding rules not stated- Under $5M raised
Amount
1 year of Convex Professional free + 30% off usage fees (up to $30k)
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Convex for Startups partner network · Y Combinator
Who qualifies
Funding rules not stated- Under $3M raised
- Under 3 years old
Amount
Fee-free first AUD/NZD 100k of payments and FX + 3 months Grow (seed); GBP 10k fee-free in the UK
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Cyberport, HKSTP, AppWorks, SparkLabs
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partner- Regions: AU, NZ, GB, SG, HK
Amount
12 months of recurring free credits + startup pricing (amount not published)
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via AssemblyAI partner VCs and accelerators
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OKAmount
Partner perks for Brex customers (e.g. up to $5,000 AWS, $1,000 OpenAI, 6 months Notion)
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Techstars
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partner- Regions: US
Amount
Build credits + higher rate limits (amount not published)
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via AWS Generative AI Innovation Center
Who qualifies
Funding rules not statedAmount
Matching ad credit after meeting a spend threshold within 60 days (amount varies by country)
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Google Partners agencies
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OKAmount
Partner perks for Mercury customers (e.g. $5,000 AWS, $10,000 GitHub, 6 months Notion)
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OK- Regions: US
Amount
Promotional ad credit after qualifying spend (2026 offer: $500 after $250; expires 90 days)
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OKAmount
Free Modal credits, tiered by stage (amount set on approval)
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Modal VC partner network · AWS Activate
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partnerAmount
Tiered Atlas credits + Voyage AI tokens (amounts not published)
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via MongoDB for Startups partner network · AWS Activate +1 more
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OK- Under 7 years old
Amount
Free Standard tier + Pro Support, plus usage credits and discounts (amounts not published)
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Funding rules not statedAmount
$350K+ in partner perks (e.g. $25K Stripe fee-free processing, $40K Amplitude credits)
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Ramp partner VCs, accelerators and founder communities
Who qualifies
Funding rules not stated- Regions: US
Amount
Up to €1,000 (Founders) / €9,000 (Early Stage) / €36,000 (Growth Stage) in credits
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Bootstrapped OKAmount
Free usage on first contract (Startup Package); Accelerator credits and GTM support
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Snowflake VC Community partner funds · AWS
Who qualifies
Funding rules not statedAmount
Waived processing fees or fee credits (amount set per partner); $2,500 Atlas credits
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Stripe Startup Partners · Ramp
Who qualifies
Funding rules not statedAmount
Up to 100,000 Tavily API credits for 6 months
Expires after 6 months
How you get in
Apply directly
Also via Tavily VC partners
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partnerAmount
Turso credits (amount not published) + priority support
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partnerAmount
7,500 free minutes a month for 12 months (applications on hold)
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Apply directly
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partner
Credits only available through a partner 7
You need to come through an investor, accelerator, cloud marketplace or platform that partners with the program.
Amount
Up to $100,000 in credits for up to 12 months
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Through a partner only
Datadog for Startups referral partners
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partnerAmount
Up to $30,000 in Flexible Commitment Amount + Enterprise-tier access
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Through a partner only
Vercel Startups Partners
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partnerAmount
Up to $15,000 in Fly.io credits
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Through a partner only
Any venture firm or accelerator backing the startup
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partnerAmount
$5,000 in ClickHouse Cloud credits for 12 months; $10,000 for 24 months for YC
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Through a partner only
ClickHouse partner accelerators and VCs · Y Combinator
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partner- Under 3 years old
Amount
$10,000 in GitHub credits for up to 12 months
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Through a partner only
GitHub for Startups partners
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partnerAmount
$300 via AWS Activate; YC/accelerator credits not published
Expiry not stated
How you get in
Through a partner only
AWS Activate · Y Combinator +1 more
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partner- Under $5M raised
Amount
12 months of DigitalOcean credits (amount set by partner, not published)
Expires after 1 year
How you get in
Through a partner only
Approved DigitalOcean Startups partners
Who qualifies
Needs funding or a partner- Under $10M raised
Frequently asked questions
How many startup credit programs can you apply to directly?
58 of the 65 live credit programs on this site take direct applications. The other 7 only accept startups that come through an investor, accelerator or partner platform.
Which free startup credits don't require VC funding?
26 of the 65 credit programs let a bootstrapped team apply directly, based on their official eligibility rules. 13 more take direct applications but don't say whether unfunded teams qualify. Look for “Bootstrapped OK” in the list.
When do startup credits expire?
43 of the 65 programs state how long the credits last. 41 of those expire within 12 months; the longest is 2 years (Firebase Startup Credits and Google for Startups Cloud Program). 22 don't state an expiry, so check the terms when you apply.
What are the largest startup credit programs?
By published maximum: Cloudflare for Startups (up to $350K), Firebase Startup Credits (up to $350K) and Google for Startups Cloud Program (up to $350K). These are ceilings for the top tier, not what every startup receives.