Free AI offers, credits and startup programs

What you get

Google AI Plus free for 12 months for students in India. Google AI Pro is not free this time, but is discounted by up to 74% for four years.

Who can claim

18 or older and enrolled at an eligible higher-education institution. Verification through SheerID may be asked for. You need a personal Google account and a valid payment method.

The catch

When the 12 months end, the plan can switch to the normal monthly price on its own. Cancel before that if you don't want to pay.

Source

What you get

GitHub Copilot Student (unlimited code completions, a monthly allowance of GitHub AI credits, limited chat and agent use), Microsoft 365 with Copilot and 1 TB storage, a free Camber student plan for data science, and the Notion Education plan with extra AI responses.

Who can claim

Verified students: 13 or older and enrolled in a degree or diploma course.

The catch

Copilot Student is not the same as the full paid Copilot plan. Older blog posts that say 'Copilot Pro free for students' describe the plan GitHub replaced in March 2026.

Official page

What you get

Adobe Firefly, Photoshop and Acrobat free for students, plus training and credentials. Announced in February 2026.

Who can claim

Students at accredited higher-education institutions in India.

The catch

Access runs through your institution, so you can't sign up alone. Adobe's announcement gives no duration or deadline; ask your college whether it has joined.

Source

What you get

Activate Founders: start with $1,000 in credits, up to $5,000 for some self-funded startups. Activate Portfolio: up to $200,000 if an Activate Provider (an accelerator, angel or VC) gives you their Organization ID. A $200,000+ AI tier exists, by invitation only.

Who can claim

Pre-Series B, founded in the last 10 years, with an AWS account on a paid plan. New to Activate credits, or asking for more than you got before.

The catch

AWS says you hear back in 5 to 10 business days and that it can accept or reject any application. Credits are in US dollars, and AWS's page does not state an expiry; read the promotional credit terms.

Official page

What you get

Up to $350,000 in Google Cloud credits over two years, covering Gemini and Gemma. Third-party models are billed separately.

Who can claim

As Google's AI program page is quoted in search results: venture funding between seed and Series A, founded in the last 10 years, and no more than $5,000 in Google Cloud credits before. Eligibility is at Google Cloud's discretion.

The catch

We could not load Google's page in our check, so confirm these terms there. Other sites describe different rules and splits (for example $250K in year one, $100K in year two).

Official page

What you get

Azure credits, with a headline figure of up to $150,000 on third-party listings. The entry tier is far smaller.

Who can claim

Privately held, for-profit companies building a software product or service. Whether the larger amounts need an investor referral is described differently by different sources.

The catch

Microsoft's own page would not load for us, and we found no official 2026 statement of the exact amounts or of any OpenAI credits. Treat every figure as unconfirmed until you see it in your own dashboard.

Official page

What you get

Six to twelve months of API credits 'matched to scale' for speech-to-text, text-to-speech, translation, chat and document intelligence, across English and more than 22 Indian languages. Also priority support and direct access to Sarvam's engineers.

Who can claim

Selected early-stage startups. Sarvam announced it on 5 March 2026 and has not published an application window or other criteria in the report we read.

The catch

No credit amount is stated anywhere we looked. Ask Sarvam directly before building your plan around it.

Official page Source

What you get

Discounts and credits worth up to $45,000 from companies building with Claude. Startups backed by a VC in Anthropic's partner network may claim up to $100K in extra API credits through that VC.

Who can claim

Early-stage founders building on Claude. The programme page states no funding or company-age rule.

The catch

Closed. The page says the current cohort is full and new applications are not being taken. Credits work only on the first-party Claude API, not on AWS, Google Cloud or Azure. Several blogs still list the offer as open.

Official page