Compare 31 free startup perks tools, free tiers, and developer deals. 30 require an application or qualification, 1 is not a free offer. We could not confirm today's terms for 6 of them: on 5 the page we cite did not answer, and on 1 our own read did not confirm them. Each row says why.
What this name holds: Credit grants and discounted plans a company qualifies for by stage, accelerator or investor — not a free tier anyone can open.
We track 21 startup perks services with a free tier we hold as current and 13 without. This category has seen some movement — 31 pricing changes recorded across vendors.
| Vendor | Tier | Description | Read / catalogue date |
|---|---|---|---|
| DigitalOcean | Startup Credits | DigitalOcean Startups is not taking new applications. Its FAQ, read 2026-10-30: "Applications for our current cohort are temporarily paused as we prepare to launch an updated program experience in early 2027." Active members keep their benefits. For members: credits for 12 months in an amount that varies by startup, usable up to $10,000 a month; use beyond that in a month is charged. Since 2026-05-13 the credits exclude GPU Droplets, NVIDIA H100 GPU Kubernetes, Bare Metal GPUs, Dedicated and Serverless Inference, third-party AI models, Paperspace Machines and Cloudways. GPU credits are a separate benefit for selected startups. 15 months of free Standard-tier support. For startups that have raised $10M or less and have not used DigitalOcean credits before; AI-native startups are prioritised and service businesses are not eligible.Restricted to accelerator (DigitalOcean Startups) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Raised $10M or less; Has not used DigitalOcean credits before; Product startup (not service-based); AI-native startups prioritised; Applies through a partner accelerator, incubator or VC, or directly by choosing "Other" | 2026-10-31 |
| PostHog | Startup Credits | $50,000 a year in PostHog credits for Y Combinator companies in any batch, renewing automatically while the company has raised less than $25M. Apply through PostHog's YC page, linked from Bookface, from a PostHog account on the company's email domain. Not open to YC alumni who started another company, or to a YC company acquired by a non-YC parent. Since 2026-09-14 the startup credits don't pay for bills on AI tools (PostHog AI, PostHog Desktop, the Slack app, Replay Vision, Inbox). It doesn't stack with PostHog for Startups.Restricted to accelerator (PostHog for Y Combinator) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Y Combinator company, any batch; Raised less than $25M; PostHog account on the company's email domain; Not acquired by a non-YC parent | 2026-11-02 |
| PostHog | Startup Credits | $50,000 in PostHog credits for 12 months, plus $12,000 in partner perks, for companies less than 2 years old that have raised less than $5M. Apply from a PostHog account on a paid plan (billed for usage only) that uses the company's email domain and signed up on or after 2023-01-01. Since 2026-09-14 the startup credits don't pay for bills on AI tools (PostHog AI, PostHog Desktop, the Slack app, Replay Vision, Inbox). Y Combinator companies get a separate deal instead; the two don't stack.Restricted to startup (PostHog for Startups) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Company less than 2 years old; Raised less than $5M; PostHog account on a paid plan, on the company's email domain, signed up on or after 2023-01-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Segment Startup Program | Retired | There is no startup programme: Twilio, which owns Segment, says on its startups page "We do not offer additional credits to startups at this time." Checked 2026-10-09, Segment's discounts page offers coupons to non-profits ($120 a month off the monthly Team plan) and occasionally to select customers. The former programme gave early-stage startups Segment's Team plan free for up to two years. | 2026-11-05 / 2026-10-09 |
| Amplitude | Startup Scholarship | Amplitude's Early Stage Startup Pricing (formerly the Startup Scholarship): 1 year of the full Growth plan free, for 200K monthly tracked users or 100M events a month, for startups with under 20 employees and under $10M raised. In year 2, 40% off the annual Plus plan, or move to the free plan.Restricted to accelerator (Amplitude Startup Scholarship) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Under 20 employees and less than $10M raised, OR Y Combinator/Sequoia/AWS company (no funding/headcount cap) | 2026-11-08 |
| AWS Activate | Startup Credits | Founders: $1,000 to $5,000 in AWS credits for self-funded startups. Portfolio: up to $200,000 for startups with an Activate Provider Org ID. AWS Credits for AI Startups is by invitation only, for startups ready to scale after Activate Portfolio, through an AWS account manager; AWS states "$200,000+" with no upper amount. Both are for startups before Series B, founded in the last 10 years, with an AWS account on a paid plan. Activate credits have expiration dates, shown in the AWS Billing console, and AWS cannot extend them. They can also pay for AWS Support. One award per approved application; a later, larger award pays only the difference.Restricted to accelerator (AWS Activate Portfolio) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Backed by approved VC, accelerator, or incubator; Have provider Organization ID; Pre-Series B; Founded within last 10 years | 2026-11-03 / 2026-10-08 |
| Sentry | OSS Sponsored | Free sponsored plan with Business features — 5M errors, 1B spans, 5,000 GB logs, 100K replays, 500 cron monitors, 25 uptime monitors, 3K continuous profile hours. No term limitRestricted to oss (Sentry for Open Source) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Project released under a permissive open source license (e.g. Apache, MIT)The page we cite for this offer states no amount, tier or rate we can read when we last looked, on 2026-11-13, so we cannot confirm these terms today. | 2026-11-13 / 2026-08-13 |
| Brex Partner Perks | Startup Credits | Over $350K in partner discounts and credits for Brex customers, including up to $5K of AWS credits for new Brex customers (subject to AWS Activate eligibility), $1K of OpenAI credits for a year, up to $200K of Google Cloud and Firebase credits over 2 years, 6 months of Notion Business with Notion AI and 30% off Slack for 12 months.Restricted to fintech (Brex Partner Perks) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Brex cardholder; US-registered corporation or LLC | 2026-11-05 / 2026-07-29 |
| Mercury Perks | Startup Credits | Perks for Mercury banking customers: 1 year of Datadog free (up to $100K in credits, for new Datadog customers at Series A or earlier), up to $5K of AWS Activate credits, and 50% off QuickBooks Online for 3 months. Mercury's Google Cloud offer is paused.Restricted to fintech (Mercury Perks) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Mercury banking customer; New to Datadog (for Datadog perk) | 2026-11-05 / 2026-07-26 |
| Ramp Partner Rewards | Startup Credits | Over $350K in partner rewards for Ramp customers, including AWS credits through AWS Activate and OpenAI API credits (Ramp states no amount for either), $350 of Google Cloud credits, and 6 months of Notion Business with Notion AI.Restricted to fintech (Ramp Partner Rewards) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Ramp cardholder | 2026-11-05 |
| Stripe Atlas | Paid | $500 one-time incorporation (Delaware filing and fees, tax ID, founder equity issuance, 83(b) filing, document templates, first year of registered agent), $100/year after. Includes $2,500 in Stripe credits and over $200,000 in offers from partners such as AWS, Google and Xero. New Atlas users who open a Stripe Treasury bank account on or after 2026-11-01, within 7 days of incorporating, get $500 in cash or USD-backed stablecoins. | 2026-10-24 / 2026-10-01 |
| SVB Startup Banking Offers | Startup Credits | Offers for clients of First Citizens Innovation Banking (formerly Silicon Valley Bank): $5K of AWS Activate credits (with an Activate Provider Org ID, before Series B), up to $15K of credits for MongoDB Atlas and Voyage AI, and 25% off Slack upgrades (up to $9K), among 80 offers from 57 vendors. There is no Google Cloud offer.Restricted to fintech (SVB Startup Banking Offers) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: SVB startup banking customer | 2026-11-05 / 2026-07-25 |
| Google for Startups Cloud Program | Startup Credits | Start tier: up to $2,000 in Google Cloud credits, valid for one year, for pre-funded startups. Scale tier: up to $200,000 over 2 years for startups with equity funding from pre-seed to Series A (year 1 covers usage up to $100,000; year 2 covers 20% of spend, up to $100,000 more). AI-first startups get $150,000 more, up to $350,000. Includes 12 months of Google Workspace Business Plus.Restricted to startup (Google for Startups Cloud Program) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Start: pre-funded, founded within 24 months, working MVP; Scale: equity funding from pre-seed to Series A, founded within 5 years | 2026-11-05 / 2026-09-22 |
| Atlassian for Startups | Startup Trial | 50 seats free for 12 months — Jira Premium, Confluence Premium, Loom Business + AI, Jira Product Discovery, Compass, Bitbucket Premium. Dedicated CSM and onboardingRestricted to accelerator (Atlassian for Startups) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Not an existing Atlassian paid customer; VC-funded or partner accelerator affiliated; Raised no more than $10MOur read on 2026-11-05 found the page different from the terms we hold, and we hold no confirmation of the terms we publish. | 2026-11-05 / 2026-09-22 |
| Microsoft for Startups | Startup Credits | Azure credits for software startups, up to $150,000, are unlocked over time as a startup verifies its progress and uses more Azure. Startups backed by a partner in Microsoft's Investor Network (a VC, accelerator, incubator or university) may unlock up to $200,000, and sooner. No investor is needed to join. Investor Network-backed startups may also get GitHub Enterprise (up to 20 users), Microsoft 365 Business Premium (up to 50 seats), Dynamics 365, Power Platform and LinkedIn Premium, and Azure Standard Support.Restricted to startup (Microsoft for Startups) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Software product or service owned by the company; Privately held and for-profit; Pre-seed through Series B funding; No more than $350,000 in lifetime free Azure credits | 2026-11-09 / 2026-10-09 |
| Cloudflare for Startups | Startup Credits | Credits for one year or until used up, in three tiers: Tier 3 gives $10K to bootstrapped or self-funded startups with under $1M raised; Tier 2 ($100K) and Tier 1 ($350K) are for startups funded by an affiliated partner, Tier 1 with $5M+ raised. Credits cover usage-based services such as Workers and R2 (R2 up to $10K). Workers AI is not covered by credits for startups joining the programme now. Startups already in the programme keep Workers AI coverage, up to $2.5K for Tier 3, $10K for Tier 2 or $50K for Tier 1, until November 30, 2026. From December 1, 2026, Workers AI is not covered for them either. AI Gateway and domain registration and renewal on Cloudflare Registrar are not covered by credits. Core security and networking features are free at every tier.Restricted to startup (Cloudflare for Startups) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Tier 3 ($10K): bootstrapped or self-funded, under $1M raised; Tier 2 ($100K): funded by an affiliated partner, under $5M raised; Tier 1 ($350K): funded by an affiliated partner, $5M+ raised | 2026-11-02 |
| Amazon Kiro (AWS Startups) | Startup Credits | Up to 1 year of Kiro Pro+ ($40 per user a month) for early-stage to Series A startups, in three tiers: Starter up to 2 users, Growth up to 10, Scale up to 30. Startups with active AWS Activate credits are not eligible. Credits are deposited to your AWS account and expire one year after they are issued.Restricted to startup (AWS Startups — Kiro Pro+) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Early stage to Series A; No active AWS Activate credits; Starter tier: up to 2 users; Growth tier: up to 10 users; Scale tier: up to 30 users | 2026-11-12 |
| Freshworks for Startups | Retired | There is no startup program: freshworks.com/company/partners/ redirects to the general partners directory, which states nothing about startups, credits or eligibility. Checked 2026-09-02, the words startup, credits and eligible return zero occurrences on the page. The former offer was up to $10,000 in credits across the Freshworks suite. | 2026-10-21 / 2026-09-02 |
| Clever Bootstrap Program | Startup Credits | Clever Cloud's startup programme is now called UP. It offers up to €10,000 in cloud credits for the first year, onboarding and training with Clever Cloud engineers, a monthly coaching session, premium support access, workshops and masterclasses for technical teams, mentoring, and access to Angel Start financial planning tools. Admission is by selection round; the page names the next as 7 January 2027.Restricted to startup (UP) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Selected by application through a periodic selection round | 2026-11-03 |
| Scaleway Startup Program | Startup Credits | Three tiers, all cloud credits: Founders gives up to €1,000 over one year; Early Stage gives €1,500/month for 6 months, up to €9,000; Growth gives €3,000/month for 12 months, up to €36,000. Applications are reviewed weekly by a committee. All tiers except Founders include a dedicated customer success manager.Restricted to startup (Scaleway Startup Program) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Less than 5 years old; Fewer than 50 employees; Not yet a Scaleway client | 2026-10-25 |
| ScaleGrid Startup Program | Startup Discount | Withheld: As of 2026-09-19, scalegrid.io/pricing/offers/startup-saver reads: Benefit from significant cost savings on our database management solutions, specifically tailored to support the dynamic needs of startups. Check your eligibility and apply today! Up to 50% Off MySQL™ PostgreSQL® MongoDB® Redis® FOR 12 MONTHS DBaaS Plans Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC) 50% off medium or larger plan sizes Dedicated Hosting 25% off medium or larger plan sizes Eligibility Criteria Less than $1.5M in revenue Less than $1.5M in funding New to ScaleGrid Small plan sizes receive 50% off BYOC and 25% off Dedicated Hosting plans for 3 months. We are not publishing our stored ScaleGrid Startup Program terms beside it — our own correction record says they did not match ScaleGrid Startup Program's page. Read what we recorded ↓Restricted to startup (Startup Saver) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Less than $1.5M in revenue; Less than $1.5M in funding; New to ScaleGrid | 2026-10-28 / 2026-09-02 |
| Knowlarity for Startups | Startup Credits | Unicorn dreams? Knowlarity is happy to offer free credits for its communications suite product—SuperReceptionist. Contact them for exclusive benefits.Restricted to startup (Knowlarity for Startups Startup Program) applicants — not generally available. | 2026-11-12 / 2026-05-09 |
| The Intercom Early Stage Program | Startup Discount | Withheld: As of 2026-09-19, intercom.com/early-stage reads: Year 1 includes 300 Fin outcomes and 15 Fin qualifications. Year 2 includes 150 Fin outcomes and 15 Fin qualifications. Year 3 includes 75 Fin outcomes and 15 Fin qualifications. We are not publishing our stored The Intercom Early Stage Program terms beside it — our own correction record says they did not match The Intercom Early Stage Program's page. Read what we recorded ↓Restricted to startup (The Intercom Early Stage Program Startup Program) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Up to $10M in funding; Fewer than 15 employees; Not currently an Intercom customer | 2026-11-06 / 2026-09-02 |
| Zendesk for Startups | Startup Trial | Qualified startups get the Zendesk Resolution Platform free for up to 2 years for up to 50 agents, with the length depending on funding profile and partner. The baseline program length for all accepted startups is 6 months.Restricted to startup (Zendesk for Startups Startup Program) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Must be a brand new Zendesk subscriber (previous or active paid customers may not participate); Must have fewer than 250 employees; If employee size 50-249, must be referred by a partner; Company must be under 10 years old | 2026-10-25 / 2026-09-02 |
| Help Scout for Startups | Startup Trial | Qualifying startups get 6 months of Help Scout free — the page states no charge for the first six months, not a discounted monthly rate.Restricted to startup (Help Scout for Startups Startup Program) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: New Help Scout customer; Incorporated tech startup less than two years old; Generating under $1 million in annual recurring revenue | 2026-10-25 |
| Autodesk Fusion 360 for Startups | Startup Discount | Fusion 360 for startups is eligible for venture-backed, angel-backed or bootstrap startups that are less than three years old, have 10 or fewer employees and generate less than $100,000 USD in gross annual revenue.Restricted to startup (Autodesk Fusion 360 for Startups Startup Program) applicants — not generally available.We could not read the page we cite for this offer when we last looked, on 2026-11-13, so we cannot confirm these terms today. | 2026-07-04 · tried 2026-11-13, no read |
| Chargebee Launch Programme | Startup Program | Chargebee's startup offer is now called Chargebee for Startups: Chargebee Billing is free until you have billed your first $1 million in cumulative revenue, not $50k. Cumulative billing is the total invoiced through Chargebee over time, not ARR or MRR. After $1M you move to a pay-as-you-go plan with no annual commitment.Restricted to startup (Chargebee for Startups) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: New customer to Chargebee (not currently on a paid plan); Part of a partner accelerator or VC portfolio network; Raised less than $5 million in fundingThe page we cite for this offer names the platform it runs on and not the offer itself when we last looked, on 2026-10-21, so we cannot confirm these terms today. | 2026-10-21 / 2026-09-02 |
| HubSpot for Startups | Startup Discount | Two discount bands: startups meeting both conditions get 90% off in year one, then 50% off in year two and 25% off in year three. Startups meeting neither get 30% off in year one and 15% off in year two. Eligibility is checked against 4,000+ approved partners, or against funding verified through Pitchbook or Crunchbase.Restricted to startup (HubSpot for Startups Startup Program) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Raised pre-seed, seed or Series A funding, but not Series B or later; Affiliated with an approved HubSpot for Startups partner, or have raised verified venture fundingThe page we cite for this offer states no amount, tier or rate we can read when we last looked, on 2026-10-14, so we cannot confirm these terms today. | 2026-10-14 / 2026-09-02 |
| Shotstack Startup Program | Startup Discount | Qualifying startups get 80% off Shotstack's Professional plans for one year, applied as a discount code to a purchased plan. The page states no credit grant. Shotstack is a cloud video-editing API.Restricted to startup (Shotstack Startup Program) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Incorporated less than three years ago; Up to Series A in fundingThe page we cite for this offer states no amount, tier or rate we can read when we last looked, on 2026-10-14, so we cannot confirm these terms today. | 2026-10-14 / 2026-09-02 |
| MATLAB and Simulink for Startups | Startup Discount | Superseded: As of 2026-10-04, mathworks.com/products/startups.html reads: MATLAB Suite is USD 1,770 annually and MATLAB and Simulink Suite is USD 4,235 annually. Suite license holders get free access to the Online Training Suite Subscription. We are not publishing our stored MATLAB and Simulink for Startups terms beside it — our own pricing change record, discovered 2026-10-04, names them as the previous ones. Read what we recorded ↓Restricted to startup (MATLAB and Simulink for Startups Startup Program) applicants — not generally available. | 2026-10-30 / 2026-07-24 |
| FeedBear | Retired | There is no startup program and no free tier: feedbear.com/early-stage redirects to the pricing page, where Startup is the second of four paid plans at $49/month, described as being for early stage businesses that need more powerful community features. Checked 2026-09-02, entry is a 14-day trial. The former record read that price as a startup discount. | 2026-10-29 / 2026-09-02 |
| Remote for Startups | Startup Discount | A partner-referred discount on Remote's global payroll, benefits and compliance platform. The page states the discount reaches up to 20%, with an additional 5% for introducing an investor who becomes a partner. No headline rate is published for startups without a partner referral.Restricted to startup (Remote for Startups Startup Program) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Referred by a Remote for Startups partner (incubator, accelerator, VC, PE firm or angel syndicate) | 2026-10-25 / 2026-09-02 |
| Bench | Startup Discount | Online bookkeeping for small businesses. Stripe referrals get 50% off their first 6 months with Bench. Access via: a Stripe referral.Restricted to startup (Bench Startup Deal) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Free for Stripe users | 2026-11-08 |
| Vast.ai | Startup Discount | GPU marketplace. Its startup program matches compute spend with credits, dollar for dollar, up to an amount Vast.ai sets when it approves the application: "No upfront giveaways. No free trials." Vast.ai says it is not the right fit for teams "looking for free compute with no committed spend". GPUs include H100s, H200s and B200s, with no long-term contracts or minimums.Restricted to startup (Vast.ai Startup Program) applicants — not generally available.Eligibility: Application reviewed and approved by Vast.ai; Actively training models, running inference or scaling a production workload | 2026-11-06 |