Free AI Credits for Students in 2026: The Complete List
Student AI offers changed a lot in 2026. Some of the best-known free plans closed or became US-only, while new programs opened up for students who want to build, not just chat.
This guide lists the free AI credits and tools students can actually claim right now, what each one gives you, who qualifies, and how to sign up. We've split them into credits for building (APIs and agents) and free subscriptions (chat and coding assistants), because they're useful for very different things.
Last checked: October 5, 2026.
TL;DR
- Best for building AI agents on the live web: the TinyFish Students Program gives $35 in free credits to anyone with a school email, worldwide, plus paid bounties.
- Best all-in-one pack: the GitHub Student Developer Pack bundles around 80 partner offers, including $200 in DigitalOcean credit and free JetBrains IDEs.
- Best cloud credits: Azure for Students gives $100 a year with no credit card.
- US students: Google AI Pro is free for 12 months (until 31 Dec 2026), and US and Canadian students can claim $100 in OpenAI Codex credits.
- Gone or changed in 2026: Cursor's free Pro year closed in June, and GitHub paused new sign-ups for free Copilot Pro in April.
Free AI credits for students at a glance
| Program | What you get | Who can claim it | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| TinyFish Students Program | $35 in credits + bounties with gift cards | Anyone with a school email, worldwide | Building AI agents that search, read and act on live websites |
| GitHub Student Developer Pack | ~80 partner offers, incl. $200 DigitalOcean credit | Verified students 13+ | Getting dozens of dev tools with one verification |
| Azure for Students | $100 credit per year + free services | Full-time university students | Hosting and cloud AI services |
| Google AI Pro for students | 12 months free (Gemini, NotebookLM, 2 TB) | US college students, 18+ | Research and studying |
| OpenAI Codex for Students | $100 in ChatGPT credits for Codex | US and Canada university students | AI coding help |
| Anthropic Student Builders | ~$50 in Claude API credits (by application) | Students with a project | Building with Claude |
| JetBrains Student Pack | All JetBrains IDEs + limited AI features | Students at accredited schools | A full IDE with AI built in |
Credits for building AI agents and apps
1. TinyFish Students Program: $35 to build web agents
What you get: $35 in free credits in your TinyFish wallet, on top of the free Search and Fetch tier. You can use them across TinyFish Search, Fetch, Agent and Monitor to build AI agents that find information, read pages and complete tasks on real websites. You also get access to TinyBounties, where approved builds earn gift cards and are published under your name.
Who can claim it: anyone with a school or university email, in any country. Many international and K-12 school domains are supported, not just .edu.
How to claim it:
- Sign up at tinyfish.ai/students with your school email and a password (not "Continue with Google/Microsoft"). The $35 is added to your TinyFish wallet automatically.
- Sign in at tinybounties.com with the same account and claim a bounty.
Best for: projects that need live web data, like price trackers, internship finders, research agents or monitors. Students in the program have already built a fake-sale detector that checks the Wayback Machine and an internship tracker that verifies real openings.
2. GitHub Student Developer Pack
What you get: around 80 partner offers with one verification, including $200 in DigitalOcean credit and free JetBrains IDEs. GitHub paused new sign-ups for free Copilot Pro in April 2026, so new pack members currently get Copilot Free instead.
Who can claim it: verified students aged 13+.
How to claim it: apply at education.github.com/pack with your school email or proof of enrollment.
Best for: getting lots of developer tools at once.
3. Azure for Students
What you get: $100 in Azure credit for 12 months, renewable each year you're a student, plus free-tier services. No credit card needed.
Who can claim it: full-time university students with a school email.
Best for: hosting your projects and trying cloud AI services.
4. Anthropic Student Builders
What you get: around $50 in Claude API credits, by application. Students at Claude for Education partner universities also get Claude features through their school.
Who can claim it: students who apply with a project description and usage plan.
Best for: projects built on Claude.
Free AI subscriptions for students
5. Google AI Pro for students
What you get: 12 months of Google AI Pro free, including Gemini, Deep Research, NotebookLM and 2 TB of storage. Redeem by 31 December 2026.
Who can claim it: college students in the US, aged 18+. The free year closed for students outside the US in March 2026.
Best for: research, writing and studying.
6. OpenAI Codex for Students
What you get: $100 in ChatGPT credits to use with Codex, valid for 12 months. These can't be used as API credits.
Who can claim it: students at degree-granting universities in the US and Canada, verified through SheerID.
Best for: AI help with coding.
7. JetBrains Student Pack
What you get: all JetBrains IDEs free for a year, renewable while you're a student, with limited access to JetBrains AI features.
Who can claim it: students at accredited high schools, colleges and universities.
Best for: a full professional IDE with AI built in.
What happened to Cursor's free year for students?
Cursor's free year of Pro for students closed to new sign-ups on 25 June 2026. Students can still use Cursor's free Hobby plan, and graduate students and researchers can request credits.
How to choose the right student AI credits
- Want to build something that uses the live web? Start with TinyFish. It's the only offer here built for AI agents that search, read and act on real websites, and it's open to students worldwide.
- Want lots of dev tools at once? Get the GitHub Student Developer Pack.
- Need hosting? Add Azure for Students.
- In the US and mostly studying or researching? Claim Google AI Pro.
- Mostly coding? Try OpenAI Codex for Students (US/Canada) or the JetBrains Student Pack.
Most of these stack, so you can claim several at once. A common combination is TinyFish for the agent, Azure for hosting, and GitHub's pack for everything else.
Start building with TinyFish
Every student gets $35 in free credits in their TinyFish wallet to build AI agents that work on the live web, plus bounties that pay gift cards for working builds.
- Join: tinyfish.ai/students
- Find a bounty: tinybounties.com
- Meet other builders: TinyFish Discord
Read more about the program in Introducing the TinyFish Students and Ambassadors Programs.
Keep reading
- How to Get $35 in Free AI Agent Credits as a Student (Step by Step)
- Build Your First Web Agent in 15 Minutes, Student Edition (No Code Needed)
- 25 AI Project Ideas for College Students (With Source Code)
Follow TinyFish for new guides and student builds: X (@Tiny_Fish) · LinkedIn (TinyFish) · Instagram (@tinyfish_ai)
AI disclosure
Content on this website may be created or refined with the assistance of AI tools and is subject to human editorial review.
