Best Startup Programs and Perks in 2026: Credits, Discounts and Who Qualifies

The best startup programs in 2026 are the big cloud credit programs (Google Cloud up to $350,000, AWS Activate up to $200,000, Microsoft for Startups up to $150,000, Cloudflare up to $350,000), the AI and web-data programs (TinyFish for Startups up to $12,000 in value, NVIDIA Inception, Claude Startups when it reopens), and the tool discounts that cut your monthly bill (HubSpot up to 90% off, Intercom 93% off, PostHog $50,000 in credits, GitHub $10,000). Almost every large program has two doors: a small self-serve tier anyone can get, and a large tier you reach through an investor or accelerator. Knowing which door you're at is most of the work.

Building on the live web? Apply to TinyFish for Startups: free TinySearch and TinyFetch at 4x rate limits, plus up to $12,000 in value.

We're TinyFish, and we run one of the programs on this list. We've kept our own entry to the same template as everyone else's and checked every other figure against the provider's official page as of October 2026. Programs change often, so each entry links to the source.

At a glance

How we grouped these

We grouped programs by the bill they reduce, not alphabetically: cloud and infrastructure first (your biggest cost), then AI and web data, developer tools, go-to-market and operations, and finally the perk bundles that hand you dozens of offers at once. Each entry uses the same template: what it is, what you get, who qualifies, where it falls short, and how to apply.

Cloud and infrastructure programs

Google for Startups Cloud Program

What it is. Google Cloud's credit program for early-stage startups, with a separate AI tier.

What you get. The official page lists up to $350,000 in Cloud credits over two years, credits for Gemini and Gemma models, 12 months of Google Workspace Business Plus, and monthly Google Maps Platform credits. The Start tier is $2,000. The funded tiers (Scale and Scale AI) range from $200,000 to $350,000.

Who qualifies. Start is for startups founded in the past two years with a working MVP and plans to raise. The funded tiers need verifiable pre-seed to Series A funding. Google excludes companies that have IPO'd or been acquired, agencies, dev shops, consultancies and nonprofits.

Where it falls short. Credits can't be shared, split or resold, and acceptance also depends on any Google Cloud credits you've had before. If you're not raising yet, $2,000 is the realistic number.

Verdict. The biggest headline in the category if you're funded and AI-first. Apply once you have the funding proof ready.

AWS Activate

What it is. Amazon's startup credit program, in three tiers.

What you get. From the AWS Activate credits page: Activate Founders starts at $1,000, and select participants can get up to $5,000. Activate Portfolio gives up to $200,000. AWS Credits for AI Startups is invite-only and starts at $200,000+ for teams scaling past Portfolio.

Who qualifies. Pre-Series B, founded in the last 10 years, an AWS account on a paid plan, and new to Activate Credits (or asking for more than you got before). Portfolio needs an Organization ID from an Activate Provider: an accelerator, angel investor or VC firm.

Where it falls short. Without a provider's Org ID you're capped at the Founders tier. Credits follow the AWS Promotional Credit Terms, so check which services they cover.

Verdict. Ask your investors or accelerator for their Org ID before you apply. It's the difference between $1,000 and $200,000.

Microsoft for Startups

What it is. Microsoft's startup program, covering Azure credits, AI models and developer tools.

What you get. The Microsoft for Startups page advertises up to $150,000 in credits, usable across eligible Azure services, plus access to AI models and developer tools.

Who qualifies. Microsoft places startups in stages. Self-serve applicants start lower, and the largest amounts usually come through the Microsoft for Startups Investor Network.

Where it falls short. Microsoft's page doesn't publish the per-stage amounts, and third-party guides disagree on them, so plan on the entry amount until you're approved for more. Watch your billing settings: when credits run out, paid usage can start.

Verdict. Worth it if you're already on Azure or plan to use OpenAI models through Azure.

Cloudflare for Startups

What it is. Credits for Cloudflare's developer platform (Workers, R2, D1, Workers AI and more).

What you get. Per the official page, three tiers for one year: $10,000 (under $1M raised), $100,000 (under $5M raised, with an account manager) and $350,000 ($5M+ raised, with priority support). Workers AI is covered up to $50,000 and R2 up to $10,000. Core security and networking features are free on every tier.

Who qualifies. Founded in the last 10 years and funded in the last 12 months.

Where it falls short. The storage and AI caps matter if those are your main costs.

Verdict. A strong pick for edge-first apps, and one of the few programs with a meaningful tier for teams that have raised under $1M.

DigitalOcean Startups

What it is. DigitalOcean's startup program, which now prioritizes AI-native startups.

What you get. From the DigitalOcean Startups page: 12 months of DigitalOcean credits (amount varies), 15 months of free Standard-tier support, and GPU credit packages for selected startups by invitation.

Who qualifies. Raised $10M or less, with a company website and a matching business email. Service businesses aren't eligible.

Where it falls short. DigitalOcean doesn't publish the credit amount up front.

Verdict. A simpler cloud for small teams, and the long support window is useful.

MongoDB for Startups and Vercel for Startups

MongoDB for Startups gives Atlas credits and Voyage AI tokens in four tiers. The official page asks that you be under seven years old, Series A or earlier, and building a single software product. You have 12 months to activate the code and 12 months to use the credits, and you can ask for an extension.

Vercel for Startups gives eligible teams up to $30,000 in Flexible Commitment Amount, Enterprise-tier access and startup support, per Vercel's startups page.

AI and web data programs

TinyFish for Startups

What it is. Our program, for startups building products that need the live web: search, page content, browser automation and monitoring, all behind one API.

What you get. From tinyfish.ai/startups:

• Tier 1, up to $7,000 in value: free TinySearch and TinyFetch with 4x rate limits for 6 months, $100 in your wallet every month for 6 months, and 50 concurrent TinyAgent and TinyBrowser runs.
• Tier 2, up to $12,000 in value: free TinySearch and TinyFetch with 4x rate limits for a year, 50% off TinyAgent and TinyBrowser for 24 months, and $500 in your wallet to start.
• Both tiers: your build story on the TinyFish blog and socials, invites to founder dinners, and a direct line to our engineers.

Who qualifies. Tier 1 is for independent teams that haven't launched yet (idea, prototype or private beta) with no accelerator or investors. Tier 2 is for startups backed by an accelerator, VC or angels, at any stage, with proof such as a batch page or funding news. You need a verified business email domain.

Where it falls short. It's built for early-stage and backed teams. If you're bootstrapped and already in production, you'll get a custom plan through "Talk to us" instead. Tier 1 wallet credits don't roll over.

Verdict. If your product reads or acts on websites, this removes your web-data bill while you find product-market fit. Applications are reviewed in weekly batches.

NVIDIA Inception

What it is. NVIDIA's free program for AI startups.

What you get. Per NVIDIA's startups page: free self-paced technical courses, discounted workshops, preferred pricing on NVIDIA hardware and software, and free cloud credits from NVIDIA's partners, requested through the Inception portal. There's also a VC Alliance that introduces startups to investors.

Who qualifies. NVIDIA reviews each application. It's free, with no fees and no equity.

Where it falls short. It isn't a GPU giveaway. Credits come from partners and vary.

Verdict. Join early. It costs nothing, and the preferred pricing and partner credits add up once you're training or serving models.

Claude Startups (Anthropic)

What it is. Anthropic's program for early-stage founders building on Claude.

What you get. The Claude Startups page lists discounts and credits worth up to $45,000 from companies building with Claude, Applied AI group sessions every other week, and events. Members of partner VC portfolios may get up to $100,000 in additional API credits through their VC. Credits apply to the first-party Claude API only, not AWS, Google Cloud or Azure.

Who qualifies. As of October 2026, the current cohort is full and Anthropic isn't accepting new applications. You can subscribe to the newsletter to hear when the next cohort opens.

Verdict. If your VC is an Anthropic partner, ask them about the API credits now. Otherwise, watch for the next cohort.

Developer tool programs

GitHub for Startups

What it is. GitHub's program for funded startups.

What you get. $10,000 in GitHub credits for up to 12 months, usable across GitHub Enterprise, Copilot, Advanced Security and Actions, per the GitHub for Startups page.

Who qualifies. You need to be affiliated with a GitHub for Startups partner, have outside funding (Series B or earlier), and be new to GitHub Enterprise (not on it in the past six months, and no previous GitHub credits).

Verdict. Easy money if your investor or accelerator is a partner.

PostHog for Startups

What it is. Credits for PostHog's product analytics, session replay, error tracking and data tools.

What you get. $50,000 in PostHog credits for 12 months, plus $12,000 in partner perks such as $5,000 of Depot credit and $1,500 off Incident.io, per PostHog's startup page. The credits don't cover PostHog's AI tools.

Who qualifies. Under $5M in funding, under two years old, and a company email domain.

Verdict. One of the most generous no-investor-needed offers on this list.

Linear for startups

Linear runs its startup offers through VC firms, accelerators and communities, according to Linear's startups page. Companies need fewer than 50 employees. Linear doesn't publish one fixed discount, so ask your investor whether they're a partner.

Go-to-market and operations programs

HubSpot for Startups

What you get. 90% off year one, 50% off year two and 25% off year three for the top tier, or 30% off year one and 15% off year two for the other, per HubSpot for Startups.

Who qualifies. Startups linked to one of HubSpot's 4,000+ partner VCs, accelerators and incubators, or any startup whose funding HubSpot can verify on PitchBook or Crunchbase.

Where it falls short. After the discount period, you move to standard pricing, which is a big jump for a growing team.

Intercom Early Stage

What you get. 93% off year one, 50% off year two and 25% off year three, plus a free year of Fin AI Agent with 300 outcomes and 15 qualifications a month in year one, from Intercom's early stage page. The helpdesk starts at $65 a month on this program.

Who qualifies. Up to $10M in funding.

Where it falls short. The discount doesn't cover extra Fin outcomes, phone, SMS or WhatsApp.

Notion for Startups

What you get. Notion's Business plan free with Notion AI for 6, 3 or 1 month, according to Notion for Startups. Notion values the offer at up to $12,000 for 100 employees.

Who qualifies. Non-paying Notion customers with fewer than 100 employees and a work email. Six months needs a startup partner, three months needs a business website and company domain, and teams under 10 people get one month.

Perk bundles and marketplaces

These won't cover one big bill, but they bundle dozens of smaller offers.

• Stripe Atlas: incorporate in a few clicks, get $2,500 in credits for Stripe products and access to over $200,000 in partner offers (AWS, Google, Xero and others). Stripe refunds the Atlas fee if you deposit $5,000 into a Stripe Treasury account within 90 days.
• Ramp: over $350,000 in partner rewards, redeemed from the Ramp dashboard once you're a customer.
• Secret: deals on 1,073 SaaS products, free to join, with 274 extra deals on the $149-a-year Premium plan.
• Accelerator bundles: YC companies get access to $12M+ in credits and deals, and a16z speedrun companies get $10M+ in credits from 200+ partners. See our guide to AI accelerators.

How to choose (and stack) startup programs

1. Start with your biggest bill. For most AI startups that's cloud or model usage, so pick one main cloud and go deep on its program instead of collecting small credits from three.
2. Ask your investors for partner codes first. AWS (Org ID), GitHub, Linear, Notion's 6-month tier and Anthropic's API credits all go through partners. One email to your investors can move you from the smallest tier to the largest.
3. Apply in the order you'll use them. Most credits expire after 12 months. Applying for everything on day one means some expire before you need them.
4. Keep your proof ready. Funding announcements, a batch page and a company domain email are what reviewers check.
5. Add the specialist programs that match your product. If you search, read or act on the web, TinyFish for Startups covers that layer. If you train models, NVIDIA Inception helps.

Mistakes to avoid

• Applying with a Gmail address. Most programs, including ours, need a company domain email.
• Letting credits auto-convert into a bill. Set a billing alert on every cloud account when you activate credits.
• Picking a cloud for the credits alone. Moving later costs more than the credits saved.
• Forgetting that discounts end. HubSpot and Intercom move to standard pricing after year two or three. Budget for it.

What changed in 2026

• Google now lists up to $350,000 over two years for funded and AI startups, with a $2,000 Start tier for pre-funding teams.
• Cloudflare's top tier rose to $350,000 for startups that have raised $5M+.
• Claude Startups filled its cohort and paused new applications.
• TinyFish made TinySearch and TinyFetch free for everyone and launched TinyFish for Startups on top, with 4x rate limits and wallet credits.

Building something that reads or acts on the live web? Apply to TinyFish for Startups. Reviews happen in weekly batches.

Keep reading

• TinyFish for Startups: Up to $12,000 in Credits, Tiers and How to Apply
• Startup Credits in 2026: The Complete List
• AI Credits for Startups in 2026
• AI Accelerators in 2026: Programs, Terms and How to Get In
• Best AI Tools for Startups in 2026

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