Every AI startup credit program compared (Oct 2026)

We track 49 programs that give startups credits, free plans or discounts once they apply: 46 vendor startup programs, two perks that are claimed through your investor (Anthropic’s and Nebius’s), and one accelerator (a16z speedrun). This post puts all of them on one page. Every value in the tables is the vendor’s own wording, pulled from our dataset when the page is built. Each row links to the page we checked.

A few things to know before you start applying:

• “Up to” means the top tier. Most programs are tiered by funding stage or by whether a partner investor referred you. The amount you get is often well below the headline.
• Some programs need an investor and some don’t. That one difference rules out the most programs, so it’s the first thing to check. The two lists below are taken from each program’s eligibility text.
• Credits expire. Many are valid for 12 months, and Google’s run over two years. Apply when you’re ready to use the credits, not months before.

Programs that need a partner investor or VC backing

These programs route through investors or ask for venture funding. If you’re self-funded, skip them for now.

Programs that say they take self-funded or very early teams

Their eligibility text names self-funded or bootstrapped companies, or says there’s no minimum funding:

Cloud and GPU

The big clouds have the largest headline numbers. Google lists a separate AI-first track with its own rules: AI startups using Gemini, at specific funding stages, that haven’t already received more than $5,000 in GCP credits.

GPU and inference clouds tend to be smaller but more targeted:

RunPod’s growth tier is a bonus on a commitment, not a grant: you get $25,000 bonus credits when you commit $50,000.

Model APIs

Anthropic runs two separate paths: a startup program with partner perks, which opens in cohorts, and API credits claimed through a VC in its partner network. Together AI’s tiers are set by how much you’ve raised.

Agents, search and sandboxes

Data: vector databases and Postgres

Developer tools

Observability, evals and product analytics

Several of these give a free plan or a discount rather than credits. Mixpanel and Amplitude describe theirs as a free year with a stated value, and Langfuse gives a percentage off.

Voice and audio

Productivity and accelerators

Want a shortlist instead?

Spotted a program that changed or closed? Email us and we’ll re-check it against the vendor’s page.