StartupFlow AI

AI credits for startups

Model and GPU bills are often the first big cost an AI startup hits, usually before there’s any revenue to cover them. The good news: most major AI providers give early-stage teams a large block of free credits, if you know where to look and which tier you qualify for.

Below are the AI credit programs we track. Each one links to a plain-English breakdown of who qualifies, how much you can get, and how to apply. You always apply on the provider’s own site.

See which ones you qualify forBrowse the full directory

AI credits for startups

144 programs

Open to all

IBM Startup Program

IBM

Up to $120k in IBM Cloud credits over 12 months

$120k in credits

CloudAI creditsAnalytics
Open to all

NVIDIA Inception

NVIDIA

Free membership, GPU discounts + up to $100k in partner cloud credits

$100k in credits

GPUAI creditsDevTools
Open to all

Anthropic for Startups

Anthropic

Up to $25k+ in Claude API credits

$25k in credits

AI creditsDevToolsAPI
Referral

OpenAI for Startups

OpenAI

Up to $5k+ in API credits (partner-routed); $50k via OpenAI Grove

$5k in credits

AI creditsDevToolsAPI
Open to all

Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub

Microsoft

Up to $150k in Azure credits, plus Azure OpenAI access

$150k in credits

CloudAI creditsDevTools
Open to all

Google for Startups Cloud Program

Google Cloud

Up to $200k in GCP credits over 2 years ($350k for AI startups)

$350k in credits

CloudAI creditsDatabase
Open to all

AWS Activate

Amazon Web Services

Up to $100k in AWS credits (up to $200k for portfolio startups)

$100k in credits

CloudAI creditsDatabase
Open to all

JetBrains AI for Startups

JetBrains

JetBrains startup credits and perks

AI creditsDevTools
Open to all

Windsurf for Startups

Windsurf (Cognition)

Windsurf (Cognition) startup credits and perks

AI creditsDevTools
Open to all

Conveyor for Startups

Conveyor

Conveyor startup credits and perks

SecurityAI credits
Open to all

Vanta AI Trust Center for Startups

Vanta

Vanta startup credits and perks

SecurityAI credits
Open to all

Rewind AI for Startups

Rewind (Limitless)

Rewind (Limitless) startup credits and perks

AI credits
Open to all

Speak AI for Startups

Speak

Speak startup credits and perks

AI credits
Open to all

You.com for Startups

You.com

You.com startup credits and perks

AI credits
Open to all

Fathom for Startups

Fathom

Fathom startup credits and perks

SaaSAI credits
Open to all

Fireflies.ai for Startups

Fireflies.ai

Fireflies.ai startup credits and perks

SaaSAI credits
Open to all

Otter.ai for Startups

Otter.ai

Otter.ai startup credits and perks

SaaSAI credits
Open to all

Grammarly for Startups

Grammarly

Grammarly startup credits and perks

SaaSAI credits
Open to all

HeyGen for Startups

HeyGen

HeyGen startup credits and perks

AI credits
Open to all

Opus Clip for Startups

Opus Clip

Opus Clip startup credits and perks

SaaSAI credits
Open to all

Casetext for Startups

Casetext (Thomson Reuters)

Casetext (Thomson Reuters) startup credits and perks

SaaSAI credits
Open to all

Weights and Biases for Startups

Weights & Biases

Weights & Biases startup credits and perks

AI creditsDevTools
Open to all

Lambda for Startups

Lambda

Lambda startup credits and perks

AI creditsCloud
Open to all

Midjourney for Startups

Midjourney

Midjourney startup credits and perks

AI credits

Showing 24 of 144. See them all in the directory, or sign up free for the ones matched to you.

Common questions.

Straight answers. For the full picture, read the FAQ.

OpenAI, Anthropic, NVIDIA Inception, and the major clouds (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure) all offer AI or model credits to early-stage startups. Google Cloud’s AI tier is currently the largest, going up to $350k for AI-first startups.

Not always. Some programs have a self-funded tier open to anyone with a registered company; the largest tiers usually need an accelerator, incubator, or VC affiliation. Each program page lists exactly what it needs.

Build a free StartupFlow AI profile once and we check the eligibility rules for you, then rank the programs you clear with a one-line reason for each, instead of you reading every page yourself.

Keep exploring

Cloud infrastructure

Cloud credits for startups

GPU & compute

GPU credits for AI startups

Software & tooling

SaaS deals and credits for startups

See all guides