Free AI compute, found and checked. Who qualifies and the catch, up front.
API credits, free inference tiers, startup programs and research grants from the frontier labs and the long tail. Every offer is checked against the provider’s own page: value, eligibility, limits, deadline, fine print.
VC-backed startups building on Gemini can get up to $350,000 in Google Cloud credits over two years.
For: Startups that raised Pre-Seed/Seed within 5 years (or Series A within 12 months), founded within 5 years, built on Gemini, with under $5,000 in prior Google Cloud credits
Max and Team subscribers get $100-$200/month (Team: up to $500 pooled) of Claude API credits, no card needed on the Console.
Max 5x, Max 20x or Team plan subscribers (Free, Pro and Enterprise are not eligible)
Credits refresh each billing cycle; no rollover
Catch: You pay for the Max or Team plan first. Credits expire at the end of each billing cycle with no rollover, new subscribers wait 7 days to claim, and they do not cover Claude Code or extra usage in the Claude apps.
Full-time university students get $100 in Azure credits, 12 months of free services and no credit card needed.
Full-time university students with a school email
Catch: Available only to full-time university students. Microsoft's page mentions access to technology like Azure OpenAI; availability of specific models is not guaranteed.
New Google Cloud customers get $300 in free credit to try products including Gemini on Vertex AI, with no charge until you upgrade.
New Google Cloud customers
Catch: Needs a billing profile for verification. New customers only. Credit expiry is set in the free program terms; check the page before relying on it.
New AWS accounts get $100 in credits at sign-up and can earn $100 more, usable for Bedrock and 90+ other services.
New AWS customers
Credits valid up to 6 months
Catch: The Free plan closes after 6 months or when credits run out, and limits you to select services. Free-plan accounts are not eligible for other promotional credits (such as Activate). Paid plan accounts are billed beyond credits.
New Cerebras accounts get $5 in credits after adding a verified payment method; credits expire in 30 days.
New Cerebras Cloud accounts
5 RPM - 1M tokens/day on trial
Catch: Payment method required to activate the credits and the API. Credits expire 30 days after grant. There is no permanently free tier: after the trial you must buy credits to keep using Shared Inference.
New Azure customers get $1,000 in Azure credits instantly and up to $5,000 total after business verification.
New Azure customers (startups)
Credits valid 90-180 days
Catch: New Azure customers only. Credits expire (90 days, 180 days post-verification). A credit card is needed for identity verification and for any services beyond credits.