Cloud Credits for Students 2026: AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, DigitalOcean, MongoDB and More

Every major cloud has a student offer, most of them routed through the GitHub Student Developer Pack. This is the full list with what each is worth, how to claim it, and the startup program behind each one that pays a hundred times more the day you incorporate.

Azure for Students $100 12 months, renewable yearly, no card

MongoDB Atlas $50 Via GitHub pack, plus free certifications

Heroku $13/mo 24 months via GitHub pack

Once you incorporate $100K AWS Activate alone; Google up to $350K, Microsoft $150K

Student cloud credits compared

Amounts marked "via GitHub pack" require a verified GitHub Student Developer Pack. Everything else is claimed directly. Where a provider publishes no fixed student credit, the row says so rather than guessing.

Provider	Student credit	Duration	Requirement	Claim it
Microsoft Azure	$100	12 months, renewable yearly	Full-time university student, 18+, school email, no card	Azure for Students or via GitHub pack
DigitalOcean	Credit for new accounts (confirm current amount)	Typically 12 months	GitHub pack, new DigitalOcean account	Via GitHub pack
MongoDB Atlas	$50 credits + free certifications	Until spent	GitHub pack	Via GitHub pack
Heroku	$13/month platform credit	24 months	GitHub pack	Via GitHub pack
AWS	No flat student credit published; AWS Educate offers free training and labs	Ongoing	AWS Educate account, any age with parental consent under 18	AWS Educate
Google Cloud	No flat student credit published; credits flow through university programs and coursework	Varies	Enrolled at a participating institution	Google Cloud for Education
GitHub Codespaces	Pro-level cloud dev environments	While a verified student	GitHub pack	Via GitHub pack
Modal, Vercel, Supabase	Free and hobby tiers; no student-specific credit published	Ongoing	Any account	Sign up directly; check each for current education offers

Two providers with generous free tiers and no student program still matter: Vercel's Hobby plan hosts frontends free, and Supabase's free tier gives a Postgres database, auth and storage. Modal offers a monthly free compute allowance on every account, which is the closest thing to free GPU time a student gets without a research grant.

Provider by provider: what to expect

The same list, with what each credit actually covers and where the real AWS and Google Cloud student credits come from.

Microsoft Azure $100 · 12 months

The most straightforward student credit. Renewable each year you can verify, no credit card, plus 65+ always-free services and monthly free amounts on 20+ services for the first year. Claim it directly at azure.microsoft.com/free/students or through the GitHub pack.

DigitalOcean

Via GitHub pack

Applies to new accounts. The amount has changed over the years, so check the pack page for the current figure before you plan around it. Droplets, managed databases and App Platform all draw from the credit, which makes it the easiest place to host a real backend as a student.

MongoDB Atlas

$50 credits

Plus free access to MongoDB University certifications. The credit covers a shared or small dedicated cluster for a semester; the certification is worth more on a resume than the credit is in dollars.

Heroku

$13/mo · 24 months

A monthly platform credit through the GitHub pack. That covers an Eco dyno and a small Postgres, which is enough to host a class project or a prototype with a custom domain.

AWS

No flat credit

AWS Educate is free and gives training content, labs and sandbox environments, and universities in AWS Academy sometimes distribute credits to enrolled students. If your university teaches on AWS, ask the course staff; that is where AWS student credits actually come from.

Google Cloud

Via universities

Google Cloud for Education provides credits to institutions for teaching and research, and students receive them through coursework or faculty grants rather than a self-serve form. Student developer clubs occasionally distribute credits too. Ask your department first.

GitHub Codespaces

Via GitHub pack

Pro-level cloud dev environments for as long as you are a verified student. Not a credit in dollars, but it removes the need for a local machine that can run your stack.

Modal, Vercel, Supabase

Free tiers

None publishes a student program in the sources we verified. Modal covers serverless compute and GPU jobs with a monthly allowance, Vercel Hobby hosts frontends, Supabase Free gives a Postgres database with auth and storage. Combine them and a full-stack student project costs nothing.

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How to claim all of them in an afternoon

Most of the credits flow through one verification. Do that first and the rest is activating links.

1

Get the GitHub Student Developer Pack

Verify at education.github.com/pack with your school email or a dated enrollment document. This single approval unlocks the Azure, DigitalOcean, MongoDB and Heroku offers. Our pack guide covers the application.
2

Claim Azure for Students

Either through the pack or directly at azure.microsoft.com/free/students on a Microsoft account tied to your school email. No card. Set a budget alert at $80 in Cost Management.
3

Activate DigitalOcean, MongoDB and Heroku from the pack page

Each has its own link. Use your school email for new accounts so the "new customer" rule is satisfied. The Heroku credit is monthly for 24 months, so activate it when you have something to host, not before.
4

Open AWS Educate and ask your department about AWS Academy

AWS Educate is free training and sandboxes. Actual AWS credits for students come through universities in AWS Academy; the course staff know whether yours distributes them.
5

Ask about Google Cloud for Education

Faculty can request teaching and research credits. If you are in a course that uses GCP, the credits are usually already provisioned; ask where the coupon is.
6

Sign up for the free tiers that need no verification

Vercel Hobby, Supabase Free and Modal's free allowance. Use the same school email so everything is in one place when you graduate and consolidate.

How to run a whole project on student credits

The trick is to put each layer where it is free and spend credit only on what has no free tier.

Frontend: Vercel Hobby or Azure Static Web Apps. Both free with custom domains and SSL.
Database: Supabase Free (Postgres) or the MongoDB $50 credit. Azure SQL's serverless quota is a third option for the first year.
Backend: Azure Functions (1 million requests a month free for 12 months) or the Heroku credit for something that needs a long-running process.
Compute and GPU: Modal's free monthly allowance for batch jobs and model inference, then the Azure $100 for anything heavier.
AI models: The small free credit on a new Claude Console or OpenAI account, then Haiku 4.5 at $1 per million input tokens.
Domain: Free .me, .TECH or Name.com domain from the GitHub pack.

Run that stack and the out-of-pocket cost of a semester project is zero. The Azure credit is your buffer for the one thing that does not fit a free tier. Shut down anything you are not using; a forgotten VM is the classic way to lose the $100 in a month.

For founders

When it becomes a company: the same providers, 100x the credit

Every provider above runs a startup program that dwarfs its student offer. The student credits are designed to teach you the platform; the startup credits are designed to win your company's workload for years. Once you incorporate, you are eligible for the second set, and student status stops mattering.

See eligibility & how to apply Apply

The fine print

The sequence that works: incorporate (Stripe Atlas is the usual route), get a company domain and email, then apply to the big three clouds in parallel and pick a primary later. Keep the student credits on your personal accounts; startup programs attach to company accounts. Our cloud credits calculator totals what your stack qualifies for, and the playbooks show the order to apply in.

AWS Activate

Up to $100,000

Up to $100,000 in AWS credits for 2 years
1 year of AWS Business Support (up to $5,000)
Access to AWS Technical Support

Questions founders ask

Which cloud gives students the most free credit?

Microsoft Azure, with $100 for 12 months, renewable yearly while you are a verified student, and no credit card. It is also the only major cloud with a self-serve student credit; AWS and Google Cloud route theirs through universities.

Do students get AWS credits?

Not as a flat credit you claim yourself. AWS Educate is free and provides training, labs and sandboxes. Universities in AWS Academy sometimes distribute AWS credits to enrolled students through coursework. Ask your department or the instructor of any course that uses AWS.

Does Google Cloud offer student credits?

Google Cloud for Education provides credits to institutions for teaching and research, and students receive them through courses or faculty grants rather than a public form. Check with your department; if a course uses GCP, credits are often already provisioned.

How do I get DigitalOcean student credits?

Through the GitHub Student Developer Pack. Verify at education.github.com/pack, then activate the DigitalOcean offer on a new DigitalOcean account. The current credit amount is shown on the pack page.

Do I need a credit card for student cloud credits?

Azure for Students requires no card. Most other providers, including DigitalOcean and Heroku, ask for a card on their own site to activate a pack offer and bill normally once the credit or offer period ends. Set reminders for anything time-limited.

Can I use student cloud credits for a startup?

You can prototype on them, but they are personal, small and tied to enrollment. Once you incorporate, apply to the startup programs instead: AWS Activate, Google for Startups Cloud, Microsoft for Startups and the others offer five and six figure credits on company accounts.

Do Modal, Vercel or Supabase have student programs?

None publishes a student-specific credit in the sources we verified. All three have free tiers sufficient for student projects: Modal for compute with a monthly free allowance, Vercel Hobby for frontends, Supabase Free for a Postgres database with auth and storage.