Gemini Student Plan 2026: Who Gets Google AI Pro Free, and What Everyone Else Gets
Google is giving college students a free year of a Google AI plan, but the plan depends on where your school is. Here is exactly what U.S. and international students get, the fine print in Google's offer terms, what you pay when the year ends, and the route that gets a student founder Gemini for free after that.
What you can actually get
Free credits that open up the day you start a company.
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Google Cloud
Up to $350,000
Google Cloud credits, including Gemini on Vertex AI, once you incorporate
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GitHub
Up to $10,000
Copilot and Enterprise credits for early teams
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Microsoft
Up to $150,000
Azure credits, OpenAI models included
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Anthropic
Up to $100,000
Claude API credits once you have a startup
What the Gemini student offer gives you, by country
From Google's offer terms and the August 19, 2026 announcement. The terms say the plan "depends on the country or region of your eligible higher education institution", so it is your school's location that counts.
| Where your school is | Plan you get | Free for | What it includes | Price after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Google AI Pro | 12 months | 4x higher usage limits in Gemini than Free, Gemini Spark, Gemini Omni, Gemini in Gmail and Docs, 5 TB of storage. | $19.99/month |
| 140+ other markets where Google AI Plus is sold | Google AI Plus | 12 months | Gemini Omni, 2x higher usage limits in Gemini than Free, 400 GB of storage. | $4.99/month or local equivalent |
| Canada, Bolivia, Albania, Hong Kong, Macau, Tunisia | Not eligible | n/a | Excluded by name in the offer terms. The Free plan still applies. | n/a |
| Anywhere, on a school-issued Google account | Not eligible for the offer | n/a | The offer is not available on Workspace for Education accounts. Your school may give you Gemini for Education instead (see below). | n/a |
Both versions must be redeemed by December 31, 2026, and the 12 months run from the day you redeem, not from the start of term. Redeeming on December 31 gets you free access through the end of 2027.
Who qualifies: the fine print in Google's terms
The offer terms list five requirements. You must be 18 or older, be enrolled at a higher education institution in a supported country, verify your student status through SheerID, use a personal Google Account, and have a Google Payments account with a qualifying form of payment at sign-up. High school students do not qualify; the offer is for college and university students.
Several groups are excluded even if they are students. You do not qualify if you are part of a Google One family group, an enterprise purchaser, a discounted Pixel bundle subscriber, or if you already have a Google One subscription through a third party such as Google Fi. Supervised Google Accounts are out, and the offer does not work on your school-issued Workspace for Education account. If you are in a family group, you have to leave it before you claim.
Two details from Google's student page are worth knowing. Students whose free AI Pro trial from 2025 has expired can claim again. And eligibility "must be verified each year to maintain access", so expect SheerID to ask again rather than treating this as a permanent student rate.
How to claim the Gemini student plan
Allow ten minutes. Most of it is the SheerID step.
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1
Use a personal Google Account, not your school one
Sign in at gemini.google/students with a personal Gmail account you will keep after graduation. The offer is blocked on school-issued Workspace accounts, and a personal account keeps your files and storage when you leave. -
2
Leave any Google One family group first
Family group members are excluded by the terms. If someone shares their Google One plan with you, leave the group before you start, or the claim will fail. -
3
Click "Claim Free Student Plan" and verify with SheerID
SheerID confirms you are enrolled at an eligible higher education institution. Have your school email or enrollment documents ready in case it asks for proof. -
4
Add a payment method
A valid form of payment is required at sign-up. You will not be charged during the 12 months, but the card is there for the renewal. -
5
Put the renewal date in your calendar
The plan renews at $19.99 a month (AI Pro) or $4.99 a month (AI Plus, or local equivalent) when the year ends. If you want to stop, cancel before the end of the offer period. Google says your access continues to the end of the period if you cancel early. -
6
Clear your storage before you cancel
If you used the extra storage and then cancel, the terms say you will not be able to store anything new in Gmail, Drive or Photos until you delete files or buy a plan. Move large files out before the year ends.
What stage are you at?
Building something? Founders who incorporate unlock far more than any student plan. See what you qualify for in 60 seconds.
Four quick questions. Free, and your matches land in your inbox.
Gemini plans and prices in 2026
U.S. prices from gemini.google/subscriptions. The student offer is one of these plans free for a year; there is no separate student tier.
| Plan | U.S. price | Usage vs Free | Notable for students |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Baseline | Gemini 3.6 Flash, varying access to 3.1 Pro, Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas, Gems, Gemini Notebook, 15 GB of storage. |
| Google AI Plus | $4.99/month | 2x | Video generation, Daily Brief, Gemini in Gmail and Vids, 400 GB of storage. The plan international students get free. |
| Google AI Pro | $19.99/month | 4x | Higher limits for Jules (Google's coding agent) and entry limits in Google Antigravity, Gemini in Docs, 5 TB of storage. The plan U.S. students get free. |
| Google AI Ultra | From $99.99/month | Up to 20x Pro | Deep Think, highest limits, 20 TB+ of storage. No student pricing. |
Google's offer terms note that students on the free offer "may experience different usage limits than Google One members on a paid plan". Treat the table as the regular plan, not a guarantee of identical limits during the free year.
Gemini for Education: what your school may already give you
Separate from the personal offer, Google includes Gemini for Education (the Gemini app and Gemini Notebook) in every Google Workspace for Education edition at no extra cost, according to Google for Education. If your university runs on Google Workspace and has the app turned on, you can use Gemini through your school login today. Google says data in that version is not human-reviewed or used to train its models.
Schools can also buy a paid add-on, Google AI Pro for Education, for higher limits and premium features. Whether you have it depends entirely on what your school pays for. Ask your IT help desk.
The practical answer for most students is to use both: the school version for coursework where privacy matters, and the free personal AI Pro or AI Plus year for everything else, since the personal offer is the one with the extra storage and it stays with you after graduation (until the year runs out).
Gemini vs ChatGPT vs Claude for students right now
All three companies are courting students this term, with very different offers. Checked on the same day.
Google Gemini
12 months freeFor founders
Building something? The free year ends. Startup credits keep going.
The student plan covers the Gemini app. It does not cover the Gemini API, which is what you need if your project calls Gemini from code. That side has two free routes.
- Stage
- Pre-seed to Series A
- Equity
- None taken
- Referral
- Not needed
The fine print
For a prototype, a Gemini API key from Google AI Studio is free with no card and a rate-limited free tier on most current Flash models. For a company, the Google for Startups Cloud Program gives startups from Seed to Series A $200,000 in Google Cloud credits, or up to $350,000 for AI-first startups, according to cloud.google.com/startup. The credits are Google Cloud credits, and Google lists Gemini models as part of the AI stack it pitches to startups in the program.
If you are pre-funded, Google lists a separate pre-funded track on the same page. Our Google for Startups listing covers eligibility and how to apply, and the Gemini API pricing guide shows what the credits are worth in tokens. Microsoft and OpenAI run their own startup programs; see Microsoft for Startups and OpenAI for Startups if you are comparing.
Google for Startups Cloud Program
Up to $350,000
- $200,000 in Google Cloud credits for Seed to Series A startups
- $2,000 in credits for pre-funded startups building an MVP (Start tier)
- Access to Google Cloud experts and technical guidance
Questions founders ask
Is Gemini free for students?
How do I get Google AI Pro free as a student?
Can students outside the U.S. get Gemini Pro free?
Is the Gemini student offer available in Canada?
What happens when the free year ends?
Can I use my school email account for the Gemini student plan?
I had the free Gemini student trial in 2025. Can I claim again?
Does the student plan include the Gemini API?
Related guides
ChatGPT student discount
OpenAI's four free months of Plus for U.S. students.
Claude student discount
What students can get from Anthropic.
Gemini API key
Get a free key in AI Studio and what the free tier allows.
Gemini API pricing
Per-model rates and the free tier.
Google for Startups Cloud Program
Up to $350,000 in Google Cloud credits for startups.
Cloud credits for students
Azure, AWS, Google Cloud and more for students.
