AI Companies Offering API Credits
| Company / Program | Benefits | Eligibility | Apply / Info |
| OpenAI | Up to $2,500 via Ramp; $2,500 via Microsoft Founders Hub | Early-stage startups | OpenAI |
| Perplexity for Startups | $5,000 API credits; 6 months free Enterprise Pro (50 seats); access to Llama 3 LLMs | Early-stage startups; launched April 2025 | perplexity.ai/startups |
| Anthropic (Claude) | API credits via Student Builders; $5–10K AWS credits; $25K Anthropic credits | Students; AWS-using startups; selected startups | Anthropic Student Builders |
| Mistral AI | 30,000 credits; 1:1 support; early model access; cohort (6 mo; 10 startups) | Website presence; <7 years old; pre-Series B | Mistralship Program |
| Google Cloud (Gemini AI) | Up to $350K credits over 2 yrs; $12K support credits; Workspace; Maps credits; AI webinars | AI-core startups; Seed–Series A (within 12 mo); <10 yrs | Google Cloud AI Startup Program (Google Cloud, Gemini) |
| Microsoft (Azure OpenAI) | Up to $150K in Azure OpenAI credits; GPT-4 access; AI guidance | Startups at various stages | Microsoft Azure |
| Cohere | 25% discount for 1 yr; co-marketing; expert access | Early-stage (Series B or below); currently closed for 2025 | Cohere |
| Together AI | Free partner credits; $1 starting credit; high rate limits | Startups via partner programs | Together AI |
Other Top 21 companies that offer free credits, discounts, and extended trials for startups:
| Company | Perk | Eligibility |
| Notion | 6 months free | New, non-paying users; under 50–100 employees; under $10M funding; partner affiliation ups to 6 months, otherwise 3 months |
| Miro | $1K credits | Free Miro account; <7 years old; ≤ 30 employees; ≤ $10M raised; not a service provider; partner-linked startups may get up to $1K |
| Linear | 6 months free | early-stage startup—details on provider template. |
| Atlassian | 12 months free | early-stage startups via Atlassian’s startup program. |
| Shortcut | 12 months free | generally Colloquially known as Clubhouse’s startup offering. |
| Cloudflare | Up to $250K credits | early-stage startups |
| IBM | Up to $120K credits | in cloud credits through IBM’s startup programs. |
| Amazon AWS | Up to $100K credits | for early-stage startups via Activate. |
| Microsoft Azure | $5K credits | for startups via Microsoft programs. |
| Google Cloud | Up to $350K credits | |
| Scaleway | Up to €36K credits | in cloud credits through Scaleway’s startup offering. |
| Datadog | Up to $100K credits | via Datadog's startup program. |
| Posthog | $50K credits | via Datadog's startup program. |
| Retool | $60K + $200K partner deals | + $200K in partner deals. |
| Intercom | 90% discount + 1 year free | + one year free (Fin package). |
| Zendesk | 6 months free | up to 50 agents. |
| ElevenLabs | 11M characters/month | 3 months free |
| Vapi AI | 90K free usage minutes | |
| Gumlet | 50% off first-year monthly fees | |
| Shotstack | 80% discount | |
| Algolia | $10K credits for 12 months | via Algolia startup plan. |