The GitHub Student Developer Pack is still the best free offer for students in 2026. One verification gets you Copilot Student and a year of free domains. At 18 or older, the pack adds $100 of Azure credit and $13 a month of Heroku credit for 24 months. The pack’s Azure credit is the same $100 as Azure for Students, which needs no card. Microsoft allows one subscription per person, so do not count it twice. DigitalOcean’s credit and Canva were no longer in the pack on 12 October 2026. JetBrains’ coding tools (IDEs), Notion and Office 365 A1 are free with a school email. Free ChatGPT and Gemini plans for students are in our free AI subscriptions guide.
We checked each program’s official page on 12 and 13 October 2026. Many offers need you to be 18 or older, or to study in the US or Canada, so we give the age and country rules for each. Credits are a prepaid balance the provider draws down as you use its service. They are not cash, and most expire. Teachers can jump to offers for teachers.
GitHub Student Pack
80+
offers on the pack page, GitHub Pro and Copilot Student included
Azure for Students
$100
for 12 months, no card, 18+
In our directory
28
current student and teacher offers; ended ones in a separate list
Start here: three steps for students
Most students should do these three things, in this order. None of them needs a card.
- Get verified by GitHub Education for the Student Developer Pack. You need to be 13 or older and enrolled in a degree or diploma program. Approval opens the pack and Copilot Student, GitHub’s free AI coding plan for students.
- Claim Azure for Students: $100 to use within 12 months, if you are 18 or older and study full time.
- Claim JetBrains’ educational licence: IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate, PyCharm Pro and other JetBrains IDEs, free for a year and renewable while you study full time. Your GitHub Education approval counts as proof, or use a university email or an ISIC card (International Student Identity Card).
Age rules at a glance
| Offer | Minimum age | Note |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub Student Developer Pack | 13 | Includes Copilot Student |
| Azure for Students ($100) | 18 | Full-time students |
| Azure for Students Starter | 13 in the US, 16 elsewhere | Free tier only, no time limit |
| Heroku credit in the pack | 18 | Card on file |
| Google AI student plan | 18 | Card required |
| Kiro Students | 18 | Listed universities only |
| Claude campus programs | 18 | Paid role, not credit |
| Google Antigravity | 18 | Free plan |
| Unity Student | 16 | Checked by SheerID, a student-verification service |
| JetBrains non-commercial licences | 13 | Under-18s need a parent’s or guardian’s consent |
| AWS Educate | 13 | Job board 18+ |
Under 18? Start with the pack, AWS Educate and JetBrains’ non-commercial licences. For Azure, under-18s get free services, not the $100. The pack lists this for ages 13 to 17, but Microsoft’s rules for Azure for Students Starter set the minimum at 16 outside the US, so students in India and elsewhere can use it from 16.
Country rules: what works outside the US
| Where it works | Offers |
|---|---|
| No country limit stated | The GitHub pack and Copilot Student, AWS Educate, AWS Academy, JetBrains, Databricks Free Edition, Notion (colleges in the World Higher Education Database), Office 365 A1 (qualified institutions) |
| Listed countries, India included | Azure for Students (140+ countries), Google Skills credits (about 110), Google Cloud teaching credits, Google Antigravity |
| US, or US and Canada, only | Codex credits (US and Canada), ChatGPT Back to School, ChatGPT for Teachers and Claude for Teachers (US K-12 schools: primary and secondary, not universities), QuickBooks Online Education |
| Unclear for India | Figma (“select regions”, not listed), Unity (no country list), Kiro Students (no Indian university listed) |
In India, Heroku needs a card it can charge, so have one enabled for international payments ready. Our India guide covers paying for foreign cloud and AI tools from India, free AI plans for people in India and India’s own startup schemes.
GitHub Student Developer Pack in 2026: what is still in it
The pack is a bundle: GitHub’s own paid features while you are a verified student, plus partner offers you claim one by one at education.github.com/pack (opens in a new tab). On 12 and 13 October 2026 it included:
- GitHub Pro, Pro-level Codespaces (cloud coding environments in your browser) and Copilot Student.
- Azure: $100 of credit at 18+, or a free-services offer for ages 13 to 17. It has the same amount and age split as Azure for Students, and Microsoft allows one Azure for Students subscription per person, so do not count it twice.
- Heroku: $13 of credit a month for 24 months, ages 18+. A card is required, use above $13 in a month is billed, and unused credit does not roll over.
- Tools and courses: MongoDB $50 Atlas credit plus a certification valued at $150; Datadog Pro (10 servers) for 2 years; New Relic while you are a student; Educative and Frontend Masters for 6 months each; DataCamp for 3 months; 1Password for 2 years (pack page rechecked 15 October 2026); a $25 Stripe fee credit.
- Domains: .me, .TECH and Name.com, each free for 1 year.
What has left the pack in 2026: DigitalOcean’s credit, between 19 May and 9 July 2026; Canva; and free Copilot Pro, replaced by Copilot Student on 13 March 2026. Partners can leave without notice, so check the pack page before you plan around an offer.
We do not add the partner offers up into one dollar figure. GitHub publishes none, and most are time-limited plans you may never use. Claim each offer when you are ready to use it: Heroku’s 24 months start in the month you are approved, and DataCamp’s 3 free months come with a subscription, so check how it renews before you add payment details. Many offers stop when you graduate. The pack also points to JetBrains’ free educational licence, covered under software licences.
Applying without a college email
You can. GitHub accepts students aged 13+ in a degree- or diploma-granting program, including high school and homeschool. Upload dated proof, such as a school ID, class schedule, transcript or enrolment letter. One catch: if recent applicants from your school verified with an academic email, GitHub may require one from you too. If your school issues none, submit official proof of that policy. Apply in your personal GitHub account under Settings, then Education benefits.
Best free offers for students
Six offers with the best mix of value and reach, checked 12 and 13 October 2026. The first five cards jump to the full entry on this page. The last, Google’s AI student plan, opens its entry in our free AI subscriptions guide; it needs a card and renews at the full price unless you cancel.
Best first stepGitHub Student Developer PackGitHub Pro, Copilot Student and 80+ pack offersOne verification opens the whole pack. Ages 13+, no card.Best cloud credit with no cardAzure for StudentsMicrosoft$100 Azure credit for 12 months, no cardSpendable cloud credit just for being a student. Renew yearly while you study.Best AI coding toolGitHub Copilot Student planFree Copilot Student plan (auto model only)Unlimited completions and agent mode, with auto model selection only.Best professional IDEsJetBrains Student and Teacher PackFree JetBrains IDEs for 1 year, renewableIntelliJ IDEA Ultimate, PyCharm Pro and more, for learning.Best for data and AI practiceDatabricks Free EditionFree Databricks workspace for learningNo application and no end date, for personal, non-commercial use.Best AI app plan (US and India)Google AI free student plan1 free year of Google AI Pro (US) or AI PlusFor college students 18+. Redeem by 31 December 2026; it needs a card and renews at the full price unless you cancel.Full entry on the AI subscriptions page
Free AI tools for students
Free AI for students comes in two kinds: developer tools, below, and consumer app plans such as ChatGPT or Gemini, whose full entries are in our free AI subscriptions guide.
AI coding tools
- GitHub Copilot Student plan: free for verified students, with unlimited completions, agent mode and code review, but no third-party agents. It picks the AI model for you (auto model selection), so you cannot choose one. GitHub does not publish the AI credit allowance, and it rechecks your status monthly. A plan granted this way cannot be cancelled. GitHub paused new sign-ups in 2026 (press reports date the pause to 20 April 2026) and began reopening them gradually on 17 June 2026.
- Kiro Students (an AI coding app from AWS): 1,000 credits a month for a year, no card, for students 18+ at listed universities. No Indian university was listed on 12 October 2026; students at unlisted schools can request access. The $240 value is our estimate (12 months at the $20 Pro price).
- Codex credits for university students: $100 of usage in Codex, OpenAI’s coding agent, for university students who study and live in the US or Canada, so not India. These are ChatGPT credits, not API credits, and they expire 12 months after the grant.
- Google Antigravity free plan: Google’s AI coding app and command-line tool, with a weekly free quota whose size Google does not publish, for ages 18+.
- Free GPU notebooks: Colab and Kaggle (30 GPU hours a week) run Python notebooks on free GPUs. More free AI is in our free AI API credits guide.
AI app plans for students
| Offer | Who | What you get | Deadline or status |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Back to School | US college and graduate students | 4 free months of Plus, then $20 a month; card needed | Claim by 31 October 2026 |
| Google AI student plan | College students 18+ | A free year of AI Pro (US) or AI Plus (India); card needed | Redeem by 31 December 2026 |
| Perplexity Education Pro | Students and faculty | A paid discount at $10 a month, not a free plan | Active |
Claude campus programs pay students 18+ who lead a Claude club or workshop a $3,600 stipend. That is pay for running a group, not credit, and applications for the September 2026 to June 2027 cycle closed on 12 September 2026, with no next window announced on 12 October 2026. To learn an AI coding agent, see our Claude Code tutorial.
Free cloud credits for students: Azure, AWS and Google
Of the three big clouds, only Azure gives every full-time student aged 18 or older spendable credit, with no card and no proposal. For most students, AWS and Google give training, course access or credit through a professor. Graduate and PhD students can also apply for research credits (see the tip below).
| Offer | What you get | Who | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure for Students | $100 within 12 months, plus free amounts of 20+ services; no card | Full-time students 18+ | Disabled at 12 months or when the credit runs out, unless you upgrade |
| Azure for Students Starter | Free tier of App Service, Functions, MySQL and a few more | 13+ in the US, 16+ elsewhere | Free tier only |
| AWS Educate | Training labs and badges | Anyone 13+ | No AWS credits |
| AWS Academy | Cloud courses with Learner Lab | Students at member institutions | Your institution must join |
| Google Skills credits | 200 credits for labs and certifications | College students in about 110 countries, India included | Training only; expire after 1 year |
| Databricks Free Edition | A free data and AI workspace | Anyone learning | Non-commercial use only |
Azure for Students: the rules that matter
You verify with your school email and must study full time at an accredited, degree-granting institution. MOOCs (open online courses) and for-profit courses do not qualify, each person gets one subscription, and use is limited to education and non-commercial projects. When 12 months pass or the $100 runs out, the subscription is disabled unless you upgrade to pay-as-you-go, and you have 90 days to upgrade before deployed products are lost. Renew near your anniversary date while you are still a student.
AWS, Google Skills and Databricks
AWS Educate labs run in AWS’s own training environment, so they cannot pay for a project in your own AWS account. AWS Academy needs a faculty member to enrol your institution. Google Skills credits pay for labs, not Google Cloud usage, and can take up to two weeks to arrive. For most students, spendable Google Cloud credit comes through a professor, as Google Cloud teaching credits; PhD students can also apply for research credits. On Databricks Free Edition, going over the fair-use quota stops compute for the rest of the day.
Graduate and PhD students can ask for research credits: AWS Cloud Credit for Research (students up to $5,000) and Google Cloud research credits (PhD students up to $1,000 a year). See our research and nonprofit credits guide. When your student credit runs out, the free tiers in our free cloud credits guide keep small projects running.
Every student and teacher offer we track
28 current offers for students and teachers, checked 12 and 13 October 2026, with ended and paused ones in a separate list. One of them, Claude campus programs, was between intake windows when we checked. Use Open to Indian applicants to see what works in India, and No card needed to skip offers that ask for a card. Consumer AI app plans for students are listed in our free AI subscriptions guide.
Who it is for
Show only
Status
No programs match these filters.
Skip past this listApple Developer Program membership fee waiver (education, nonprofit, government)
AppleActiveSchools, nonprofits and government only
EducatorsNonprofits
$99 a year Apple Developer fee waived
Apple waives the $99 a year Developer Program fee for accredited educational institutions, nonprofits and government bodies that do not sell paid apps, in-app purchases or other digital goods.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Apple Developer Program membership fee waiver (education, nonprofit, government)
- Who qualifies
- A legal entity that is an accredited educational institution, a recognised nonprofit, or a government entity
- Not an individual, sole proprietor or single-person business
- Must not have signed the Paid Applications Agreement (or must have terminated it)
- Must not sell digital goods or services in any of its apps
- How long
- Per membership year; eligibility is reconfirmed at each renewal
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- Not applicable
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- No country limit stated
- India
- Yes. No country limit is stated. An Indian institution must be accredited by an official accrediting body.
- How to apply
- Pick the fee waiver option during enrolment, or have the Account Holder submit a fee waiver request before the membership expires.
- Watch out for
- Not for individual students or solo developers.
- No refunds for fees already paid.
- Apple may ask for more documents.
- If the organisation stops qualifying, the waiver is removed and the fee is due.
- Approved organisations also skip the EU Core Technology Fee if they signed the Alternative Terms Addendum.
- Status note
- Confirmed on Apple Developer help on 12 October 2026. Individual students cannot get a waiver. Apple’s University Program page shows ‘Page Not Found’.
Autodesk Education Plan
AutodeskActiveVerified students and educators
StudentsEducators
1 year of AutoCAD, Revit, Fusion free, renewable
Free one-year, renewable single-user access to Autodesk software (e.g. AutoCAD, Revit, Fusion) for eligible students and educators, for learning and research only. Verification by SheerID.
Some details are uncertain or conflict between official pages. Check the official page before you apply.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Autodesk Education Plan
- Who qualifies
- Meet the minimum age
- Enrolled at, employed by, or contracted to a qualified educational institution
- Proof of enrolment or employment through SheerID
- Some products (e.g. Flow Studio) are limited to post-secondary students aged 18+
- How long
- 1 year, renewable while eligible
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- Not stated
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- No country limit stated on the pages checked
- India
- Yes. Autodesk runs an India (English) edition of its education software page and states no country limit. Indian students verify with institution documents through SheerID.
- How to apply
- Create an Autodesk account in the Education Community, choose Student or Educator, and complete SheerID verification.
- Watch out for
- No commercial, professional or for-profit use.
- Installs on up to 3 devices.
- You cannot use the software until verification is approved.
- Cloud services may be restricted for users above average usage.
- Status note
- Confirmed on Autodesk’s education support page and education software overview (fetched with browser headers) on 12 October 2026. Includes the current version plus up to three prior versions. Heavy cloud-service users may face extra limits.
Official page for Autodesk Education Plan (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
AWS Academy
Amazon Web ServicesActiveYour institution must be a member
EducatorsStudents
Free AWS curriculum and Learner Lab via your course
Free, ready-to-teach cloud curriculum for institutions: 13 offerings including Learner Lab access to 100+ AWS services. Educators get 100% exam discounts; students and educators get 12 months of AWS Skill Builder.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for AWS Academy
- Who qualifies
- Institution offering accredited degree, diploma, certificate or continuing-education programs
- Application by an authorised faculty member or administrator (Program Administrator) using an institutional email
- Students get access through an AWS Academy course at a member institution
- How long
- Ongoing for member institutions. Skill Builder access lasts 12 months.
- Referral or funding needed
- No. The institution must join.
- Card needed
- Not applicable
- Work or school email
- Yes
- Countries
- No country limit stated
- India
- Yes. No country limit is stated. An Indian institution must join, and students then take an AWS Academy course there.
- How to apply
- A Program Administrator applies for the institution at aws.amazon.com/training/awsacademy with an institutional email; educators are then nominated.
- Watch out for
- Individual students cannot join directly.
- Learner Lab use happens inside the course environment, not as credit in your own AWS account.
- Educators must finish the Getting started with AWS Academy course before Learner Lab access.
- Status note
- Confirmed on the AWS Academy page on 12 October 2026. The page does not mention AWS credits. Students also get Emerging Talent Community access after finishing a course.
Official page for AWS Academy (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
AWS Educate
Amazon Web ServicesActiveJust register; ages 13+
StudentsAnyone
Free AWS training labs and badges (no credits)
Free self-paced AWS cloud and AI training with hands-on labs (S3, EC2, VPC, RDS, cloud operations) and shareable badges. Learners 18+ also get a job board. No AWS credits.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for AWS Educate
- Who qualifies
- Open to anyone aged 13 or older, at any education level
- Register with an email address
- Job board for ages 18+ only
- How long
- Ongoing
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- No
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- No country limit stated
- India
- Yes. Sign-up needs only an email address, and no country limit is stated.
- How to apply
- Register at aws.amazon.com/education/awseducate with an email address.
- Watch out for
- No AWS credits, so it does not replace the AWS Free Tier for real projects.
- Labs run in AWS’s own training environment, not in your AWS account.
- Status note
- Confirmed on the AWS Educate page on 12 October 2026. It is a training program, not a credit program.
Official page for AWS Educate (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
Azure for Students (and Azure for Students Starter)
MicrosoftActiveVerified students 18+ with school email
Students
$100 Azure credit for 12 months, no card
$100 of Azure credit to use within 12 months, free amounts of 20+ popular services for 12 months, 65+ always-free services and free developer software. No card needed; renew yearly while a student.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Azure for Students (and Azure for Students Starter)
- Who qualifies
- Aged 18 or older
- Full-time student at an accredited, degree-granting two- or four-year institution
- Verify with your school email
- MOOCs and for-profit training courses do not qualify
- One subscription per person
- Starter version: age 13+ in the US or 16+ elsewhere, school email or Shibboleth; free tier of App Service, Functions, Notification Hubs, MySQL, Application Insights and Azure DevOps, no time limit and no card
- How long
- 12 months or until the $100 is used, whichever comes first. Renewable each year while you remain a student.
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- No
- Work or school email
- Yes
- Countries
- More than 140 countries where Azure is sold. US Government and Azure Germany regions are excluded.
- India
- Yes. India is an Azure market. Sign up with your college email. Indian students aged 16 or 17 can use the Starter offer instead (the 13+ age applies only in the US).
- How to apply
- Sign up at azure.microsoft.com/free/students with your school email. Renew through the same page near your anniversary date; Microsoft emails a reminder.
- Watch out for
- When the credit runs out or 12 months pass, the subscription is disabled unless you upgrade to pay-as-you-go. You have 90 days to upgrade before deployed products are lost.
- The credit cannot pay for Marketplace items, support plans, Azure DevOps, Visual Studio subscriptions, ExpressRoute or third-party products.
- Compute resources may be removed after 90 days with no activity.
- Only for education, non-commercial research and learning projects.
- Credit cannot be transferred to other subscriptions.
- Status note
- Offer page, offer terms and Microsoft Learn FAQ (updated 3 August 2026) confirmed on 12 October 2026. Microsoft says the offer runs only while supplies last and may be ended at any time.
Official page for Azure for Students (and Azure for Students Starter) (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
Canva for Education
CanvaActiveVerified K-12 teachers and schools
EducatorsStudents
Canva for Education free for K-12 classrooms
Canva Education is free for K-12 (primary and secondary) teachers, their students and qualified schools and districts, with most premium features and classroom-safe AI. Universities go through Canva campus sales.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Canva for Education
- Who qualifies
- K-12 (primary or secondary) teacher, or a qualified school or district
- Sign up with an education email or upload proof of employment; checks take a few days
- Students get access through their teacher
- How long
- Ongoing while eligible
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- Not stated
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- Described as available to classrooms across the globe
- India
- Yes. Indian K-12 school teachers can apply with a school email or proof of employment. College students and university staff do not qualify.
- How to apply
- Choose Teachers – Get verified on canva.com/education and sign up with your school email or proof of employment.
- Watch out for
- Not for university students or staff.
- Students cannot apply on their own; they need a teacher to invite them.
- Status note
- Confirmed on canva.com/education on 12 October 2026, which commits to keeping it 100% free for K-12. Canva Pro is no longer in the GitHub Student Pack.
Official page for Canva for Education (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
ChatGPT for Teachers
OpenAIActiveVerified US K-12 educators only
Educators
Free ChatGPT for Teachers workspace
A free ChatGPT for Teachers workspace for verified US K-12 teachers, staff, administrators and district leaders, verified through SheerID. OpenAI pages disagree on the end: June 2028 or June 2027.
Some details are uncertain or conflict between official pages. Check the official page before you apply.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for ChatGPT for Teachers
- Who qualifies
- Employed by an accredited K-12 school or district in the US
- SheerID verification
- Not available to students
- How long
- Free through June 2028 per the plan page and launch post; the pricing page FAQ says June 2027.
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- Not stated
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- United States only
- India
- No. Only for US K-12 educators.
- How to apply
- Verify as a K-12 educator through SheerID from chatgpt.com/plans/k12-teachers, then create a workspace or join your district’s.
- Watch out for
- The end of the free period is unclear (2027 vs 2028 on OpenAI’s own pages), and OpenAI may charge afterwards.
- Higher-education staff and students do not qualify.
- Status note
- Launched 19 November 2025. On 12 October 2026, the K-12 plan page and the launch post say free through June 2028, while the ChatGPT pricing page FAQ says June 2027. OpenAI says it may introduce pricing afterwards with advance notice. Districts can claim their domain and use SAML SSO.
Official page for ChatGPT for Teachers (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
Claude campus programs (Builder Clubs, Campus Conversations, Claude Science workshops)
AnthropicLimited time, Fall 2026 intake closedCompetitive; Fall 2026 window closed
StudentsResearchers
$3,600 stipend for student group leaders
Students who lead a Claude Builder Club (undergrad), Campus Conversations (master’s) or Claude Science workshops (PhD/postdoc) get a $3,600 stipend. Clubs share resources such as API credits with members.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Claude campus programs (Builder Clubs, Campus Conversations, Claude Science workshops)
- Who qualifies
- Student anywhere in the world
- Aged 18 or older
- Work authorisation in your country of study
- Grad and PhD tracks may draw from a smaller set of schools during the pilot
- Some AI fluency and Claude skill expected; PhD applicants should already use Claude in research
- How long
- Per program year (current cycle: September 2026 to June 2027)
- Referral or funding needed
- No. Selection is competitive.
- Card needed
- Not applicable
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- Students anywhere can apply
- India
- Yes. Open worldwide. You need to be 18+ and allowed to work where you study.
- How to apply
- Apply on claude.com/programs/campus when the next window opens (the last one was 1 to 12 September).
- Watch out for
- The $3,600 is a stipend for leading a group, not free credit, and program terms apply.
- The application window is short (about 12 days).
- No amount is given for API credits shared with club members.
- Status note
- On 12 October 2026 the page said the program is closed for Fall 2026. Applications ran 1 to 12 September with rolling review, for a program running September 2026 to June 2027. The next window is not announced. Past ambassadors must reapply.
Claude for Teachers (K-12)
AnthropicActiveVerified US K-12 educators only
Educators
Free premium Claude features for teachersBest case: Schools/districts: 1 year free by 30 June 2027
Free premium Claude features for verified US K-12 teachers, with teaching skills and curriculum connectors such as Learning Commons. Schools and districts that sign up by 30 June 2027 get a full year free.
Some details are uncertain or conflict between official pages. Check the official page before you apply.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Claude for Teachers (K-12)
- Who qualifies
- US K-12 educator, school or district
- Educator verification (Get verified on the page)
- How long
- Individual teachers: no end date stated. Schools and districts signing up by 30 June 2027: one year free.
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- Not stated
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- United States only
- India
- No. Only for US K-12 educators. Higher education is served through a university-wide plan arranged through sales.
- How to apply
- Click Get verified on claude.com/solutions/teachers. Districts contact Anthropic to set up a centrally managed workspace with SSO.
- Watch out for
- US K-12 only.
- The exact plan level is not stated, and usage limits apply.
- District free year needs sign-up by 30 June 2027.
- Model training is off by default for verified educator accounts.
- Status note
- Confirmed on claude.com/solutions/teachers on 12 October 2026. The page does not list which paid-plan features are included, says extra usage limits apply, and says Anthropic may change prices and plans. There is no individual free student plan; Claude for Education is an institution-wide plan sold through Anthropic’s education team.
Official page for Claude for Teachers (K-12) (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
Codex credits for university students
OpenAIActiveUS/Canada university students only
Students
$100 of Codex usage (2,500 ChatGPT credits)
$100 of Codex usage (2,500 ChatGPT credits) for university students in the US or Canada, verified through SheerID. Works on Free, Go, Plus or Pro accounts; expires 12 months after grant.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Codex credits for university students
- Who qualifies
- Current student at a degree-granting university in the US or Canada
- Living in the US or Canada when you claim
- SheerID verification with your university email
- One credit offer per student
- How long
- 12 months from the grant date. No claim deadline stated.
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- No
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- United States and Canada only
- India
- No. You must study at a US or Canadian university and live there when you claim.
- How to apply
- Go to chatgpt.com/codex/students, sign in to your ChatGPT account, and verify through SheerID. Credits are added automatically.
- Watch out for
- These are ChatGPT credits for Codex, not API credits.
- Unused credits expire 12 months after the grant date.
- Cannot be shared, transferred or sold.
- SheerID ties verification to your name, school and date of birth; claiming from a second account triggers a ‘Verification Limit Exceeded’ error and cannot be reset.
- Codex cloud features need ChatGPT sign-in, not API-key-only auth.
- Status note
- Confirmed on chatgpt.com/codex/students and OpenAI’s terms article (updated early October 2026) on 12 October 2026. No end date for claiming is stated. A ChatGPT Free account qualifies, and no purchase is described to claim.
Official page for Codex credits for university students (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
Databricks Free Edition
DatabricksActiveNo application: sign up free
StudentsEducatorsSolo developersAnyone
Free Databricks workspace for learning
A free Databricks workspace for learning: serverless notebooks, SQL editor, one 2X-Small SQL warehouse, jobs, Genie, Lakebase Postgres, up to 3 apps and free training. Personal, non-commercial use only.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Databricks Free Edition
- Who qualifies
- Personal, non-commercial use only. Databricks markets it to students, educators, hobbyists and people learning data and AI
- One workspace and one metastore per account, with no account console or account-level APIs
- Sign-in only by email one-time code, Google or Microsoft. SSO and SCIM are not supported
- Verifying your identity through LinkedIn raises some usage limits and adds limited serverless GPU compute
- How long
- No end date (Databricks calls it perpetually free); fair-use quotas apply
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- Not stated
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- No country limit stated
- India
- Yes. The official pages list no country restriction, and sign-up uses Google, Microsoft or an email code, so Indian students and learners can use it. Commercial use, such as startup or client work, is not allowed.
- How to apply
- Click ‘Sign up for Free Edition’ on databricks.com/learn/free-edition and choose email, Google or Microsoft sign-in. Databricks creates the workspace for you.
- Watch out for
- Commercial and production use is not allowed, so it is not a free tier for running a startup’s workloads
- If you go over the fair-use quota, compute shuts down for the rest of the day, and in extreme cases for the rest of the month. Your data is kept
- Serverless only: no custom compute, no R or Scala, no GPU model serving, and only 5 concurrent job tasks
- Outbound internet access from the workspace is limited to trusted domains
- Apps stop automatically 24 hours after each start, update or redeploy
- No SLA or support, and Databricks may delete accounts that stay inactive for a long time
- The official pages do not say whether a card is needed and describe no payment step
- Status note
- Free Edition replaced the legacy Community Edition, which the docs say was retired in 2025 (no exact date given). The marketing page says legacy Community Edition accounts stay reachable for the rest of the current year. The docs page was last updated on 11 September 2026. No 2026 change to the free terms was found.
Official page for Databricks Free Edition (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
DataCamp Classrooms
DataCampActiveTeachers apply; students via invite
EducatorsStudents
Free DataCamp for a class, about 6 months
Educators and their students get free DataCamp access (courses, projects, DataLab, certifications) through DataCamp Classrooms, about six months at a time. Teachers reapply each semester.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for DataCamp Classrooms
- Who qualifies
- Faculty (professors, lecturers, instructors) at accredited higher-education institutions worldwide
- High-school teachers only in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Poland, Turkey, the UK and the USA
- Students aged 17+ invited by a teacher (13 to 15 in the US with parental consent)
- Students cannot create a classroom themselves
- How long
- One semester (about 6 months), renewable by reapplying
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- Not stated
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- Faculty worldwide; high-school teachers in the nine listed countries only
- India
- Yes. Indian university faculty can apply. Indian high-school teachers are not yet eligible.
- How to apply
- A teacher applies on datacamp.com/universities; review usually takes 2 to 3 business days (up to a week at peak).
- Watch out for
- Applications are rejected automatically if requested information is not sent within two weeks.
- Access ends after the semester unless the teacher reapplies.
- Student clubs apply separately through DataCamp Donates.
- Status note
- Confirmed on datacamp.com/universities on 12 October 2026. Students can also get 3 free months through the GitHub Student Pack.
Official page for DataCamp Classrooms (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
Figma for Education
FigmaActiveVerified students and teachers
StudentsEducators
Free Figma Professional (1 yr students, 2 yr staff)
Free Figma Professional for verified high-school, university and approved bootcamp students and educators. Higher-ed and bootcamp users get 3,000 AI credits a month, Figma Make and one Site. K-12 schools get Enterprise free.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Figma for Education
- Who qualifies
- Current student, or an educator who teaches a class (other school staff do not qualify)
- School-issued email; higher-ed applicants also verify through SheerID
- Old enough to consent on your own; younger students only through a school agreement
- Self-directed learners, startups, edtech companies and nonprofits do not qualify
- Bootcamp students must be verified by their bootcamp admin
- How long
- Students: 1 year. Educators: 2 years. Bootcamp students: 6 months. Then you reapply.
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- Not stated
- Work or school email
- Yes
- Countries
- Figma says it is available only in select regions; no list was found
- India
- Unclear. Figma says the program is available only in select regions and does not list them. Outside the US, UK and Japan, use is limited to students above the local age of consent.
- How to apply
- Create a Figma account, apply at figma.com/education/apply with your school email, then create an Education team.
- Watch out for
- When verification lapses, education teams become view-only.
- Team owners with four or more files get a locked team.
- Changing your account email after verification revokes your status.
- Figma Sites cannot use custom domains.
- Status note
- Confirmed on figma.com/education and Figma’s help centre on 12 October 2026. AI tools, Figma Make and Sites are for higher-ed and bootcamp users only, not K-12 or high school.
Official page for Figma for Education (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
Free domains in the GitHub Student Developer Pack
Namecheap / .TECH / Name.com (via GitHub Education)ActiveGitHub Student Pack members only
Students
Free .me, .TECH and Name.com domains for 1 year
Through the Student Pack: a .me domain plus an SSL certificate, each free for 1 year, from Namecheap; a standard .TECH domain free for 1 year; and one free domain from 25+ extensions (e.g. .dev, .app) at Name.com.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Free domains in the GitHub Student Developer Pack
- Who qualifies
- Verified GitHub Education student
- How long
- First year only
- Referral or funding needed
- No. Needs GitHub Student Developer Pack membership.
- Card needed
- Not stated
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- No country limit stated
- India
- Yes. Available to Indian students with the pack.
- How to apply
- Open each registrar’s offer from education.github.com/pack and redeem it with your verified GitHub account.
- Watch out for
- Only the first year is free, and renewals are paid. Check the renewal price before you build a site or brand on the domain.
- .TECH covers standard names only.
- Name.com says your account needs a unique address, or the request may be rejected as a duplicate.
- Status note
- All three domain offers were listed on the pack page on 12 October 2026. Domain values and renewal prices are not stated.
Official page for Free domains in the GitHub Student Developer Pack (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
Free GitHub Copilot Pro for verified teachers (and popular open-source maintainers)
GitHubActiveVerified teachers on GitHub Education
EducatorsOpen-source maintainers
Free Copilot Pro (normally $10 a month)
Verified teachers, and maintainers of popular open-source projects, can get Copilot Pro free. Pro lists at $10 a month with 1,500 monthly AI credits (1,000 base plus 500 flex) and a selection of models.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Free GitHub Copilot Pro for verified teachers (and popular open-source maintainers)
- Who qualifies
- Verified teacher on GitHub Education, or maintainer of a popular open-source repository (GitHub does not define ‘popular’)
- How long
- While verified. GitHub rechecks eligibility every month.
- Referral or funding needed
- No. Needs verified teacher status on GitHub Education.
- Card needed
- No
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- No country limit stated
- India
- Yes. Indian teachers verified through GitHub Education qualify in the same way.
- How to apply
- Get verified as a teacher through GitHub Education. Then open Copilot settings from your profile menu and click Get access to GitHub Copilot.
- Watch out for
- Approval is not automatic; GitHub checks eligibility.
- GitHub rechecks eligibility monthly.
- A free plan granted this way cannot be cancelled.
- Premium models are not in Pro.
- The $120 value is our calculation from the $10 a month list price.
- Status note
- Confirmed on GitHub Docs on 12 October 2026. Unlike students, teachers still get Copilot Pro rather than the Student plan. Pro does not include premium models such as Claude Opus 4.8; those need Pro+ ($39 a month).
Free non-commercial licences (CLion, Rider, RubyMine, RustRover, WebStorm, DataGrip)
JetBrainsActiveNo application; non-commercial use only
Solo developersStudentsOpen-source maintainers
Free 1-year licences for 6 JetBrains IDEs
Free one-year licences for non-commercial use of CLion, Rider, RubyMine, RustRover, WebStorm and DataGrip. You get the full IDE, the same as the paid version.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Free non-commercial licences (CLion, Rider, RubyMine, RustRover, WebStorm, DataGrip)
- Who qualifies
- Individuals only, not organisations; age 13 or over (under-18s need a parent’s or guardian’s consent).
- Non-commercial use: learning, hobby projects, unpaid open-source work and content creation. Educational videos, courses or streams count even if they earn money.
- One licence per product.
- How long
- 1 year per product; renews automatically if you used it in the last 6 months, otherwise request a new one.
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- No
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- No country limit stated.
- India
- Yes. No country restriction stated.
- How to apply
- Install the IDE, choose the non-commercial option at the licence prompt and sign in with a JetBrains Account.
- Watch out for
- Anonymous usage statistics are mandatory and cannot be turned off under this licence.
- Code-related data collection is on by default; the agreement says you can switch it off in settings.
- Any paid client work or business use needs a commercial licence.
- The IDE must check in with JetBrains online from time to time, and JetBrains may run compliance checks and end the licence on 7 days’ notice if it finds a breach.
- Status note
- JetBrains’ non-commercial FAQ was last updated 13 August 2026. GoLand, PyCharm and IntelliJ IDEA are not on the list.
GitHub Copilot Student plan
GitHubChanged 13 March 2026Verified students on GitHub Education
Students
Free Copilot Student plan (auto model only)
Free Copilot Student plan for verified students: unlimited code completions, an unpublished allowance of GitHub AI Credits, agent mode, cloud agent, code review, CLI and MCP. Auto model selection only.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for GitHub Copilot Student plan
- Who qualifies
- Verified student through GitHub Education
- Personal GitHub account
- How long
- While verified as a student. GitHub rechecks eligibility every month.
- Referral or funding needed
- No. Needs approved GitHub Education student status.
- Card needed
- No
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- No country limit stated
- India
- Yes. Available to Indian students once GitHub Education verifies them.
- How to apply
- Get verified through GitHub Education. Then go to github.com/settings/education/benefits, click Learn more under the free developer resources section, and follow the prompts to activate Copilot Student.
- Watch out for
- Students no longer get free Copilot Pro. To choose models yourself you need paid Pro at $10 a month.
- The size of the AI credit allowance is not published.
- GitHub rechecks eligibility monthly, so access ends soon after student status lapses.
- A free plan granted as a verified student cannot be cancelled.
- Sign-ups were paused for a period from 20 April 2026 (press reports). Check the docs if activation fails.
- Status note
- On 13 March 2026 GitHub moved students from free Copilot Pro to the new Copilot Student plan; the changelog says only that the model lineup was revised. GitHub’s plans docs on 12 October 2026 say Copilot Student is free, uses auto model selection only, excludes third-party agents and has an AI credit allowance whose size is not published. Press reports say GitHub’s docs announced a temporary pause on new sign-ups for Pro, Pro+ and student plans from 20 April 2026; the docs fetched on 12 October 2026 no longer mention any pause, and a reopening date was not found on an official page. GitHub’s changelog of 17 June 2026 says sign-ups for Copilot Student, Pro, Pro+ and Max began reopening gradually from that date, for new subscribers, over about two weeks (checked 13 October 2026).
Official page for GitHub Copilot Student plan (opens in a new tab)Checked 13 October 2026
GitHub Student Developer Pack (GitHub Education)
GitHubChanged 2026: DigitalOcean and Canva leftVerified students aged 13+
Students
GitHub Pro, Copilot Student and 80+ pack offers
Free bundle for verified students: GitHub Pro, Copilot Student, Pro-level Codespaces, $100 Azure credit (18+), Heroku $13 a month for 24 months, JetBrains IDEs, 1-year domains and 80+ offers in all, most from partner companies.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for GitHub Student Developer Pack (GitHub Education)
- Who qualifies
- Aged 13 or older
- Enrolled in a degree- or diploma-granting program (high school, college, university or homeschool)
- Your own personal GitHub account
- Proof of status: dated school ID, class schedule, transcript or enrolment/affiliation letter
- An academic email is required if recent applicants from your school verified with one; if your school issues none, submit official proof of that policy
- How long
- GitHub benefits last while you are a verified student. Each partner offer has its own term, often 6 to 24 months.
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- No
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- No country limit stated
- India
- Yes. Indian schools and colleges can apply. GitHub may ask for a college email if others from your institution used one. Otherwise, upload proof of enrolment.
- How to apply
- In GitHub, go to Settings > Education benefits and click Start an application, then upload proof of enrolment. Once approved, claim each partner offer separately at education.github.com/pack.
- Watch out for
- Partners can leave without notice. DigitalOcean’s credit and Canva Pro have both gone in 2026.
- Many offers last only while you are a student and stop when you graduate.
- Some partner offers need a card on file. Heroku, for example, bills any use above the monthly credit.
- DataCamp’s 3 free months apply when you subscribe with your GitHub student account. Check how it renews before adding payment details.
- Domains are free for the first year only.
- Status note
- Checked 12 October 2026 on education.github.com/pack. DigitalOcean and Canva are no longer listed (the DigitalOcean student page was live until at least 19 May 2026 and redirected by 9 July 2026, per the Wayback Machine index). Since 13 March 2026 students get Copilot Student, not Copilot Pro. Still listed: Heroku $13 a month for 24 months; Azure $100 credit (18+) or a free-services offer for ages 13-17; MongoDB $50 Atlas credit plus a certification valued at $150; Datadog Pro (10 servers) for 2 years; New Relic while a student ($300 a month value); Educative and Frontend Masters 6 months; DataCamp 3 months; 1Password 2 years (pack page rechecked 15 October 2026); Stripe $25 fee credit; .me, .TECH and Name.com domains for 1 year.
Official page for GitHub Student Developer Pack (GitHub Education) (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
Google Cloud credits for teaching (faculty)
Google CloudActiveFaculty apply; students via professor
EducatorsStudents
Up to $50 per student, $100 per teaching staff
Faculty can apply for Google Cloud credits for up to 3 courses: up to $100 per teaching staff member and up to $50 per student. Only faculty can apply.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Google Cloud credits for teaching (faculty)
- Who qualifies
- Faculty at an accredited higher-education institution
- Institution in one of the listed countries
- Official school email (another email can be nominated if the school has none)
- Course must start within 1 year of applying; up to 3 courses per application
- Credits are meant for students to learn Google Cloud
- How long
- Redeemable from approval until 16 weeks after the course start date; valid for up to 1 year after the course start date.
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- No
- Work or school email
- Yes
- Countries
- Listed countries only
- India
- Yes. India is in the teaching-credits form’s country list.
- How to apply
- A faculty member applies at edu.google.com/programs/credits/teaching and lists the school email domains that students will use.
- Watch out for
- Students cannot apply themselves; they have to ask their professor.
- Google warns students not to sign up for the Google Cloud Free Trial by mistake, because it needs a card.
- $100 per teaching staff member and $50 per student are caps, not guaranteed amounts.
- Students must redeem within 16 weeks of the course start.
- Status note
- Confirmed on cloud.google.com/edu/faculty and the edu.google.com teaching credits form on 12 October 2026.
Official page for Google Cloud credits for teaching (faculty) (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
Google Skills credits for students (formerly Google Cloud Skills Boost)
Google CloudActiveCollege students in ~110 countries
Students
200 Google Skills credits for labs, valid 1 year
200 free Google Skills credits for college and university students. They work on any hands-on lab in the catalogue (and Google Cloud certifications) and expire one year after they are issued.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Google Skills credits for students (formerly Google Cloud Skills Boost)
- Who qualifies
- Enrolled at an accredited college or university in an eligible country
- Apply with your institutional email
- Credits are for learning, not personal or hobby use, and cannot be sold or transferred
- How long
- 12 months from issue
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- No
- Work or school email
- Yes
- Countries
- About 110 listed countries only (shown in the application form)
- India
- Yes. India is in the application form’s country list.
- How to apply
- Fill in the Google Skills Student Training Credits form, linked from cloud.google.com/edu/students, using your college email.
- Watch out for
- These credits pay for training labs, courses and certifications, not for Google Cloud usage.
- Credits expire after 1 year.
- Processing can take up to two weeks.
- Status note
- Confirmed on 12 October 2026 on cloud.google.com/edu/students and the application form.
Heroku for GitHub Students
Heroku (Salesforce)ActiveStudent Pack members 18+, card on file
Students
$13 a month Heroku credit for 24 months
$13 of Heroku platform credit each month for 24 months ($312 in total) for Student Developer Pack members aged 18+. Covers dynos, Postgres and Key-Value Store.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Heroku for GitHub Students
- Who qualifies
- Qualifies for the GitHub Student Developer Pack
- Aged 18 or older
- A valid credit or debit card on file with Heroku
- How long
- 24 months, starting on the first day of the month you are approved. Unused credit expires each month.
- Referral or funding needed
- No. Needs GitHub Student Developer Pack membership.
- Card needed
- Yes
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- No country limit stated
- India
- Yes. No country limit is stated, but you need a card that Heroku can charge. Have a card enabled for international payments ready.
- How to apply
- Claim the Heroku offer from the Student Pack page, sign in to Heroku, and submit the GitHub Students application.
- Watch out for
- Use above $13 in a month is charged to your card.
- Credit does not roll over between months.
- Paid third-party add-ons are not covered.
- Cannot be used on Heroku Team accounts.
- Anyone in the program since October 2022 cannot reapply; 2018-2020 participants get one 24-month period.
- Shut down your resources at month 24, or they will be billed.
- Status note
- Confirmed on Heroku’s page on 12 October 2026. The current version of the program started in October 2022.
Official page for Heroku for GitHub Students (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
Intuit for Education (free QuickBooks Online for educators and students)
IntuitActiveAccredited US schools only
StudentsEducators
Free QuickBooks Online for teaching; 1-yr student trial
Free QuickBooks Online for teaching at accredited US schools and colleges. Students get a 1-year trial, and educators keep access while they stay eligible. Includes a free 3-level college curriculum.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Intuit for Education (free QuickBooks Online for educators and students)
- Who qualifies
- Current educators, students and staff at accredited US educational institutions
- College: the educator submits a registration form and is verified, then creates the QuickBooks Online account and uses the educator portal
- High school: create an Intuit for Education account to reach the curriculum (26 lessons)
- Canada has a separate Intuit Education Program (QuickBooks Online and ProFile); there, educators get a 1-year QuickBooks Online trial
- How long
- Students: 1-year trial. Educators: does not expire while they meet Intuit’s eligibility rules
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- Not stated
- Work or school email
- Not stated
- Countries
- United States (accredited US institutions). Canada has its own program. No other countries are listed.
- India
- No. The US program is limited to accredited US institutions, and Intuit’s education programs cover only the US and Canada. No program for Indian students or teachers was found.
- How to apply
- College educators submit the educator registration form on Intuit’s education site, then create the QuickBooks Online account after verification. Students get access through their educator or school.
- Watch out for
- Intuit calls these free trials. Student access is a 1-year trial, not a permanent licence
- Certification exams (such as QuickBooks Certified User) are run by Certiport, and fees may apply depending on state and district
- US-only. Indian and most other international readers cannot use it
- Xero has no equivalent free licence: its educator page offers only a 30-day trial with a demo company
- Status note
- The US page lists three college course levels (6+, 20+ and 24+ hours of student activities) and a 26-lesson high-school curriculum that works with Canvas, Blackboard and Google Classroom. No 2025-2026 change to eligibility was found.
JetBrains Student and Teacher Pack (free educational licences)
JetBrainsActiveVerified full-time students and teachers
StudentsEducators
Free JetBrains IDEs for 1 year, renewable
Free JetBrains IDEs for students and teachers, including IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate, PyCharm Pro and ReSharper, for 1 year, renewable, with AI Assistant and Junie on JetBrains’ AI Free tier. Verified students can also start a free 30-day AI Pro trial.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for JetBrains Student and Teacher Pack (free educational licences)
- Who qualifies
- Full-time student in an accredited program of at least one year, or a teacher
- Verify with a university email, an ISIC/ITIC card, or GitHub Student Developer Pack status
- How long
- 1 year, renewable each year while you remain a full-time student or teacher
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- No
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- No country limit stated (sanctions rules apply)
- India
- Yes. Indian students can verify with a college email, an ISIC card or the GitHub Student Pack.
- How to apply
- Apply on the JetBrains student or teacher form at jetbrains.com/academy/student-pack, or link your GitHub Student Pack.
- Watch out for
- Non-commercial, educational use only.
- AI Pro is only a 30-day trial (10 AI credits for individuals). Starting it may ask you to link a payment card, though JetBrains says the trial stays free. Afterwards you drop to AI Free (3 AI credits per 30 days) unless you pay for AI Pro at $10 a month (checked 13 October 2026).
- Renew every year.
- After graduation you get 40% off a personal subscription for up to 2 years after the student licence ends.
- Status note
- Checked 13 October 2026 on JetBrains’ sales help article (updated 7 January 2026), the PyCharm for Students page and the JetBrains AI subscription and licensing docs (updated 22 April and 22 July 2026). The AI Pro trial lasts 30 days and may ask for a payment card. The educational IDE licence itself needs no card.
Kiro Students
Amazon Web Services (Kiro)ActiveStudents 18+ at listed universities
Students
1,000 Kiro credits a month free for 1 year
Verified students at listed universities get 1,000 Kiro credits a month free for one year (the same allowance as the $20 Pro plan), with no card. Verification is through SheerID.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Kiro Students
- Who qualifies
- Aged 18 or over
- Enrolled, with a Kiro account linked to a university email (for example .edu or .ca)
- School must be on Kiro’s eligible list; students at unlisted schools can submit their email to request access
- SheerID check: name, date of birth, university, and sometimes a student ID or enrolment letter
- One benefit per participant; Kiro may refuse participation at its discretion
- How long
- 12 months from successful verification, then the account moves to Kiro Free
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- No
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- Limited to listed universities, not countries. The visible list has schools in the US, Canada, UK, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, France, Romania, Hungary, Malaysia and Indonesia.
- India
- Unclear. No Indian university appears in the eligible-schools list on 12 October 2026. Indian students can use the ‘Don’t see your school listed?’ form, but access is not guaranteed.
- How to apply
- Sign in at app.kiro.dev with Google, GitHub or Builder ID, using or linking your university email. Then click verify on the ‘You are eligible for Kiro Students’ banner on the usage page.
- Watch out for
- Credits do not roll over, and add-on credits cannot be bought during the year.
- The ‘Your organization’ (IAM Identity Center) sign-in is not supported.
- After 12 months you drop to the 50-credit Free tier unless you pay.
- Benefits are non-transferable and cannot be reissued.
- Status note
- Page and terms checked 12 October 2026; terms last updated 8 September 2026. No program end date is stated, and Kiro says it may change or end the program at any time. The $240 value is ReconScribe’s estimate (12 months at the $20 Pro price, which also gives 1,000 credits). Kiro does not advertise a dollar figure.
Official page for Kiro Students (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
Notion Education Plan
NotionActiveCollege students/educators, school email
StudentsEducators
Free Notion Education plan (single member)
Free Notion Education plan for college students and educators with a school email: one-member workspace, unlimited pages and uploads, 30-day page history. Student clubs can apply for a free multi-member version.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Notion Education Plan
- Who qualifies
- Student or educator at an accredited college or university listed in the World Higher Education Database
- Your school email must be the main email on your Notion account
- K-12 students and educators are not eligible
- Must be on the Free plan first; downgrade from Plus before switching
- Each school email can claim the plan only once
- How long
- No end date. You re-verify your school email once a year.
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- Not stated
- Work or school email
- Yes
- Countries
- No country limit stated
- India
- Yes. Indian universities in the World Higher Education Database qualify. You must use your college email as your main Notion email.
- How to apply
- In Notion on desktop or web, go to Settings > Upgrade plan > Get free education plan.
- Watch out for
- Upgrade from desktop or web, not the mobile app.
- Single member only, so remove other members first.
- Without yearly re-verification, the workspace drops to the Free plan.
- Student IDs are not accepted; only a school email works.
- Status note
- Confirmed on Notion’s education page and help centre on 12 October 2026. Notion AI is not listed as included. The GitHub Student Pack version adds extra AI responses.
Official page for Notion Education Plan (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
Office 365 A1 (free Office 365 Education)
MicrosoftActiveStudents/teachers with a school email
StudentsEducators
Free Office web apps, Outlook and OneNote
Free for students and teachers at qualified institutions: web versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote, plus PC-only Publisher and Access. Desktop Office apps need paid A3/A5.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Office 365 A1 (free Office 365 Education)
- Who qualifies
- Student or educator with an eligible school email
- The institution must be a qualified educational organisation
- Verification is often instant but can take up to a month
- How long
- While your school email and status remain eligible
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- No
- Work or school email
- Yes
- Countries
- No country limit stated
- India
- Yes. Works if your Indian school or college is a qualified institution and gives you an eligible email.
- How to apply
- Enter your school email on microsoft.com/education/products/office and follow the sign-up steps.
- Watch out for
- If your status lapses, Office apps become view-only, and school-linked OneDrive and web apps stop working.
- Desktop Word/Excel/PowerPoint are not included in A1.
- If verification is still pending when a 30-day trial ends, contact support.
- Status note
- Confirmed on Microsoft’s Office for education page on 12 October 2026. Anyone without a school email can still use free Microsoft 365 for the web.
Official page for Office 365 A1 (free Office 365 Education) (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
Tableau for Teaching and Tableau for Students (Tableau Academic Programs)
Tableau (Salesforce)Student keys ended; no date givenVerified instructors; students limited
EducatorsStudentsResearchers
Free 1-year Tableau licences for instructors
Instructors get free, renewable 1-year licences for Tableau Desktop, Prep Builder and eLearning, plus course, lab and 100-seat Tableau Cloud licences. Students now get the free Tableau Desktop Public Edition instead.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Tableau for Teaching and Tableau for Students (Tableau Academic Programs)
- Who qualifies
- Instructors must teach credit-bearing degree courses at an accredited institution, or do non-commercial academic research there
- Proof is required: a public faculty profile, course syllabus or official letter showing your name, institution and the current year
- Students cannot get their own licence key any more. They download Tableau Desktop Public Edition after signing up on Tableau Public
- Institutional research, clinical research and independent consulting do not count as non-commercial academic research
- How long
- Instructor licence: 1 year, renewable each year you teach. Course licence: length of the course (typically 3 to 6 months). Lab licence and Cloud site: 1 year, renewable. Student Public Edition: no renewal needed
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- No
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- No country limit stated
- India
- Yes. No country restriction is listed. Faculty at accredited Indian colleges can request instructor licences, and Indian students can use Tableau Desktop Public Edition for learning.
- How to apply
- Instructors request licences through the Tableau for Teaching form linked from tableau.com/academic/teaching and attach proof of teaching. Students click ‘Get Tableau for Free’ on tableau.com/academic/students and sign up on Tableau Public.
- Watch out for
- Tableau Desktop Public Edition saves and publishes only to Tableau Public, where workbooks are public. Do not use it with confidential or client data
- Public Edition is not licensed for commercial use, including internships or jobs
- Public Edition cannot publish to Tableau Cloud
- Individual instructor licences arrive in 5 to 7 business days, and only one active Cloud site is allowed per year
- Lab licences (up to 2,000 activations) are for university-owned shared computers only, not personal machines
- Status note
- Tableau for Students no longer issues one-year renewable student licence keys. The official FAQ says the program has moved to Tableau Desktop Public Edition (the page gives no change date). Students who need full Desktop or Cloud for a class must get it through their instructor’s course licence. Tableau for Teaching still offers free licences that renew each year.
Unity Student plan
UnityActiveStudents 16+ verified via SheerID
Students
Free Unity Pro editor + assets, 1 yr renewable
Free Unity Student plan: the latest Unity Pro editor, an Odin Inspector education licence, a Synty asset bundle, Unity Cloud access, and 3 Version Control seats with 5 GB.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Unity Student plan
- Who qualifies
- Aged 16 or older
- Enrolled at an accredited institution; post-secondary applicants at an accredited degree-granting institution
- Taking classes that earn credit toward a diploma, degree or professional licence
- SheerID verification
- How long
- 1 year, renewable while enrolled (from 60 days before expiry)
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- Not stated
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- Not stated
- India
- Unclear. No country list is given. Verification uses SheerID.
- How to apply
- Sign in with a Unity ID on the Unity Student page and verify through SheerID; activate the licence key in Unity Hub.
- Watch out for
- One Unity ID per plan, for personal devices only.
- Classroom and lab installs need the separate Education Grant License.
- Projects made on a Student plan can only be opened with a Student plan account.
- You may commercialise projects under the Unity Editor terms.
- Status note
- Confirmed on unity.com/products/unity-student on 12 October 2026.
Official page for Unity Student plan (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
Ended and paused programs (2)
Colab Pro for Education (free 1-year Colab Pro)
GooglePausedUS university only; new sign-ups closed
StudentsEducators
Paused: was 1 year of Colab Pro free
A free year of Colab Pro for students and faculty at US universities. It is closed to new sign-ups.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for Colab Pro for Education (free 1-year Colab Pro)
- Who qualifies
- Student or faculty member at a US-based higher-education institution
- Identity verification through SheerID
- How long
- 1 year from SheerID verification, for people who already claimed it
- Referral or funding needed
- No
- Card needed
- Not stated
- Work or school email
- No
- Countries
- United States only
- India
- No. Only US universities were eligible.
- How to apply
- Closed for now. Check colab.research.google.com/signup for a ‘No cost to students and educators’ option in case it reopens.
- Watch out for
- Buying a personal Colab paid plan ends the education subscription permanently.
- Once it ends or is cancelled, you cannot get it again.
- Status note
- Announced on 18 July 2025 as a limited number of free subscriptions. On 12 October 2026 the Colab FAQ said it is no longer available for new sign-ups at this time. Existing users keep access until their one-year mark.
Official page for Colab Pro for Education (free 1-year Colab Pro) (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
DigitalOcean credit for GitHub Student Pack (ended)
DigitalOceanEndedEnded mid-2026; no longer in the pack
Students
Ended: was DigitalOcean credit (reported $200)
Students in the GitHub pack used to get DigitalOcean credit (reported as $200 for 1 year). The offer has ended: it is no longer in the pack, and DigitalOcean’s student page redirects to its homepage.
Some details are uncertain or conflict between official pages. Check the official page before you apply.
Eligibility, card, India and how to apply for DigitalOcean credit for GitHub Student Pack (ended)
- Who qualifies
- Was available to GitHub Student Developer Pack members who were new to DigitalOcean
- How long
- Ended
- Referral or funding needed
- n/a
- Card needed
- Not applicable
- Work or school email
- Not applicable
- Countries
- n/a (ended)
- India
- No. The offer is closed everywhere.
- How to apply
- Not available. Look at the remaining pack hosting offers, such as Heroku or Azure for Students.
- Watch out for
- Old blog posts and videos still promote the $200 credit.
- Students who redeemed credit earlier should check its expiry under Billing > Credits in their DigitalOcean account.
- Status note
- Confirmed on 12 October 2026: not listed on education.github.com/pack, and digitalocean.com/github-students returns a 301 redirect to the homepage. The Wayback Machine index shows the student page returning normally until at least 19 May 2026 and redirecting by 9 July 2026, so it ended between those dates. No announcement found. The $200 amount comes from third-party guides; it could not be confirmed on a live official page.
Official page for DigitalOcean credit for GitHub Student Pack (ended) (opens in a new tab)Checked 12 October 2026
Free software licences and domains for students
Coding, design and game software
- JetBrains educational licences: IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate, PyCharm Pro and other JetBrains IDEs, free for a year and renewable while you study full time or teach. Verify with a university email, an ISIC card or GitHub Education status. AI Pro is only a 30-day trial.
- JetBrains non-commercial licences: CLion, Rider, RubyMine, RustRover, WebStorm and DataGrip free for non-commercial use, student or not, from age 13 (under-18s need a parent’s or guardian’s consent). Usage statistics cannot be switched off.
- Figma for Education: free Figma Professional, 1 year at a time for students. Figma says the program runs only in select regions and does not list them, so India is unclear. Changing your account email after verification revokes your status.
- Unity Student plan: the Unity Pro editor for students 16+, 1 year at a time. Projects made on a Student plan open only with a Student plan account, and classroom installs need Unity’s separate Education Grant License.
- Autodesk Education Plan: AutoCAD, Revit, Fusion and more for 1 year, renewable, for learning and research only, never commercial work. It installs on up to 3 devices. We could not confirm every detail on Autodesk’s pages, so check its education page before you rely on it.
Notes, office and data tools
- Notion Education Plan: free for college students and educators whose college is in the World Higher Education Database. Your school email must be your main Notion email; K-12 is not eligible.
- Office 365 A1: web versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote, plus Publisher and Access for Windows PCs. Desktop Word, Excel and PowerPoint need a paid A3 or A5 plan. Learning Excel for finance? Try our Excel formulas for finance guide.
- Tableau for Students: when we checked on 12 and 13 October 2026, Tableau pointed students to Tableau Desktop Public Edition, which publishes only to the public Tableau Public site and is not for commercial work, internships included. Instructors still get licences.
- QuickBooks Online Education: free QuickBooks Online for teaching at accredited US schools; students get a 1-year trial through their educator. Not available in India.
Free domains
The pack’s domain offers give a .me domain (with an SSL certificate), a standard .TECH domain and one Name.com domain, each free for the first year only. Renewal prices are not stated, so check them before you put the address on a CV. For an address with no renewal bill, is-a.dev gives a free subdomain through a GitHub pull request, reviewed by hand by volunteers.
Free tools and credits for teachers and lecturers
Some of the best education offers go to teachers, and some reach students only through one.
| Offer | Who qualifies | What you get | Dates and limits | India |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copilot Pro for teachers | Teachers verified by GitHub Education | Copilot Pro free ($10 a month list price) | Rechecked monthly | Yes |
| Google Cloud teaching credits | Higher-education faculty | Up to $50 per student and $100 per teaching staff member; up to 3 courses per application | Students redeem within 16 weeks of the course start | Yes |
| Canva for Education | K-12 teachers and schools | Canva Education; students join through the teacher | No end date stated | Yes, K-12 schools only |
| ChatGPT for Teachers | US K-12 teachers and staff | A free workspace | June 2028 or June 2027: OpenAI’s pages disagree | No |
| Claude for Teachers | US K-12 teachers, schools and districts | Free premium Claude features | Schools and districts signing up by 30 June 2027 get a free year | No |
| DataCamp Classrooms | Faculty worldwide; high-school teachers in 9 countries | DataCamp for the class | One semester; reapply | Faculty only |
| Tableau for Teaching | Instructors of credit-bearing courses | Desktop, Prep and Cloud licences | 1 year, renewable | Yes |
| AWS Academy | Accredited institutions | Cloud courses and Learner Lab | Ongoing | Yes |
| Apple Developer fee waiver | Institutions, not individual students | $99 a year fee waived | Reconfirmed at renewal | Yes |
| QuickBooks Online Education | US educators | QuickBooks Online and a curriculum | While eligible | No |
We could not confirm every detail of the ChatGPT and Claude teacher offers: OpenAI’s plan page says free through June 2028 but its pricing FAQ says June 2027, and Anthropic does not list the features included. Google Cloud’s $50 and $100 are caps, and Google warns students not to start the Google Cloud Free Trial by mistake, because it needs a card. Teachers also qualify for JetBrains, Figma (2 years at a time), Notion and Office 365 A1.
Student verification problems and how to fix them
Fixes for the most common rejections:
- GitHub Education: use your personal account and upload proof that shows a current date. If others from your school verified with an academic email, GitHub may insist on one.
- SheerID (the service OpenAI, Kiro, Unity, Autodesk and Figma use to check student status): your name, school and date of birth must match your school’s records. Claim from the account you want to keep: claiming Codex credits from a second account triggers a “Verification Limit Exceeded” error that cannot be reset.
- Notion: make your school email your main Notion email first, and claim on desktop or web, not mobile.
Never buy a “verified student account” or a school email, and never misstate your age or status. Providers recheck: GitHub checks Copilot eligibility monthly, and SheerID ties each claim to your identity. Cursor closed its student discount on 25 June 2026, saying it had become a target for fraud.
When you graduate or a free period ends
Student offers stop when your status lapses, and a few start billing. Plan for these:
- Copilot Student and the pack: GitHub rechecks eligibility monthly, so Copilot Student ends soon after you leave. Many partner offers also stop at graduation.
- Azure for Students: disabled after 12 months or when the $100 runs out, unless you upgrade to pay-as-you-go. You then have 90 days before deployed products are lost.
- Heroku: the credit stops after month 24. Shut down your apps and databases first, or the card on file is charged.
- Office 365 A1 and Figma: Office apps and Figma education teams become view-only when your status lapses, and school-linked OneDrive stops working. Copy your work out before you leave.
- Notion: miss the yearly school-email check and the workspace drops to the Free plan.
- JetBrains: graduates get 40% off a personal subscription for up to 2 years after the student licence ends.
- Starting a company: Azure for Students, Databricks Free Edition, JetBrains’ student licences and Tableau Desktop Public Edition are for non-commercial use only. For a business, use the programs in our free credits for startups guide. Bootstrapped startups can get $10,000 of Cloudflare for Startups credit for a year (see our step-by-step Cloudflare for Startups guide), and our Claude for Startups guide explains what Anthropic’s program gives its members (it closed to new applicants on 15 October 2026).
- AI plans and domains: Google’s student plan renews at the full price after 12 months ($19.99 a month in the US, Rs 399 a month in India), and ChatGPT Back to School at $20 a month after 4 months, unless you cancel. Pack domains are paid from year two.
Put each end date in your calendar on the day you claim, with a reminder a week before.
Student offers that ended or are paused
| Offer | What happened | Use instead |
|---|---|---|
| DigitalOcean credit in the pack | Ended between 19 May and 9 July 2026 | Heroku or Azure from the pack |
| Cursor student discount | Closed to new sign-ups on 25 June 2026 | Event credits for undergraduates; a request form for graduate students |
| Microsoft 365 Premium for college students | Free year no longer offered on 12 October 2026 (third-party reports say it ended on 1 March 2026 in the US); the offer page shows 50% off Microsoft 365 Personal | Office 365 A1 |
| Colab Pro for Education | Closed to new sign-ups when we checked on 12 October 2026; existing users keep it until their one-year mark | The free Colab tier |
| Free Copilot Pro for students | Replaced on 13 March 2026 | Copilot Student |
| Canva in the pack | Not listed on 12 October 2026 | Canva for Education (K-12) |
The $200 DigitalOcean figure comes from third-party guides, not a live official page, and old videos still promote it. If you redeemed it, check its expiry under Billing, then Credits. Treat the DigitalOcean and Microsoft 365 end dates with caution: we found no official end announcement for either.
Free credits for students: FAQ
Is DigitalOcean still in the GitHub Student Pack?
No. It was not listed on 12 and 13 October 2026, and archived copies show it ended between 19 May and 9 July 2026. For hosting, the pack still has Heroku ($13 a month for 24 months, 18+) and Azure.
How long does the GitHub Student Developer Pack last?
GitHub’s own benefits, including Copilot Student, last while you are a verified student, and GitHub rechecks Copilot eligibility every month. Each partner offer has its own term, often 6 to 24 months, and many stop when you graduate.
Is GitHub Copilot free for students?
Yes. Verified students get the free Copilot Student plan once GitHub Education approves them. It replaced free Copilot Pro on 13 March 2026, picks the AI model for you, and GitHub does not publish its AI credit allowance. Teachers still get Copilot Pro free.
Can I get the GitHub Student Pack without a college email?
Usually, yes, with dated proof such as a school ID, class schedule or enrolment letter. GitHub may require an academic email if recent applicants from your school used one.
Do I need a credit card for Azure for Students?
No. You need a school email, and you must be 18+ and a full-time student. The $100 lasts 12 months; after that, or when it runs out, the subscription is disabled unless you upgrade.
Does AWS Educate give free AWS credits?
No. AWS Educate gives free training labs and badges to anyone 13+, but no credits. AWS Academy reaches students through their institution.
What free AI tools can students in India get?
On 12 and 13 October 2026: Copilot Student, a free year of Google AI Plus (18+, card needed, redeem by 31 December 2026, then Rs 399 a month), Google Antigravity (18+), and Colab and Kaggle. Codex credits and ChatGPT Back to School are not open to India, and Kiro listed no Indian university.
Is Cursor still free for students?
No. Cursor closed its student discount to new sign-ups on 25 June 2026. Undergraduates can get credits at campus events, and graduate students, researchers and educators can request credits.
Related guides
- Free ChatGPT Plus and Google AI plans for students
- Free cloud tiers for when your student credit runs out
- Free credits for student founders and startups
- Free GPU notebooks and free AI APIs
- Research credits for PhD students, nonprofits and open source
- Every free credit program we track
- Claude Code tutorial
- AI prompts for Excel
Please note: we update this guide from time to time, but student offers, age rules and partner lists change, and there can be a gap between a change and our update. Check each provider’s official page before you sign up. Amounts are advertised values in US dollars, not cash, and most credits expire. Age rules apply: never misstate your age or student status. This page has no affiliate or referral links, and it is not legal or tax advice.
Sources
- GitHub Education: Student Developer Pack partner list (rechecked 15 October 2026) (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Docs: apply to GitHub Education as a student (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Docs: Copilot individual plans (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub changelog, 13 March 2026: updates to Copilot for students (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub changelog, 17 June 2026: Copilot sign-ups reopening (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Docs: free Copilot Pro for teachers and maintainers (opens in a new tab)
- Microsoft: Azure for Students (opens in a new tab)
- Microsoft: Azure for Students offer terms (opens in a new tab)
- Microsoft Learn: Azure education program FAQ (opens in a new tab)
- Google: Gemini student offer (US) (opens in a new tab)
- Google: Gemini student offer (India) (opens in a new tab)
- OpenAI help: ChatGPT Back to School offer for students (opens in a new tab)
- Microsoft: Microsoft 365 college student pricing (opens in a new tab)
- Google Colab FAQ (opens in a new tab)
- Heroku for GitHub Students (opens in a new tab)
- AWS Educate (opens in a new tab)
- AWS Academy (opens in a new tab)
- Google Cloud: students and Google Skills credits (opens in a new tab)
- Google Cloud: teaching credits for faculty (opens in a new tab)
- JetBrains: free educational licences for students and teachers (opens in a new tab)
- JetBrains: free non-commercial licensing FAQ (opens in a new tab)
- Figma help: verify your eligibility for Figma’s Education plan (opens in a new tab)
- Notion help: Notion for education (opens in a new tab)
- Microsoft: Office 365 for education (opens in a new tab)
- Tableau for Students (opens in a new tab)
- Kiro Students (opens in a new tab)
- OpenAI: Codex credits for students, terms (opens in a new tab)
- OpenAI: ChatGPT for Teachers (opens in a new tab)
- OpenAI: ChatGPT pricing and FAQ (opens in a new tab)
- Anthropic: Claude for Teachers (opens in a new tab)
- Canva for Education (opens in a new tab)
- DataCamp Classrooms for universities (opens in a new tab)
- Cursor help: student discount (opens in a new tab)
- Wayback Machine index of DigitalOcean’s GitHub students page (opens in a new tab)