How to get Free AWS Credits?

In this article, we are going to discuss How to get Free AWS Credits to get start your AWS Learning Journey.

To get free AWS Credits you can use :

AWS Educate
AWS Free tier
3. AWS Promotional Credits for Alexa developers
AWS Imagine Grant Program
AWS Credit for Research Program
AWS Credit for Research Program
AWS Edstart
AWS Activate Founders and Activate Portfolio
AWS Promotional credits for Big Data Solutions

How to get Free AWS Credits

1. AWS Educate

You can get free AWS Credits with AWS Educate Program that is available for students, institutions, and educators. This is applicable for cloud-related learning activities, training resources, and for course contents. When the students get hands-on experience in AWS tech training and career pathways, they are eligible to get the credits.

Categories available are:

Students -> $100 in credits at a member institution
Students -> $30 in credits at a non-member institution
Educators -> $200 in credits

2. AWS Free tier

To get Free AWS Credits with AWS you can use the AWS Free tier offering from AWS . You just need to create a new AWS account and you can try your hands on AWS Products and the marketplace.

Here the credit awarded to the customer is not any amount in USD, but are the various limits offered for the different AWS services, valid up to one year from the date from which the account was created.

Refer to the following link(AWS Free tier) for the various AWS services and the limits that can be availed for each of them in the free tier.

3. AWS Promotional Credits for Alexa developers

A Developer can publish an Alexa skill to get free AWS Credits of $25. This is valid for one year. After the initial credit of $ 25, the person is eligible to receive the promotional credit starting at $25 each month (depending on monthly credit eligibility requirements)

For more information check the following link AWS Promotional Credits for Alexa developers

4 . AWS Imagine Grant Program

Another option to get free AWS Credits is through AWS Imagine Grant Program. This program is open to any registered 501(c) nonprofit organizations in the United States who are using cloud technology to solve the world’s most pressing challenges.

AWS Imagine Grant Program is available under two categories :

#The go further, faster award

This is for highly innovative projects that have the potential to produce scaled, repeatable solutions and may impact an entire industry or field.
Usage of advanced technology like IoT (Internet of Things), AI (Artificial Intelligence), and ML (Machine Learning) should be put to use here.
Up to $150,000 USD of unrestricted financial support
Up to $100,000 USD in AWS Promotional Credit

#The momentum to modernize award

This is given for modernizing new and existing applications, like migrating servers to AWS cloud, data warehousing, application optimization, etc.
Up to $30,000 USD of unrestricted financial support
Up to $10,000 USD in AWS Promotional Credit

5. AWS Credit for Research Program

AWS Credit for Research Program is applicable under the following categories :

Full-time faculty at an accredited research institution
Full-time research staff at an accredited research institution
Graduate, post-graduate, or Ph.D. students enrolled at an accredited research institution

The above candidates should submit a research proposal, which would be reviewed by AWS for 90 to 120 days, and credits are awarded based on the service user requirements.

Students are given an award of $5,000.00 and Faculty are awarded without any limit. The promotional credits are applicable to the AWS services that they utilize (like spot instances or on-demand instances).

6. AWS Credit Program for Non-profits

Non-profit organizations in the United States can get $ 1,000 in AWS credits. This is valid for one year and applicable for AWS on-demand cloud services.

A non-profit organization can use the development, analytics, storage, and data warehousing services of the AWS cloud.

Categories include:

Help Desk, Single-Issue Tech Support Fix -> $55.00
Help Desk, 1-Year Subscription Unlimited Tech Support (Paid Monthly) ->$35.00
Help Desk, 1-Year Subscription Unlimited Tech Support (Paid Annually)-> $350.00

7. AWS Activate Founders and Activate Portfolio

AWS provides free credits to Startups under the AWS Activate Founders and Activate Portfolio program.

AWS Activate Founders

Under the AWS Activate founders and Activate Portfolio program for “startups,” AWS provides $1,000 in AWS credits. The following criteria should be followed by the founder:

Must have an AWS account
The company website should be available
The founded startup should be less than 10 years old
Start-ups should be self-funded

AWS Activate Portfolio

The following criteria should be followed by the founder:

Must have an AWS account
The company should have an online presence in the form of a Website.
The founded startup is backed by a venture capital firm or another start-up organization
Start-up should be less than 10 years old
Must not have previously received AWS Activate credits
Must not have exceeded $100,000 USD in awarded or redeemed AWS credits from AWS Activate

8. AWS Edstart

AWS EdStart, the AWS educational technology (EdTech) startup accelerator, is designed to help entrepreneurs build the next generation of online learning, analytics, and campus management solutions on the AWS Cloud.

AWS promotional credits are given to the AWS Edstart Members tier and this is merit-based and each entrepreneur/company gets different credits based on their requirements, previous promotions received, etc.

Applying candidates should have an AWS account and they should fill out an online form for receiving the promotional credits. Please remember that these promotional credits come with an expiry date in place and cannot be extended. However, once a candidate is allowed into the AWS Edstart Members tier, they can remain members forever.

Please note that this “AWS Edstart” is not a sponsorship program, but when the entrepreneurs have their own website, they can use the AWS Edstart Member icon on their website. Candidates can apply for the AWS Edstart anytime which is an ongoing program.

9. AWS Promotional credits for Big Data Solutions

You can get a free $200 credit when you search, purchase or deploy Big Data Solutions on AWS Marketplace.

For eligibility criteria and further information check the following link AWS Promotional credits for Big Data Solutions

We hope this article on How to get free AWS Credit will help get started with AWS.