CTA keyword: STARTUP · Type: workflow Everything below is taken from Anthropic's official program page (claude.com/programs/startups), read on 8 Oct 2026. Programs change: open the page and the Startup Program Terms before you apply.
Approved founders get $1,000 in Claude API credits, a free year of Claude Team and up to $45K in offers from partner companies. You have to apply, and every application is reviewed.
What approved members get
- Claude API credits: $1,000 for every approved company. Claim them on the Claude Startups page in the Claude Console. They expire six months after they're granted.
- Claude Team: One year free, for up to five Premium seats, only if your org is new to Claude Team.
- Partner offers: Up to $45K in discounts and credits from the Claude Startup Stack, redeemed with a code in the Claude Console.
- Higher rate limits: Members who receive credits through the program automatically get higher API rate limits.
- Office hours: 45-minute live sessions with Anthropic's Applied AI team, every other week.
- Events: Claude Startup events such as Founder House, hackathons and meetups.
- VC partner credits: If you're backed by a VC in Anthropic's partner network: up to $100K in additional API credits, claimed through your VC.
All Claude Startup benefits are subject to the Startup Program Terms, including the Additional Benefits Addendum.
Who can apply
- Startups founded in the last 5 years, or funded in the last 2.
- No VC funding needed: the program is open to bootstrapped, pre-seed and venture-backed startups.
- You need a Claude Console account, a company email that matches your website's domain and a short description of what you're building.
- Applicants must comply with Anthropic's supportability policies.
- The page does not list country rules. Check the Startup Program Terms for your location before you count on it.
How to apply, step by step
- Check the basics. Founded in the last 5 years or funded in the last 2? A live website on your own domain?
- Use your company email. It has to match your website's domain (no gmail.com).
- Sign in to the Claude Console (create the account if you don't have one).
- Fill out the application in the Console: who you are and a short description of what you're building. Keep it concrete: the product, the user, how you use Claude.
- Wait for the email. Most applications are decided within minutes. The rest go to a manual review, which usually takes 2 to 3 business days.
- Claim the API credits on the Claude Startups page in the Console. The six-month clock starts when they're granted, so claim them when you're ready to build.
- Claim Claude Team from the link in the acceptance email (only if your org is new to Team).
- Redeem partner offers one by one with their codes in the Console. Pick the tools you'll actually use.
- Register for office hours from the link in your email or the Claude Startups portal.
The Claude Startup Stack: all 16 partner offers
Offered by independent third-party companies, not by Anthropic. Offers as listed on 8 Oct 2026.
- Attention: 20% off your first year (7-day free trial). See the pattern in every conversation while agents act.
- Augment Code: $100 in Cosmos credits. An always-on software delivery system you control.
- ClickHouse: $5K for ClickHouse Cloud credits. Millisecond queries at petabyte scale for agentic systems.
- ElevenLabs: 12 months free + 33M characters. AI audio and conversational agents platform.
- Emergent: 20% off Emergent for your first 6 months. Build full-stack web and mobile apps with AI, no code.
- Firecrawl: 2.5x your plan's monthly credits for a year. The API to search and scrape the web.
- Gamma: 25% off your first year of Gamma Pro annual. Polished decks, websites and one-pagers from a prompt.
- Granola: 3 months of Business free, up to 10 seats. The AI notepad for back-to-back meetings.
- Hex: 6 months free on the Enterprise plan. AI analytics platform anyone can use to explore data.
- Linear: 6 months free of Linear Business. The product development system for teams and agents.
- Lovable: 4 months off an annual Lovable Business plan. Turn ideas into software people love.
- Moda: 3 months of Pro free, up to $3k AI credits. Fully editable, on-brand decks, ads and social posts.
- Retell AI: 20% off Retell AI for your first 6 months. Build, test and deploy AI voice agents for phone calls.
- Retool: 20% off your first year of Retool. Secure your vibe-coded apps.
- Runable: $300 free credits + 50% off on Max plan. AI that helps small businesses run, build and grow.
- Viktor: Up to $1,500 free for 3 months. AI employee in Slack and Teams that scales your team.
Limits to know
- Approval is required. Nothing is automatic; every application is reviewed.
- Credits expire six months after they're granted.
- Credits are first-party only: they work on the Claude API through the Claude Console, not on AWS Bedrock, Google Cloud Vertex AI or other third-party platforms.
- Claude Team year: only orgs new to Team qualify, up to five Premium seats.
- "Up to $45K" is the combined value of the partner offers. Each offer has its own conditions from the partner.
- Already a member? No need to reapply: you can redeem the offers in the Console.
Quick checklist
- Founded in the last 5 years or funded in the last 2
- Company email on your website's domain
- Claude Console account
- Two-line description of what you're building
- Read the Startup Program Terms and the Additional Benefits Addendum
- After approval: claim credits, claim Team, pick partner offers, book office hours