Claude Startups Program: Up to $7,000 in Free Claude and How to Apply

Key takeaways

• Anthropic expanded Claude Startups on October 6, 2026. Approved startups get a free year of Claude Team (up to five Premium seats, for orgs new to Team), $1,000 in Claude API credits, up to $45,000 in offers from partner companies, and office hours with Anthropic's Applied AI team.
• "Up to $7,000" is Anthropic's own math: five Premium seats at $100 per seat per month for a year is $6,000, plus the $1,000 in credits.
• You can apply if your startup was founded in the last five years or raised money in the last two. You don't need investors. You need a Claude Console account, a company email on the same domain as your website, and a short description of what you're building.
• Most applications get a decision within minutes. The rest go to manual review, usually two to three business days. A decision is not a guaranteed approval.
• The API credits expire six months after they're granted. They work only on the Claude API through Claude Console, not on AWS Bedrock or Google Vertex AI.

What this page is

This is the page behind the reel. Comment STARTUP and you land here: the application link, the steps, a template for the "what are you building" field, the partner offers worth claiming first, and the one deadline to watch.

Everything below comes from Anthropic's Claude Startups page and the October 6 announcement. Offers change. If a number here disagrees with those pages, trust the pages.

Why Anthropic is giving this away

A car dealer hands you the keys for a test drive because people who drive the car tend to buy it. A free year of Claude Team is a year-long test drive. A startup that runs its workflow and its product on Claude in year one is likely to keep paying in year two.

That is my read, not Anthropic's wording. It doesn't change the math for you. If you were going to use Claude anyway, the first year is free.

What you get

Two things the headline numbers hide:

• The $45,000 is not from Anthropic. It is the combined ceiling of partner offers from companies like ElevenLabs, ClickHouse, and Hex. You only capture it if you would actually use those tools.
• The $7,000 assumes five seats. If two people use Claude, the Team part is worth less. The credits are the same for everyone.

If your investor is in Anthropic's VC network

Founders backed by a VC in Anthropic's partner network can get up to $100,000 in additional API credits. You claim those through your VC, not through this form. Ask your investor.

Who can apply

• Your startup was founded in the last five years, or raised funding in the last two.
• Bootstrapped, pre-seed, and venture-backed startups all qualify. No VC is required.
• You have a Claude Console account.
• You have a company email on your website's domain. If your site is yourstartup.com, the email is you@yourstartup.com. A Gmail address won't match.
• You can write a short description of what you're building.

If your company already pays for Claude Team, read the FAQ line closely. It says: "Only orgs that are new to Teams qualify for this offer."

Claude is only available in the countries Anthropic supports. Check the supported countries list. Türkiye, for example, is listed for both the Claude API and Claude.ai.

How to apply, step by step

1. Check your dates. A founding date within five years, or a funding round within two.
2. Get your domain email working. Set up an inbox on the same domain as your website before you apply. Make sure the site loads and says what you do.
3. Sign in to Claude Console at platform.claude.com. Create the account with your company email if you don't have one.
4. Open the application: platform.claude.com/offers/startups-application.
5. Write the short description. Use the template in the next section.
6. Submit and wait. Most decisions arrive within minutes. Manual reviews usually take two to three business days.
7. After approval, start the clock on purpose. Plan how you'll use the API credits in the next six months, add your Team seats, go through the Startup Stack offers, and sign up for office hours.

Template for "what are you building"

Anthropic asks for "a short description of what you're building." The page doesn't say how applications are scored, so this template has one job: make your startup easy to understand in a few seconds.

[Company] builds [product] for [specific customer].
Today, [customer] [how they handle the problem now], which costs them [time, money, or errors].
[Product] [what it does, in one sentence].
We use Claude to [concrete use], and we plan to use the API credits to [next feature or experiment].
Stage: [idea / building / live with N users / paying customers]. Founded [month year]. Website: [domain].

A filled-in example. The company is fictional:

Shelfwise builds inventory tracking for independent bookstores.
Today, most small bookstores reorder from memory and a spreadsheet, which leads to empty shelves on bestsellers and overstock on slow titles.
Shelfwise reads sales from the point-of-sale system and suggests weekly reorders.
We use Claude to turn sales data into plain-language reorder notes for each store, and we plan to use the API credits to add a chat assistant that answers "what should I stock for this event?"
Stage: live in beta with 40 stores. Founded March 2025. Website: shelfwise.example

What makes it work:

• A specific customer. "Independent bookstores" beats "businesses."
• Where Claude fits. This is a Claude program. Say what Claude does in your product or your workflow.
• No inflation. A manual reviewer can open your website. The description should match it.
• Short. Five lines is enough.

Partner offers worth claiming first

The Claude Startup Stack is the partner part of the program. As of October 7, 2026, these are the offers on the program page that most early teams can use:

The page also lists Attention, Augment Code, and Emergent, with more behind "View more."

Many of these offers are time-limited from the day you activate them. Claim each one when you're ready to use it, not all on approval day.

Don't let the API credits expire

The $1,000 expires six months after it's granted. Six months goes fast when you're shipping.

• Pick the use before you apply. One feature to build or one experiment to run with the API. The description template already asks for it.
• Create an API key in Console right after approval. Keep it in server environment variables, never in frontend code. The vibe coding security checklist covers why.
• Check where your calls go. The credits only apply to the Claude API through Claude Console. Calls through AWS Bedrock or Google Vertex AI don't use them.
• Watch usage in Console. How far $1,000 goes depends on the model and the number of tokens. Check Anthropic's pricing page for current rates.

If your team will build with Claude Code on those seats, the Claude Code course walks through the workflow.

FAQ

Is Claude Startups really free?

The program page lists no fee. Approved startups get the benefits above at no cost. The page doesn't say what happens to the Team plan after the free year. Check your billing settings before the year ends.

Do I need VC funding?

No. The program page says it is open to bootstrapped, pre-seed, and venture-backed startups.

My company is more than five years old. Can I still apply?

Yes, if you raised funding in the last two years. The rule is "founded in the last 5 years or funded in the last 2."

I already pay for Claude Team. Do I qualify?

The FAQ says only orgs new to Team qualify for this offer.

Can I use the credits on AWS Bedrock or Google Vertex AI?

No. The credits work only on the first-party Claude API through Claude Console.

Other guides quote bigger credit amounts. Which is right?

The current program page lists $1,000 in API credits. Some older guides quote larger numbers. Trust the program page.

How long does it take?

Most applications get a decision within minutes. The rest go to manual review, which usually takes two to three business days. Approval isn't guaranteed.

Before you apply

Check your dates, get your domain email working, sign in to Claude Console, and write five lines with the template. Then apply here. Once you're approved, the six-month credit clock starts.