Best Free Cloud Services for Students

Deploy, scale, and learn cloud computing for free. Major cloud providers offer generous credits and free tiers specifically for students — no credit card required for most.

15 tools · Updated March 2026

$120,000 credits

Alibaba Cloud

Startup credits up to $120K

🌐 CloudStartups

Step 1: Apply at alibabacloud.com/startups

Free via GitHub Pack

Appwrite

Appwrite is an open-source, developer infrastructure platform for building web, mobile, and AI apps. It includes both a

🌐 CloudStudents

Step 1: Visit https://education.github.com/pack/offers

$100,000

AWS Activate

Up to $100K in AWS credits for startups

🌐 CloudStartups

Step 1: Go to aws.amazon.com/activate

$240/year

Cloudflare

Free Pro plan and startup program

🌐 CloudStartupsOpen Source

Step 1: Apply at cloudflare.com/forstartups

$200+ credits

DigitalOcean

Free cloud credits via GitHub Education

🌐 CloudStudentsStartups

Step 1: Sign up via GitHub Student Developer Pack

$200,000

Google Cloud for Startups

Up to $200K in Google Cloud credits

🌐 CloudStartups

Step 1: Apply at cloud.google.com/startup

$156 credits

Heroku

Platform credits via GitHub Education

🌐 CloudStudents

Step 1: Get GitHub Student Developer Pack

$100 credit

Linode (Akamai)

$100 free credit for new users

🌐 CloudStartups

Step 1: Sign up at linode.com

Free via GitHub Pack

LocalStack

LocalStack emulates AWS services right on your laptop, so you can build and test cloud applications without connecting t

🌐 CloudStudents

Step 1: Visit https://education.github.com/pack/offers

$100 credits

Microsoft Azure for Students

$100 Azure credits without credit card

🌐 CloudStudents

Step 1: Go to azure.microsoft.com/free/students

$228/year

Netlify

Free Pro plan via GitHub Student Developer Pack

🌐 CloudStudents

Step 1: Get the GitHub Student Developer Pack

Free forever

Oracle Cloud

Always-free cloud tier — no credit card needed

🌐 CloudStudentsStartups

Step 1: Go to cloud.oracle.com/free

$60/year

Railway

Free hosting for open source projects

🌐 CloudOpen SourceStudents

Step 1: Sign up at railway.app

Startup credits

Scaleway

European cloud with startup program

🌐 CloudStartups

Step 1: Apply at scaleway.com/startups

$250 credit

Vultr

$250 free credit for new accounts

🌐 CloudStartups

Step 1: Sign up at vultr.com

FAQ

Which cloud provider is best for students?

Azure for Students is the easiest start — $100 credits with no credit card. AWS Educate offers hands-on labs. DigitalOcean gives $200 via GitHub Education.

Do student cloud credits expire?

Most student credits last 12 months and can be renewed while enrolled. Azure for Students renews annually; AWS credits vary by program.