AWS Free Tier and Activate credits: the 2026 credit model explained

If you opened your AWS account on or after July 15, 2025, you don’t get 12 months of free EC2 hours. You get money. $100 lands the moment the account is created, another $100 is yours for completing five short activities in the console, and you choose between a free account plan that can never charge you and a paid plan that bills you once the credits are gone. AWS Activate sits on top of that for startups, with $1,000 to $5,000 for self-funded founders and up to $200,000 for companies referred by an investor. Every figure here was checked on the AWS Free Tier page, the Billing and Cost Management documentation, the AWS News Blog and the Activate credits page on November 2, 2026.

What changed in July 2025

AWS announced the switch from a time-based free tier to a credit-based one on July 15, 2025. Accounts created before that date stay in the legacy program, which still includes the 12-month trials on services like EC2 and RDS. Accounts created on or after it get the credit model described here. The always-free tier survives in both programs.

The change matters because the old free tier was a usage allowance tied to specific instance sizes. The new one is money, so you can spend it on anything eligible, including Bedrock model calls, which the old tier never covered. The trade is that money runs out, and the free plan has a clock.

The $200 in credits, step by step

Every new customer receives $100 in credits on account creation, regardless of plan. The second $100 comes from activities in the Explore AWS widget on the console home page, five of them at $20 each:

Launch and then terminate an Amazon EC2 instance.
Configure an Amazon RDS database launch.
Build a simple web app with an AWS Lambda function URL.
Send a prompt in the Amazon Bedrock text playground.
Set a cost budget with alerts in AWS Budgets.

Four of the five incur small service charges that come out of your credit balance, so expect to spend a few cents to earn each $20. The budget activity is both free and the single most useful thing on the list, because it’s the alarm that tells you when the rest of the money is gone. Do it first. You can watch the balance on the Billing and Cost Management console home.

Free plan vs paid plan

At signup you choose a plan, and the choice shapes what happens at month six.

	Free account plan	Paid account plan
Credits	$100 at signup plus up to $100 for activities	Same
Charges	None, ever, until you upgrade	Pay-as-you-go beyond the credit balance
Service access	Select services only	All services and features
Short-term trials	No	Yes
Other promotional credits	Not eligible	Eligible
When credits run out	Account closes	Account stays open and bills you
Credit expiry	6 months from account creation	Up to 12 months from signup per the blog post

The free plan excludes anything that could burn the credit fast or involves a purchase: Savings Plans, Reserved Instances, hardware and certain Marketplace offers. A few events also convert a free plan to paid automatically, including joining AWS Organizations, setting up a Control Tower landing zone, joining the AWS Partner Network and designating the account as HIPAA or SEC compliant.

Our AWS credits page tracks the current plan terms, and the AWS review covers the platform beyond the free tier.

Always-free services and short-term trials

Both plans include more than 30 always-free services with monthly usage limits that continue for as long as you’re an AWS customer. AWS doesn’t print the individual limits in the Free Tier summary, so use the Explore our offers filter set to Always Free to see the allowance for a given service, for example the number of free Lambda requests per month. When you exceed an always-free limit, your Free Tier credits are applied automatically to cover the eligible cost.

Short-term trials are a paid plan feature. A trial starts when you activate the service and gives you a monthly free usage limit for a fixed duration. Free plan accounts only get the always-free offers. If you came to AWS for a specific trial, check which plan it requires before you sign up, because switching to paid later is possible but switching back isn’t. Our free tiers hub compares the always-free allowances across providers.

Whether you need a credit card

AWS says a payment method isn’t required to sign up for most new customers, and that some accounts may be asked for one to verify identity. That’s a real change from the old program, which asked everyone for a card at signup. If you pick the paid plan, or later upgrade to it, you’ll need a payment method because usage beyond the credits bills to it.

AWS also says you must provide a valid credit card to activate an account before redeeming a credit code, which lines up with Activate requiring a paid plan account.

What happens at month six

On the free plan, the plan expires at the earlier of six months from account creation or the moment your credits hit zero. Here’s the sequence: the account closes automatically, you lose access to your resources and data, and AWS retains your content for 90 days. Inside those 90 days you can upgrade to the paid plan from the Billing console’s Upgrade plan page and get everything back, with any remaining credits applied to future bills. After 90 days, AWS permanently deletes the account and everything in it.

On the paid plan nothing closes. Credits apply to each bill until they’re used or expire, and after that you pay the standard rates. AWS’s own pages disagree on paid-plan expiry: the July 2025 announcement says unused credits can be applied for up to 12 months from signup, while the Free Tier FAQ lists both six and twelve months on the same page. Plan for six to be safe and treat anything beyond it as a bonus.

AWS Activate credits for startups

Activate is the program behind what people search as “aws startup credits”. It has two self-serve tiers and one invitation tier.

Activate Founders, for bootstrapped and self-funded startups, starts you with $1,000 in Activate Credits, and select participants qualify for up to $5,000.
Activate Portfolio, for pre-Series B startups, offers up to $200,000 in Activate Credits. You need an Org ID from an Activate Provider, which means an accelerator, angel investor or venture firm that has partnered with AWS.
AWS Credits for AI Startups offers $200,000 or more and is invite-only for companies that have already scaled through Portfolio.

Eligibility across the self-serve tiers is pre-Series B, founded within the last 10 years, an AWS account on a paid plan, and either being new to Activate Credits or asking for more than you previously received. AWS doesn’t state a validity period for Activate credits. The AWS Promotional Credit Terms say each credit carries an expiration date shown at issue and is forfeited if unredeemed by then, and the one-year term printed in those terms applies to nonprofit, research and social impact credits, so don’t assume it for Activate.

How to apply to Activate

Applying takes four steps.

Create an AWS Builder ID using a professional email address, not a personal one.
Choose your tier. Founders if you’re self-funded, Portfolio if you have an Org ID from a provider.
Describe your product, funding stage and company profile.
Link or create your AWS account on a paid plan and submit.

AWS says you’ll hear back within 5 to 10 business days. Because the free plan isn’t eligible for promotional credits, applying from a free plan account means upgrading first, which also starts the clock on pay-as-you-go charges. Set a budget before you upgrade and apply.

What Activate credits don’t cover

The AWS promotional credit terms exclude several categories regardless of program: AWS Marketplace purchases, Professional Services, Training and Certification, upfront fees for Savings Plans and Reserved Instances, Route 53 domain registration or transfer, cryptocurrency mining, and Enterprise Support plans. Credits don’t cover taxes, can’t be transferred or sold, and are void if the account was created only to obtain them.

For AI startups, the practical consequence is that third-party models bought through Marketplace listings may not be covered, while Bedrock usage billed by AWS is. Check the Credits page in the billing console after redeeming to see which services the credit applies to. Compare the equivalent programs at Google and Microsoft on our startup credits hub, or read the Google Cloud vs AWS comparison if you’re choosing between them.

The short version

New accounts since July 15, 2025 get $100 at signup and up to $100 more for five console activities, instead of 12 months of free EC2.
The free plan never charges you but closes at six months or zero credits, with 90 days to upgrade and recover data.
The paid plan bills beyond the credits, and AWS’s announcement says unused credits last up to 12 months from signup.
More than 30 always-free services continue on both plans; short-term trials need the paid plan.
Activate Founders starts at $1,000 and reaches $5,000; Activate Portfolio reaches $200,000 with an investor’s Org ID and a paid plan account.

FAQ

Is aws free tier still free in 2026

Yes, but it works differently. New accounts get up to $200 in credits and a choice of a free plan that can’t charge you for six months, plus more than 30 always-free services. The 12-month free EC2 hours only apply to accounts created before July 15, 2025.

How long do aws free credits last

Free plan credits expire six months after account creation, or sooner if you spend them. On the paid plan, AWS’s announcement says unused credits can be applied for up to 12 months from signup.

What happens when aws free plan expires

The account closes automatically and you lose access to resources and data. AWS keeps the content for 90 days, during which you can upgrade to a paid plan to restore access. After that the account and its data are permanently deleted.

How much are aws activate credits

Activate Founders starts at $1,000 and can reach $5,000 for self-funded startups. Activate Portfolio offers up to $200,000 for pre-Series B startups with an Org ID from an AWS Activate Provider such as an accelerator or VC firm.

Can i get aws activate credits on the free plan

No. Activate requires an AWS account on a paid plan, and free plan accounts aren’t eligible for other promotional credits. Upgrade first, then apply.