Google Cloud free credits in 2026: every program on one page

There are five official ways to get Google Cloud credits, and only five. A $300 free trial for new customers, an Always Free tier with monthly limits, the Google for Startups Cloud Program with tiers from $2,000 to $350,000, research and teaching grants of up to $5,000, and partner perks that route into those same programs. Anything else being offered isn’t legitimate. Every number below was checked on Google’s own pages on November 2, 2026, and we flag where a figure is likely to move.

If you’ve raised money, the startup program is worth far more than the trial, so don’t stop at the $300. This page covers every program in order of payout, with a link to the detailed guide for each. Our Google Cloud credits page tracks the current state of each offer.

The $300 free trial

The free trial is the entry point for everyone who has never paid Google Cloud, Google Maps Platform or Firebase. Signing up creates a billing account preloaded with a $300 Welcome credit that’s valid for 90 days. You have to add a credit card or another valid payment method, and Google places a temporary authorization hold of between $0.00 and $1.00 that’s released without any money being taken.

The credit covers most pay-as-you-go products, with a short list of exceptions. It can’t pay for Gemini API usage in AI Studio, it can’t pay for partner models sold as a managed API, and a trial account can’t add GPUs, use Marketplace, request quota increases, or create Windows Server VMs. Compute Engine is also capped at eight concurrent cores for the length of the trial.

Nothing is charged automatically. When the 90 days pass or the $300 runs out, Google closes the trial billing account, stops your resources, and gives you a 30-day window to upgrade before they’re deleted. The full mechanics, including how to cancel and what happens to your data, are in our Google Cloud free trial guide.

Some partner sign-up links advertise a welcome credit larger than $300. Google’s Free Trial Terms, last modified February 12, 2026, define the trial as a $300 credit, and no Google page lists a higher figure. If a partner link promises more, check the credit shown in the console after activation before you build a budget around it.

The Always Free tier

The free tier is separate from the trial and never expires. It’s a list of monthly allowances that apply to every billing account in good standing, trial or paid, across more than 20 products. The ones most people use are a single e2-micro VM per month in us-west1, us-central1 or us-east1 with 30 GB of standard persistent disk, 5 GB-months of regional Cloud Storage in those same three US regions, 2 million Cloud Run requests, 2 million Cloud Run functions invocations, 1 TiB of BigQuery queries plus 10 GiB of storage, and 1 GiB of Firestore storage with 50,000 reads per day.

Two details trip people up. The e2-micro allowance is measured in hours, not instances, so two VMs running all month will cost you for one of them. And unused free tier amounts don’t roll over to the next month. We list every product, limit and region in the Always Free tier guide, and the wider comparison of provider free tiers lives on our free tiers page.

Google for Startups Cloud Program

This is the largest pool of credits Google offers, and the one most founders underuse. There are three tiers right now.

Start tier, $2,000 in credits, for companies founded in the past two years with a working MVP, a clear business model and plans to raise venture funding soon.
Scale tier, 100% of eligible usage up to $100,000 in year one and 20% of usage up to another $100,000 in year two, for startups with verifiable Pre-Seed to Series A funding.
Scale tier for AI startups, 100% of usage up to $250,000 in year one and 20% up to $100,000 in year two, for a total of up to $350,000.

Funding has to be equity from institutional investors or venture firms. SAFEs count, and verifiable token raises and blockchain foundation grants are accepted. Private equity, government grants, prize money, crowdfunding, angel checks and friends-and-family rounds don’t qualify for Scale, though the company may be evaluated for Start. Most applicants hear back within 5 to 7 days. Members also get 12 months of Google Workspace Business Plus and monthly Google Maps Platform credits through separate applications.

Program credits apply only to Google-built products billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. Third-party models in Model Garden and anything in Marketplace are billed to your card. Eligibility rules, the disqualifying business types and the application checklist are in our startup credits guide, and the cross-provider view is on the startup credits program page.

Research and teaching credits

Google Cloud for Education runs two grant programs for people at accredited institutions. Researchers can apply for $5,000 in research credits, and faculty can get up to $5,000 in teaching credits for courses. Both are applied for through the education site, not the console.

Here’s how the credits land. A faculty member receives coupon codes by email, redeems them at console.cloud.google.com/edu, and the credit goes into a billing account named for the course. Students in that course verify a school email and redeem their own coupon. Education credits are valid for one year after redemption, and free tier usage doesn’t count against them.

Students without a faculty sponsor get a different kind of credit. Google offers them 200 free Google Skills credits for labs and courses, expiring one year after issue. Those are training credits, not cloud compute, and they won’t pay for a VM.

Partner perks

Banks, incorporation services and accelerators list Google Cloud among their perks. Those perks are referrals into the startup program, not separate credit pools. Mercury’s perks directory lists Google Cloud under “Startup Credits,” but the perk page itself currently reads “Offer temporarily unavailable. New offer coming later this year.” Stripe Atlas says its members get over $200,000 in partner offers from companies including Google, but names no Google Cloud figure.

A perk page can’t give you more than the program tier you qualify for. What a referral can do is speed up review, and Google says stealth companies are supported specifically through investor referrals. Apply through the official form either way.

Gemini API credits

Gemini API usage is billed separately from Google Cloud services and has its own free tier. Several Flash and Flash-Lite models are free of charge with rate limits, while Gemini 4 Argon and Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview are paid only. The $300 trial credit can’t pay for Gemini API or AI Studio usage for accounts opened after March 2, 2026, so don’t plan your trial around it.

Startup program credits are the exception. Google says program credits can be spent on Google Cloud services “such as BigQuery and Gemini,” which means Gemini through Vertex AI on your Google Cloud billing account. Rate limits, per-token prices and how to enable billing are in our Gemini API free tier and pricing guide, and the offers page is at Gemini API credits.

How to check and redeem credits

Every credit you hold shows up in the Cloud Billing console. Your remaining trial credit and days appear on a Cloud Billing report, and promotional credits, which include the Free Trial, startup and marketing credits, are applied automatically to reduce your bill. Open Billing, pick the account, and look for the Credits line in the report summary or the Credits page in the Billing menu.

Redeeming a code depends on the program. Education coupons go through console.cloud.google.com/edu. Startup program credits are deposited directly into the 18-character billing account ID you enter on the application, so there’s no code. Trial credit appears the moment you activate. If someone offers you a code for sale, walk away. The startup terms say credits can’t be shared, split or resold, and doing so ends your enrollment.

Which program to use first

Run the trial and the free tier together. The trial covers the first 90 days, and the free tier keeps a small footprint running after that. Apply to the startup program as soon as you have a public website and a matching business email, since the Start tier doesn’t require funding. Faculty and researchers should apply for the $5,000 grants before the semester or project starts, because the credits run on a one-year clock from redemption.

For how Google’s programs compare with Amazon’s, see our Google Cloud vs AWS comparison, and for our opinion on the platform itself, the Google Cloud review.

The short version

The free trial is $300 for 90 days, requires a card, and never charges automatically.
The Always Free tier is permanent and includes one e2-micro VM, 5 GB of storage and 1 TiB of BigQuery queries per month.
The startup program pays $2,000 at the Start tier, up to $200,000 at Scale and up to $350,000 for AI startups over two years.
Research and teaching grants are $5,000 each, valid one year after redemption.
Partner perks are referrals into the startup program, not extra credit.

FAQ

How do I get free Google Cloud credits

Sign up for the free trial at console.cloud.google.com for $300 over 90 days, then apply to the Google for Startups Cloud Program if you have a company website and business email. Faculty and researchers apply through cloud.google.com/edu for $5,000 grants.

Does Google Cloud give credits without a credit card

No. The free trial requires a credit card or another valid payment method, and the startup program deposits credits into an existing billing account, which also needs a payment method. The only card-free option is Google AI Studio, which is free of charge in all available regions.

How do I check my Google Cloud credit balance

Open the Cloud Billing console, select your billing account, and open the Credits page or the Reports page. The remaining trial credit and remaining days appear on a Cloud Billing report.

Can I get Google Cloud credits more than once

The free trial is one per customer, and anyone who has ever paid Google Cloud, Maps Platform or Firebase is ineligible. For the startup program, you may re-apply if you were enrolled before but never used your credits and still meet the current year’s criteria.

Do Google Cloud credits expire

Yes, and the clock differs by program. Trial credit expires 90 days after signup even if you upgrade, education credits expire one year after redemption, and startup program credits run on a two-year schedule with a year-one and a year-two allocation.