Amazon Web Services is a powerful cloud computing platform that offers over 200 computing, networking and hosting services from data centers across the globe. Startups love it because it has flexible pricing, which is easy on their budgets without compromising on service quality or security.
Whether you’re an existing user or a potential user, you could be eligible to get credits to get access to AWS for free, allowing you to spend the money you save on other priorities.
In this article, we’ll give you all the details on what AWS credits are, how to access them and why you could still be eligible for more credits even if you’ve already previously benefitted.
What are AWS credits?
AWS credits are offered through promotional codes or coupons, and they are actually credit money applied to your account so that you can cover the costs of your AWS subscription for several months or years.
How can I get credits in AWS Activate?
There are different ways to get credits in AWS Activate :
AWS Activate Founders
To be eligible for this program, you must have a self-funded and bootstrapped startup, that was created less than 10 years ago, and that doesn’t benefit from institutional funding or affiliation with an Activate Provider. You also need to have a company website.
- Check all the necessary criteria and information to apply to this program by clicking here.
- Deal: $1,000 credits in AWS Activate and $350 credits in AWS Developer Support (valid for two years)
Founder Club by Product Hunt
Founder Club is a deal platform that helps businesses save money on popular tools. The program was created by Product Hunt to help founders scale their startups.
- Deal: $5,000 credits in AWS Activate
- Cost of platform membership:: $720 per year (billed annually)
Secret
Secret is a perks platform that offers startups major deals and discounts on big name SaaS software. There are over 200+ exclusive deals on the platform — including of course the AWS Activate deal!
- Deal: $5,000 credits in AWS Activate (valid for two years)
- Cost of platform membership: $199 the first year then $39 each subsequent year (you can cancel at any time and includes access to all the other deals on the platform)
Brex
Brex is a financial services platform that provides businesses with bank accounts, credit cards, and accounting features such as expense tracking. Their corporate credit cards give rewards, including AWS credits.
- Deal: $5,000 credits and up to $100,000 in AWS Activate
- Cost of corporate card: $0 but you need to prove sufficient cashflow in order to get approved ($50,000 min in your bank account). And you’ll need to spend on the card in order to access the rewards. Also you have to be a company based in the US in order to use Brex.
Ramp
Ramp is a spend management platform that helps companies manage their outgoings. They also offer a corporate card that gives access to rewards on tools including AWS.
- Deal: $5,000 credits in Amazon AWS and up to $100,000 in AWS Activate
- Cost of corporate card: $0 but there are a few conditions in order to be approved. Your company must be:
- Be registered in the US
- Be a corporation or limited liability company (LLCs).
- Have at least $250,000 in cash in a US business bank account.
- Have most of your operations and corporate spend in the US.
Can I add additional credits to any previous credits I’ve claimed via AWS Activate?
While you can’t get the AWS Activate program if you’ve already used it, you can add credits to a previous deal that you’ve already applied to.
So let’s say you’ve previously had $1,000 in credits from the AWS Activate Founder program, and now you’d like some additional credits. You can find an AWS Activate Provider and get $4,000 more!
How do I add additional credits to my AWS Activate account?
To add another credit deal to your previous one, all you need to do is:
- Log in to your AWS account
- Go to the “Credits” section in “Billing”
- Click on “Redeem credit”
- Fill in the promotional code you have
And it’s done, now you just need to decide what to spend your savings on!
