Free tiers & student AI credits (global)
Confirm limits on official pages — quotas change.
Always check first
| Resource | What you get | Official |
|---|---|---|
| Google AI Studio | Free Gemini API tier | aistudio.google.com |
| Groq | Free tier / rate limits | console.groq.com |
| Hugging Face | Free inference + Pro trials | huggingface.co/pricing |
| OpenRouter | Some free models | openrouter.ai/docs |
| Cohere | Trial credits | cohere.com/pricing |
| Replicate | Trial credits | replicate.com/pricing |
Students & educators
| Program | Official |
|---|---|
| GitHub Education (Copilot, Azure, etc.) | education.github.com/pack |
| GitHub Copilot free for students | education.github.com |
| Google Cloud credits (programs vary) | cloud.google.com/edu |
| AWS Educate / AI & ML Scholarship | aws.amazon.com/education |
| Microsoft for Startups / Learn | learn.microsoft.com |
| Azure for Students | azure.microsoft.com/free/students |
| JetBrains student license | jetbrains.com/student |
| Cursor | Check current student policy on site |
Local = “free” after hardware
| Tool | Official |
|---|---|
| Ollama | ollama.com |
| LM Studio | lmstudio.ai |
| Google Colab free tier | colab.research.google.com |
MOOC financial aid
| Platform | Official |
|---|---|
| Coursera financial aid | Apply inside each course |
| edX financial assistance | edx.org |
OSS stipends (paid, not “free tier”)
Summer programs with stipends: oss-programs-and-hackathons