Claude Startups program expands with a free year of Claude Team and $1,000 in API credits
On October 6, 2026, Anthropic expanded the Claude Startups program. Startups founded in the last five years or funded in the last two can apply. Approved companies get a free year of Claude Team and a one-time $1,000 API credit, worth up to about $7,000 in total, plus partner offers worth up to $45,000.
The briefing
On October 6, 2026, Anthropic expanded Claude Startups, its program for founders building on Claude, and opened it up to more companies. Approved startups get a free year of Claude Team, a one-time $1,000 API credit, and discounts and credits on partner tools.
What you get
The first part is a free year of Claude Team, with up to five Premium seats for companies new to Team. At $100 per Premium seat per month billed annually, that is worth about $6,000 a year. The actual value depends on the number and type of seats.
The second part is a one-time $1,000 API credit, available as soon as you are approved, so you can wire up the API, test a few ideas, and run early evals. The credit falls under Anthropic's Supplemental Credit Terms.
Together, the two are worth up to about $7,000.
Partner tool offers
The new Claude Startup Stack bundles offers from companies building with Claude, covering tools for sales, design, data engineering, and more, with a combined value of up to $45,000. Members redeem them in the Claude Console. The offers come from the partners themselves under their own terms, and a company may not be able to receive or combine every offer.
Some of the listed offers:
- ElevenLabs, 12 months free plus 33M characters
- ClickHouse, $5K in ClickHouse Cloud credits
- Firecrawl, 2.5x your plan's monthly credits for a year
- Granola, 3 months of Business free for up to 10 seats
- Gamma, 25% off the first year of Gamma Pro annual
- Emergent, 20% off for the first 6 months
- Attention, 20% off the first year with a 7-day free trial
- Augment Code, $100 in Cosmos credits
Linear, Lovable, and Hex are among the partners too. The full list is on the program page.
Other member benefits
Members can book virtual office hours with Anthropic's Applied AI team and get hands-on help building a Claude connector or plugin and submitting it to Claude Marketplace. They can also join events like Founder House, hackathons, and meetups (space is limited) and receive the Startup Newsletter, which carries product and ecosystem news and a chance to be featured.
Who can apply
Startups founded in the last five years or funded in the last two are eligible. The company applies, and Anthropic reviews applications on a rolling basis, looking at traction, funding, and Claude integration and usage.
Companies established or operating in sanctioned regions such as China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, or planning to offer Anthropic's services to people there, are not eligible.
How to apply
- Open the Claude Startups page and fill out the application with your company details.
- Once approved, you'll get an email. The $1,000 API credit goes to the company account named in your application, and you can set up your free Team seats.
- Redeem partner offers in the Claude Console.
Claude Startups program Application form Announcement article Startup Program terms