AWS Activate is Amazon's startup credit program: self-funded startups can get $1,000 in AWS credits (up to $5,000 for select participants), and startups backed by an Activate Provider such as an accelerator, angel investor or VC can apply for up to $200,000. To qualify, AWS asks that you be pre-Series B, founded in the last 10 years, hold an AWS account on a paid plan, and have a working website. All figures are as of October 2026 and come from AWS's own pages.
This guide covers:
- The Activate credit tiers and what each one requires
- Who is eligible, and who is not
- How to apply, step by step, and how long AWS says review takes
- What the credits cover, including what AWS says (and does not say) about GPU instances
- How expiry, reapplying and the lifetime cap work
Takeaways:
- Activate has two public tiers, Founders (self-funded) and Portfolio (needs an Organization ID from an Activate Provider), plus an invite-only AWS Credits for AI Startups tier of $200,000 or more.
- Credits cover "over 200 eligible AWS services", including EC2 and third-party models on Amazon Bedrock, but not upfront Reserved Instance or Savings Plan fees. None of the Activate pages name GPU instance families as covered or excluded.
- AWS says credits "usually expire within 1-2 years depending on the package", cannot be extended, and cannot be refunded or reissued.
- The AWS pages used for this guide state no acceptance rate, so any such figure elsewhere is not from AWS.
What Is AWS Activate?
AWS calls Activate its flagship startup program, giving founders "cloud credits, technical support, and business mentorship", free to join. Membership and credits are separate steps: you first become an Activate member (a free profile tied to an AWS Builder ID), and only members can apply for credits. Approved credits appear in your AWS billing console and automatically offset eligible charges.
People searching for "AWS credits for startups" usually mean the Activate Credits page, which sets out the tiers below.
AWS Activate Credit Tiers
AWS says it offers "promotional credits based on your startup's funding stage" and tells you to apply for the tier that matches yours.
| Tier | Credits | How you access it |
|---|---|---|
| Activate Founders (self-funded) | Starts at $1,000; select participants may qualify for up to $5,000 | Apply directly if you are bootstrapped or self-funded |
| Activate Portfolio (pre-Series B) | Up to $200,000 | Apply with the Organization ID (Org ID) of your Activate Provider |
| AWS Credits for AI Startups | $200,000 or more | Invite only, for startups ready to scale beyond Portfolio; talk to your AWS account manager |
The Portfolio amount depends on your provider. AWS notes that some providers offer several packages, such as "$25K for pre-seed startups and $100K for seed-stage startups", so $200,000 is a ceiling, not a default. If you later qualify for more, you receive the difference: AWS's example is a $10,000 grant followed by a $100,000 offer, which adds $90,000. Activate Providers are "thousands of accelerators, angel investors, venture capital firms, and startup-enabling organizations", and an Org ID "is not a promotional code", so keep it private.
Kiro Startup Credits are a separate, smaller program for the Kiro coding environment. AWS says they are for startups under 10 years old, pre-Series B, with a working website and no active Activate Credits. Activate Credits can also be used towards Kiro Pro+.
AWS Activate Eligibility
The credits page states the baseline: "Pre-series B, founded in the last 10 years, AWS Account on Paid Tier Plan, and either new to Activate Credits or requesting more credits than previously received." AWS's FAQ adds that applications are open to "bootstrapped, self-funded, and funded startups up to and including Series A", with "a functioning website or public profile".
- Founders: new to Activate Credits, self-funded, a fully functioning website, founded in the past 10 years.
- Portfolio: associated with an Activate Provider and holding their Org ID, no previous Activate Credits of equal or greater value, pre-Series B, a working website, founded in the past 10 years. AWS says the most recent funding round must be within the last 12 months, if applicable, and that you must apply within 12 months of it.
Who Cannot Apply
- Startups building on AWS China Regions. AWS's FAQ says they are not eligible and points to a separate AWS Activate China program.
- Government entities. The Activate terms state "Government Entities are not eligible to participate in the Program."
- Free-plan accounts. AWS says "Free account plans are not eligible for Activate promotional credits", so upgrade to a paid plan first.
- A reused Org ID. An Org ID "can only be used one time".
Earlier credits from other AWS programs do not block you. The FAQ says Activate credits "are not impacted by previous AWS Activate Credits you may have received through other programs, including AWS EdStart".
How to Apply for AWS Activate Credits
- Create your AWS Builder ID. From the credits page choose Apply, create a Builder ID and verify it by email. AWS's pages differ on personal versus business email, so follow the prompt on the current sign-up form.
- Complete your Activate profile. This one-time membership form is about you and your startup, and you can save a draft.
- Choose your tier. Self-funded startups pick Founders. If a VC or accelerator backs you, check whether they are an Activate Provider and use their Org ID for Portfolio. If your provider emailed an invitation, apply with the same address within 30 days, when AWS says invitations expire.
- Provide startup details. AWS asks about your product, funding stage and company profile.
- Link your AWS account and submit. Create or link an AWS account to your Builder ID. Only one Builder ID can be linked to an account, and each startup needs its own account.
- Wait for the decision email. Applications cannot be edited once submitted, and only one can be open at a time.
AWS's pages give slightly different review times. The credits page says "You'll hear back within 5-10 business days"; the FAQ says processing "usually takes 7-10 business days" and cannot be expedited, and that provider email invites are "approved within 3-5 days compared to 7-10 days for applications using Org ID". After approval, credits appear in the billing console within 3 to 4 hours.
What AWS Activate Credits Cover
AWS says credits "can be used on over 200 eligible AWS services". Its examples:
- Compute: Amazon ECS, EKS and EC2, with "deploying machine learning pipelines on Amazon EC2" given as a use
- Databases, storage, networking: Amazon RDS, DynamoDB, S3, CloudFront and VPC
- AI models: credits are "redeemable for third-party models on Amazon Bedrock", from providers AWS lists as AI21 Labs, Anthropic, Cohere, Meta, Mistral AI, Stability AI and Amazon
- Developer tools and support: Kiro Pro+, and eligible AWS Support plans (AWS Business Support+ among them) once you are enrolled
Do Activate Credits Cover GPU Instances?
AWS says credits apply to "compute" and names Amazon EC2, but none of the Activate pages used here name P-family or G-family GPU instances as covered or excluded. AWS's rule is that "Any service not listed in the AWS Billing and Cost Management Console is not covered", so the console is your source of truth. Check that the instance type you want bills against credits before you size a training run around them.
An AWS blog post about the January 2024 Y Combinator cohort lists Trainium, Inferentia and reserved NVIDIA H100 capacity as uses of a $500,000 package. That package is not the standard Activate offer, so it says nothing about the tiers above.
What Is Not Covered
AWS's FAQ lists Amazon Mechanical Turk, AWS Managed Services, ineligible AWS Support, AWS Professional Services, AWS Training, AWS Certification, Route 53 domain registration or transfer, "any Services for mining for cryptocurrency", and "any upfront fee for any Services such as Savings Plans and Reserved Instances". Third-party software bought through AWS's software catalog is also excluded, except charges for third-party foundation models on Amazon Bedrock.
Credits only offset charges "incurred during or following the billing cycle in which you receive the credits", never historical bills. You cannot choose which service they go toward, they "cannot be transferred into another AWS account", and the Activate terms say they "cannot be passed on to any end customers".
Expiry, Reapplying and the Lifetime Cap
AWS states: "Credits usually expire within 1-2 years depending on the package." The exact date for your grant is in the billing console, and AWS emails you 60 and 30 days before expiry and when 75 and 100 percent of the balance is used. The Activate team "is unable to extend the expiration date", even with credits left, and credits cannot be refunded or reissued.
You can apply again if you still meet the criteria, ask for more than your last approval, and are under the maximum lifetime credit cap. AWS does not publish a fixed lifetime figure on the pages used here, so ask AWS Activate support if you are planning around it.
What to Plan For When AWS Credits Run Out
Plan around the expiry date, not just the balance: credits cannot be extended, so a slow burn can still lose them to the clock. Set a billing budget alert early and note the expiry date from day one.
If your workload is GPU-heavy, check early whether the instance type you need bills against credits. When the credits end, Aquanode rents GPUs by the hour (see pricing), has per-GPU pages such as H100, and offers a GPU recommender to size a workload before you spend.
To see how this compares with other programs, read the startup cloud credits overview. Natural companions are the Microsoft for Startups guide and the Google for Startups Cloud Program guide, and AI founders should also read the NVIDIA Inception guide.
FAQ
How much can you get from AWS Activate?
Founders starts at $1,000 and select participants may reach $5,000. Portfolio is "up to $200,000" and depends on the package your Activate Provider offers. AWS Credits for AI Startups is invite only at $200,000 or more. AWS says the approval email states the value of your credit offer.
Can you get AWS Activate credits without an investor?
Yes, through Activate Founders, which is for self-funded startups and needs no Org ID. The trade-off is the smaller amount.
How long do AWS Activate credits last?
AWS says they "usually expire within 1-2 years depending on the package". Your exact date appears in the billing console after approval, and AWS cannot extend it.
Can you stack AWS Activate with other startup programs?
AWS's FAQ says earlier credits from other AWS programs, including AWS EdStart, do not make you ineligible. Credits from other companies are separate programs with their own applications, and the AWS pages used here do not say how they interact with Activate. See the Google and Microsoft guides.
Sources
- AWS for Startups: "up to $200,000" headline
- AWS Activate Credits: tiers, eligibility line, steps, review time
- AWS Activate Credits FAQ: eligibility, review times, expiry, coverage, reapplying, Kiro Startup Credits
- Everything you need to know about AWS Activate Credits: tier eligibility, expiry, services, lifetime cap
- Applying for AWS Activate Credits: a step-by-step guide: application steps
- AWS Activate Terms and Conditions: government entity exclusion, no passing credits to end customers
- AWS Promotional Credit Terms and Conditions: excluded services, transferability
- AWS Activate credits for third-party models on Amazon Bedrock: Bedrock coverage, Y Combinator package
