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Google for Startups Cloud Program

LLM 9.8/10

VC-backed AI startups can get up to $350,000 in Google Cloud credits over 2 years, covering Gemini and Gemma models in Vertex AI.

Free credit
$350,000
Credit window
730 days
Card required
No

Google for Startups Cloud Program scores 9.8/10 for free value in LLM. The main constraint: Up to $350,000 in Google Cloud credits over 2 years (Year 1 covers 100% up to $250k incl. AI Tier); credits cover Gemini/Gemma inference. Third-party models billed separately.

Category LLM Kind Startup cloud + LLM credits Caveats Eligibility requires qualifying VC funding (seed–Series A), founded within 10 years, and <$5k prior GCP credits; acceptance at Google's discretion. Credits cover Google's own models, not third-party LLMs. Card required No Eligibility startups, approval required

Free value score

9.8 / 10
Show the math
Value 10/10
value = 350000 $ one-time
weighted score = 0.7 * 10/10
Model Quality 9/10
value = 50 artificial_analysis_score
weighted score = 0.2 * 9/10
Volume 10/10
value = 103703703704 tok/mo
weighted score = 0.1 * 10/10
Access 4/10
value = 4/10
score = 4/10

Key metrics

Gemini 3.5 Flash 50 Best model
$350,000 Credit
Yes Commercial use

Models

24 free · 28 total

Limits may be stale — last re-verified outside this section's freshness window.

Model Family AA Access
Gemini 3.5 Flash Gemini 50.2 free
Gemini 3.1 Pro Gemini 46.5 free
Gemini 3 Pro Gemini 39.5 free
Gemini 3 Flash Gemini 27.4 free
Gemini 2.5 Pro Gemini 27 free
Gemini 2.5 Pro TTS Gemini 27 free
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite Gemini 25 free
Gemini 2.5 Flash Gemini 14.1 free
Gemini 2.5 Flash Live Gemini 14.1 free
Gemini 2.5 Flash TTS Gemini 14.1 free
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Gemini 14.1 free
Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) Gemini 14.1 free
Gemma 3 27B Instruct Gemma 4.8 free
Computer Use Gemini — free
Gemini 2.0 Flash Gemini — free
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite Gemini — free
Gemini 3.1 Flash Live Gemini — free
Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Gemini — free
Gemini Deep Research Gemini — free
Gemini Embedding Gemini — free
Gemini Embedding 2 Gemini — free
Gemma 3n Gemma — free
Gemma 4 Gemma — free
Imagen 4 Gemini — free
Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Gemini — paid
Lyria 3 Pro Gemini — paid
Nano Banana Pro / Nano Banana 2 Gemini — paid
Veo 3.1 Gemini — paid

Compare all free models across providers →

What you get

Official page: 'Receive up to $350,000 Google Cloud Credits' over 2 years

Year 1 credits cover 100% of eligible usage up to $250k for AI Tier

Program credits cover Gemini and Gemma models

Adds $12k support credits and Google Workspace + Maps perks

Gotchas

  • VC-funded startups only (seed–Series A)

    Applicants must have received qualifying venture capital or institutional equity funding from seed through Series A; angel, crowdfunding, and government grants do not qualify for the Scale tier.

  • Founded within last 10 years

    The company must have been founded no more than 10 years before applying.

  • Less than $5k prior GCP credits

    Startups that have already received more than $5,000 in Google Cloud credits are ineligible.

  • Acceptance at Google's discretion; multiple exclusions

    Google Cloud reserves the right to reject any application; IPO'd companies, nonprofits, agencies, and crypto-mining firms are explicitly excluded.

  • Year 1 cap: $250,000 in credits

    Year 1 covers 100% of eligible Google Cloud usage up to $250,000 USD; usage beyond this is billed normally.

  • Year 2 cap: $100,000 at 20% coverage

    Year 2 credits cover only 20% of eligible usage up to an additional $100,000, so actual billing begins immediately in year 2.

  • Google Workspace benefit is 12 months only

    Free Google Workspace Business Plus is limited to 12 months for new signups; company domain must not have had a paid Workspace plan within 31 days of applying.

Sources

  • "Receive up to $350,000 Google Cloud Credits to support your development costs over 2 years ... Year 1: 100% up to $100,000 USD in Google Cloud credits. For AI-first startups: 100% up to $250,000 USD in Google Cloud credits. Year 2: 20% up to an additional $100,000 USD in Google Cloud credits"

    https://cloud.google.com/startup/ai

  • "Designed for startups that raised Pre-Seed/Seed rounds within the last five years, and Series A rounds within the last 12 months; Founded within the last five years; Not yet received more than $5,000 in Google Cloud credits. Eligibility at the discretion of Google Cloud."

    https://cloud.google.com/startup/ai

  • "Program credits cover Google's state-of-the-art models like Gemini and Gemma. Note: Third-party models are billed directly and are not covered by the program credits."

    https://cloud.google.com/startup/ai

  • "Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview scores 46 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, placing it well above average among comparable models (averaging 29)."

    https://artificialanalysis.ai/models/gemini-3-1-pro-preview
startups google-cloud gemini vertex-ai cloud-credits
Open service Source ← All LLM

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