AI Perks curates and provides access to exclusive discounts, credits, and deals on AI tools, cloud services, and APIs to help startups and developers save money.
What is GitHub Education?
GitHub Education is free for everyone globally, and AI Perks lists up to $120 in GitHub student value on its own card. The card shows who qualifies and how to claim.
GitHub reports about 5 million students and 200K verified educators in the program. It works as an umbrella with separate tracks: one for students, one for teachers, and one for schools. Each track has different tools, so the first job is to find yours.
This guide walks through each track using only what GitHub publishes. Eligibility rules and claim steps change, so we do not repeat them here. They live on the perk card, and AI Perks tracks more student and educator offers around it.
Top AI Credits for Startups
Apply directly through these verified programs.
GitHub Up to $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
ChatGPT $80
Eligible for early-stage startups
Google Gemini $240
Eligible for early-stage startups
Notion $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Figma $1,080
Eligible for early-stage startups
Perplexity $84
Eligible for early-stage startups
What does the GitHub Education plan give students?
Verified learners get a free GitHub Pro account. That is the core of the github education plan for students, and the published allowances are specific.
| Student Pro allowance | Amount |
|---|---|
| Actions minutes | 3K per month |
| Codespaces hours | 180 per month |
| Packages storage | 2 GB |
| Codespaces storage | 20 GB |
The docs describe the Codespaces allowance as up to 180 core hours a month for personal accounts. That is enough room to run a full development environment in the browser without a paid plan.
Copilot is part of the student story too, with two details worth knowing. GitHub rechecks student Copilot eligibility every month. Activation can also lag behind verification by several days, so a missing Copilot badge on day one is not unusual.
If you want to see the exact student offer before reading further, open the GitHub student card. It is where you claim and start.
What do teachers get from a GitHub Education account?
A github education account for teachers is a different bundle from the student one. Verified teachers can get a free Copilot Pro subscription and a free GitHub Teams account. Both come straight from GitHub's educator pages.
One difference to know: the partner offers bundled with the Student Developer Pack are for students, and teachers are not eligible for them. Teachers get their own benefits instead. That keeps the two tracks easy to tell apart.
Teachers also use the same card route as students. The card shows who qualifies and how to claim, so you do not need to hunt through documentation pages.
Top AI Credits for Startups
Apply directly through these verified programs.
GitHub Up to $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
ChatGPT $80
Eligible for early-stage startups
Google Gemini $240
Eligible for early-stage startups
Notion $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Figma $1,080
Eligible for early-stage startups
Perplexity $84
Eligible for early-stage startups
How is it different from the Student Developer Pack?
The Student Developer Pack is a separate add-on, not the whole program. GitHub describes it as dozens of partner offers and resources for students, from cloud hosting to development platforms and premium educational content.
Think of it in two layers:
- GitHub Education is the free base: the Pro account, the Codespaces allowance and the school tools.
- The Student Developer Pack is the layer of partner tools on top.
Many searches for a "github education discount" are really about that second layer. AI Perks catalogues several of those partner-style tools as separate cards, which the credits table below shows. Opening each card shows the amount and how to claim it.
What happened to GitHub Classroom, and what is the Campus Program?
This is the section for instructors and school administrators. Two things matter: the Campus Program for schools, and the end of GitHub Classroom.
Campus Program for schools
The github campus program gives schools GitHub Enterprise Cloud and Enterprise Server free of charge. It includes 50,000 Actions minutes and 50 GB of Packages storage. The license is free for one year and renews automatically each year.
The free school offering leaves out Enterprise Support, Advanced Security, Enterprise Managed Users and Copilot Business. Adoption must also happen at the institution level, not by individual departments. Students and educators still apply on their own for Copilot and partner tools, not through the school.
GitHub Classroom is deprecated
As of August 28, 2026, GitHub Classroom is deprecated in favor of partner solutions, according to the GitHub changelog. Some data will be permanently deleted, including classroom and assignment names, tests defined outside of repositories, and LTI integrated rosters. Instructors who rely on it should export what they need.
GitHub points to these replacements:
- Codio gives instructors free access to create curriculum, use the migration tool and explore the platform. Institutions that sign an agreement can receive 50 free learner licenses for an initial 12 months.
- Classroom 50 is a free, open-source alternative from the Fifty Foundation.
Top AI Credits for Startups
Apply directly through these verified programs.
GitHub Up to $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
ChatGPT $80
Eligible for early-stage startups
Google Gemini $240
Eligible for early-stage startups
Notion $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Figma $1,080
Eligible for early-stage startups
Perplexity $84
Eligible for early-stage startups
Which other student and education perks are in the catalogue?
GitHub is one card among many. These catalogue amounts sit next to it, and each one opens its own card with eligibility and claim details.
| Company | Free credits | How to get |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub (students) | Up to $120 | Get this perk |
| JetBrains (students) | $199 | Get this perk |
| Microsoft Azure (students) | $100 | Get this perk |
| Figma (education) | $1,080 | Get this perk |
| Notion (education) | $120 | Get this perk |
| Canva (education) | $144 | Get this perk |
Total across these six cards: up to $1,763 (120 + 199 + 100 + 1,080 + 120 + 144).
The catalogue amounts are the headline values on each card. The JetBrains card covers the IDE side, Azure covers cloud credit, and Figma is the largest single number. For a wider comparison, see every student credit program compared.
How do I get started, step by step?
You do not need to read every doc page first. Follow this order.
- Open AI Perks and start with the GitHub card. Go to getaiperks.com, or jump straight to the GitHub student card. It shows who qualifies and how to claim.
- Claim the base account. Students go for the free Pro account. Teachers go for the Copilot Pro and Teams benefits.
- Give Copilot time. Activation can lag behind verification by several days, so wait before assuming something failed.
- Add the design and IDE tools. Open the JetBrains card, the Azure card and the Figma card one by one.
- Schools check the Campus route. Administrators should review the school tools, and instructors should plan their move off Classroom. Research labs can also see free AI credits for university labs.
Top AI Credits for Startups
Apply directly through these verified programs.
GitHub Up to $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
ChatGPT $80
Eligible for early-stage startups
Google Gemini $240
Eligible for early-stage startups
Notion $120
Eligible for early-stage startups
Figma $1,080
Eligible for early-stage startups
Perplexity $84
Eligible for early-stage startups
FAQ
Is GitHub Education really free?
Yes. GitHub states that GitHub Education is accessible to everyone globally at no cost. The student Pro account, teacher benefits and school Campus tools are all free. Details on who qualifies sit on the GitHub card at AI Perks.
What does the free student GitHub Pro account include?
It includes 3K Actions minutes and 180 Codespaces hours per month. It also includes 2 GB of Packages storage and 20 GB of Codespaces storage. Those are the published allowances, and the card on getaiperks.com links the current student offer.
Can teachers use the Student Developer Pack?
No. Teachers are not eligible for the partner offers that come with the Student Developer Pack. Verified teachers can get a free Copilot Pro subscription and a free GitHub Teams account instead. Browse more educator offers at getaiperks.com.
What replaces GitHub Classroom?
GitHub Classroom is deprecated as of August 28, 2026, in favor of partner solutions. Codio gives instructors free access, and Classroom 50 is a free open-source alternative. Some Classroom data will be permanently deleted, so instructors should export what they need first.
How long does Copilot take to activate for students?
Approval and Copilot activation are separate steps, and the benefit can take several days to finish applying after verification. GitHub also rechecks student eligibility every month. If you are worried about future Copilot pricing, read how Copilot usage-based billing works.
Where can I find more student perks besides GitHub?
AI Perks tracks many more companies and perks, including JetBrains, Azure, Figma, Notion and Canva education cards. Each card shows the amount and how to claim. Start at getaiperks.com and filter for student offers.
Ready to claim your education perks?
Open the GitHub card, check who qualifies, then stack the JetBrains, Azure and Figma cards on top. It takes a few minutes, and the amounts in the table above add up quickly.
Get free AI credits at getaiperks.com →
Browse every student and educator offer, updated by the AI Perks team, at getaiperks.com.
