Student plans and discounts
Which tools in this guide have student plans, what GitHub's student benefits include, how to get verified, and where to look for more.
Check before you rely on this. Student offers change often and some are short promotions. This was researched in October 2026 from GitHub's pages and public roundups. Confirm on each official site before you sign up or pay.
The big one: GitHub Student Developer Pack
If you are a student, this is the most valuable free upgrade for this club. It gives a verified student a free GitHub Pro account, extra private-repo tools and monthly build and cloud-coding hours, learning paths, free GitHub Copilot (an AI coding helper inside your editor), and partner offers from other companies.
Who qualifies
- You are 13 or older.
- You are enrolled in a degree or diploma program (a college student qualifies).
How to get verified
- Sign in to GitHub and turn on two-factor authentication.
- Add your school email (for example your .edu address) to your GitHub account and verify it.
- Go to education.github.com/benefits and choose to get verified. The setting also lives under your account settings, in billing and plans, then GitHub Education.
- If your school has no email, upload proof of enrollment that shows your name, school name and a current date. A student ID, transcript, enrollment letter or class schedule works. GitHub asks for a live photo of the document.
- Allow location access, turn off any VPN, and apply from campus if you can.
- Wait. Review often takes a few days, and benefits should turn on shortly after approval.
If you are rejected, fix whatever GitHub lists (billing info, two-factor, document clarity) before applying again. Re-applying with nothing changed usually fails.
Why a business student should care
Free Copilot and private repos mean you can build real projects and keep client-style work private at zero cost. It also makes your GitHub profile stronger for internships. Employers expect familiarity with the tools teams actually use, and this pack gives you them for free.
Tool by tool
GitHub
Student plan? Yes. Free GitHub Pro for verified students, plus the Student Developer Pack of partner offers.
GitHub's page lists: unlimited private repos, 3,000 Actions minutes and 180 Codespaces hours per month, 2 GB Packages storage, learning paths, and partner offers such as cloud hosting and developer tools. Free GitHub Copilot for verified students (the Copilot Student plan began March 12, 2026, with auto model selection and possible rate limits).
Best value for this club. Do it first.
Hugging Face
Student plan? No student plan found. The core site is free.
Free accounts cover models, datasets, Spaces and the free courses. Paid options exist for hosting and teams.
Use the free tier.
Google AI Edge Eloquent
Student plan? Free app.
No subscription reported at launch. Check the App Store listing.
Nothing to apply for.
Muse (Meta)
Student plan? Free for most needs, with paid plans for more usage.
Per Meta's launch post. No student-specific plan found.
Check the app for current limits.
CapCut
Student plan? No student plan found.
CapCut has a free tier with paid features. Check capcut.com for any education pricing.
Start free.
FLUX 3 / Higgsfield
Student plan? No student plans found.
FLUX 3 is priced per second of video; Higgsfield uses credits with a free tier. Check bfl.ai and higgsfield.ai.
Use Draft or free credits, and set a budget.
Claude (Anthropic)
Student plan? Depends on your school.
Some universities have Claude for Education. There have also been student API credit programs for .edu emails. Ask your school's IT or student services, and check anthropic.com.
Ask UVU/BYU what they offer.
Google Gemini (Google AI Pro)
Student plan? Yes, for US college students.
Google's student page offers Google AI Pro free for 1 year to eligible US college students aged 18 and over. Claim it at one.google.com/ai-student by December 31, 2026. A payment method is required at sign-up, and Google AI Pro charges $19.99 a month after the free year unless you cancel. Eligibility is re-verified each year. One 2026 report says Google AI Plus is offered free for a year in 140+ other countries (not confirmed).
Earlier in this project I read that this offer had ended. Google's own page now shows it open, so check the page and set a calendar reminder to cancel before it renews.
Notion
Student plan? Yes. Free Plus plan with a school email, and a discount on Notion AI.
Per a 2026 roundup of student offers. Sign up at notion.so/students.
Good for notes and club docs.
Microsoft 365 / Copilot
Student plan? Reported free for 12 months with a school email.
Confirm with your school. Some universities already give students Microsoft 365.
Check your school portal first.
ChatGPT (OpenAI)
Student plan? Reported: 4 free months of ChatGPT Plus for US college students.
Per third-party guides (I could not confirm it on OpenAI's own page): claim by October 31, 2026, verified through SheerID, one per account, then $20 a month unless you cancel. The same guides mention $100 in Codex developer credits for US and Canada university students. Subscriptions billed through Apple or Google are not eligible.
Only 3 weeks left if this is real. Check chatgpt.com and OpenAI's help pages before relying on it.
Where else to look
- Your school: many universities already include Microsoft 365, Adobe or AI tools. Search your school's IT or student software page.
- Your .edu email: many companies check it. Try it first.
- Student verification services: some companies verify you through a service called SheerID.
- Club idea: keep a shared list of current student offers on this page. Update it in a pull request when you find a new one, with the date you checked.
Smart rules for saving money
- Use free tiers first and upgrade only when you hit a real limit.
- Set a monthly cap for yourself before you try paid tools.
- Cancel trials before they renew. Put the date in your calendar.
- Never share your school login with others, and never send your documents to anyone except the official verification page.