Amplitude offers $60,000 value (Amplitude's own figure for one free year of the Growth plan; Growth has no public list price).
No equity, no fees. No referral needed; apply directly.
Stage fit: Pre-seed to seed and early Series A: under $10M raised and under 20 employees. Larger companies can only get partner-referral discounts. Difficulty: easy.
Amplitude at a glance
- Max value
- $60,000 value (Amplitude's own figure for one free year of the Growth plan; Growth has no public list price)
- Stage fit
- Pre-seed to seed and early Series A: under $10M raised and under 20 employees. Larger companies can only get partner-referral discounts
- Takes equity
- No
- Who files it
- You (no code needed)
- Geography
- Global; no geographic restriction stated for the main Startup Plan.
- Referral needed
- No
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Review time
- Instant to within hours for most applicants
- Credits expire
- Free year runs 12 months.
What Amplitude actually gives you
- Startup Plan, Year 1100% off the full Growth plan for 12 months: product analytics, session replay, experimentation/feature flags, MCP and agents, unlimited teammates, up to 100M events/month or 200K monthly tracked users, no credit card. Amplitude's Terms describe Scholarship Programs as a limited feature set that Amplitude may change or end at any time; the docs list add-ons such as Insights and Portfolio as request-only via scholarship@amplitude.com.Startups with fewer than 20 employees AND less than $10M raised
- Year 240% off the annual Plus plan; Amplitude sends a usage-based projected price 60 days before the free year ends. Docs FAQ: you can instead upgrade to Growth or return to Free, with an extra 30-day Growth trial and sales outreach around month 11.Startup Plan alumni finishing year one
- Alumni discount (ongoing)Standing startup discount off list price on Plus and Growth annual plans; or drop to the free plan (2M events/month) and keep your data and dashboards with no penaltyAny company that went through the Startup Plan
- Venture portfolio discount (partner track)Up to 50% off the first year of the Growth plan (not free), per Amplitude's partner page (undated). Separately, the /startups page says VC/accelerator partners give portfolio companies the Startup Plan free plus partner-only perks, and that over-threshold companies who came from a partner get unspecified 'additional discounts'. The apply link on both pages (/portfolio-partners-program) returns 404.Portfolio companies of Amplitude venture partners that are new Amplitude customers with under $25M raised; the partner page says Y Combinator, AWS and Sequoia companies at any funding level are eligible
- Y Combinator dealSeparate deal (terms not published on the public page)YC companies, via Bookface
- Tech for Black FoundersGrowth plan free in perpetuity while eligible, up to 500K monthly tracked users (program run with Braze)Black-founder-led early-stage startups headquartered in the US with less than $30M raised in venture capital and fewer than 150 employees
Who qualifies
You likely qualify if
- Your company has fewer than 20 employees AND has raised less than $10M in total funding (both must hold)
- You have or can create an Amplitude account (no credit card required) and submit the in-product Startup Plan application (shown after signup, or under Settings > Plans & Billing)
- Existing customers: Free-plan accounts can apply directly; monthly Plus customers must cancel and wait for the downgrade to Free; annual Plus/Growth customers must email scholarship@amplitude.com so the team can cancel the contract before they can apply
- Your expected usage fits within 200K monthly tracked users or 100M events per month
- For Tech for Black Founders only: Black-founder-led, headquartered in the US, less than $30M raised, fewer than 150 employees
- For the venture portfolio discount only: portfolio company of an Amplitude venture partner, new Amplitude customer, under $25M raised (YC, AWS and Sequoia companies at any funding level per Amplitude's partner page)
You won't qualify if
- Companies with 20 or more employees (they may get unspecified 'additional discounts' if they came from an Amplitude partner, but not the free year)
- Companies that have raised $10M or more (same partner exception)
- Y Combinator companies are routed to a separate deal on Bookface rather than this public program
- Usage above 200K monthly tracked users or 100M events/month exceeds the Startup Plan limits; per the docs, going over the event limit more than twice downgrades the account to Free
- Existing paid Plus/Growth customers cannot apply until their paid plan is cancelled or downgraded to Free
- The partner portfolio discount requires being a new Amplitude customer
Geography. Global; no geographic restriction stated for the main Startup Plan. Only the separate Tech for Black Founders track requires a US headquarters.
How to apply to Amplitude for Startups
- 01Create a free Amplitude account at https://app.amplitude.com/signup?signUpSource=scholarship (no credit card needed); existing Free-plan users can sign in instead, and paid Plus/Growth customers must first follow the cancel/downgrade path in the docs
- 02The Startup Plan application appears automatically after signup; if it does not, open Settings > Plans & Billing and scroll to the application. There is no separate form
- 03Amplitude grants Startup access automatically if you are eligible and emails you either way; most applications are approved instantly or within hours (email scholarship@amplitude.com if you hear nothing)
- 04Partner-referred companies over the headcount or funding thresholds: Amplitude says it provides 'additional discounts' for partner referrals but publishes no process or amount, so email scholarship@amplitude.com to ask. YC companies should use the Bookface deal instead
- 05About 60 days before the free year ends, Amplitude sends a usage-based quote; choose year two on Plus at 40% off, upgrade to Growth, or drop to the free 2M events/month plan. The /startups page invites emailing scholarship@amplitude.com about extensions, but the docs FAQ says extensions past one year cannot be granted, so do not count on one
Review time: Instant to within hours for most applicants; Amplitude states 96% of startups that apply get in. Decision arrives by email.. Apply at app.amplitude.com/signup?signUpSource=scholarship.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
The /startups page has been rewritten; the previous version is still live at amplitude.com/startups-old. Differences: approval moved from 'within two business days' to 'instantly / within hours' with a stated 96% acceptance rate; year two is now explicitly 40% off the annual Plus plan (previously only 'competitive discounts for life'); the '$60,000 value' headline was added; the old carve-out making Y Combinator, Sequoia and AWS ecosystem companies eligible regardless of funding or headcount was removed from /startups and replaced with 'additional discounts if you came from one of our partners'; the VC section is now worded 'Startup Plan free plus partner-only perks'. However, the older venture-partner offer (up to 50% off first-year Growth, under $25M raised, new customer, YC/AWS/Sequoia at any funding level) is still published on amplitude.com/venture-and-portfolio-partners-program, so it is unclear whether it is current or stale. Amplitude has not published the date of these changes. The docs FAQ still says no extensions past one year and does not mention the 40% year-two discount.
Amplitude credits and your AWS bill
Amplitude does not reduce your AWS bill directly; it is product-analytics SaaS, so the free year frees up cash and AWS Activate credits for infrastructure instead of tooling. Amplitude is sold through AWS Marketplace. The current /startups page no longer has the old 'AWS ecosystem companies eligible regardless of funding or headcount' carve-out, but Amplitude's separate (undated) venture/portfolio partner page still says 'Y Combinator, AWS, Sequoia companies at any funding level are eligible' for its up-to-50%-off first-year Growth discount, which is a discount rather than the free year. Its application link returns 404, so confirm with scholarship@amplitude.com whether an AWS-ecosystem company still qualifies.
Amplitude startup credits, answered
How much does Amplitude give startups?
Amplitude offers $60,000 value (Amplitude's own figure for one free year of the Growth plan; Growth has no public list price). There are 6 tiers: Startup Plan, Year 1: 100% off the full Growth plan for 12 months: product analytics, session replay, experimentation/feature flags, MCP and agents, unlimited teammates, up to 100M events/month or 200K monthly tracked users, no credit card; Year 2: 40% off the annual Plus plan; Alumni discount (ongoing): Standing startup discount off list price on Plus and Growth annual plans; Venture portfolio discount (partner track): Up to 50% off the first year of the Growth plan (not free), per Amplitude's partner page (undated); Y Combinator deal: Separate deal (terms not published on the public page); Tech for Black Founders: Growth plan free in perpetuity while eligible, up to 500K monthly tracked users (program run with Braze).
Does Amplitude take equity?
No. Amplitude for Startups is a credits program, not an investment; you keep 100% of your company. No referral needed; apply directly.
Who qualifies for Amplitude for Startups?
Stage fit: Pre-seed to seed and early Series A: under $10M raised and under 20 employees. Larger companies can only get partner-referral discounts, not the free year. You usually qualify if: your company has fewer than 20 employees AND has raised less than $10M in total funding (both must hold); you have or can create an Amplitude account (no credit card required) and submit the in-product Startup Plan application (shown after signup, or under Settings > Plans & Billing); existing customers: Free-plan accounts can apply directly; monthly Plus customers must cancel and wait for the downgrade to Free; annual Plus/Growth customers must email scholarship@amplitude.com so the team can cancel the contract before they can apply. You will not qualify if: companies with 20 or more employees (they may get unspecified 'additional discounts' if they came from an Amplitude partner, but not the free year); companies that have raised $10M or more (same partner exception).
How long does Amplitude take to approve credits?
Instant to within hours for most applicants; Amplitude states 96% of startups that apply get in. Decision arrives by email. Difficulty: easy, a short form, no referral for the base tier.
When do Amplitude credits expire?
Free year runs 12 months. No published program end date.
Can I combine Amplitude credits with AWS credits?
Amplitude does not reduce your AWS bill directly; it is product-analytics SaaS, so the free year frees up cash and AWS Activate credits for infrastructure instead of tooling. Amplitude is sold through AWS Marketplace. On AWS, CloudRoute matches you for free with a vetted partner who can file MAP, POC or IW funding when the workload qualifies and AWS approves it. The Amplitude application you submit yourself.
