Clerk's startup offer: discount on Clerk Pro (amount not published).
No equity, no fees. No referral needed; apply directly.
Stage fit: Pre-seed and seed: up to 1 year since launch and up to $5M raised.. Difficulty: easy.
Clerk at a glance
- Max value
- Discount on Clerk Pro (amount not published)
- Stage fit
- Pre-seed and seed: up to 1 year since launch and up to $5M raised.
- Takes equity
- No
- Who files it
- You (no code needed)
- Geography
- Not restricted on the official page; the form asks only for company email and website.
- Referral needed
- No
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Review time
- Not published
- Credits expire
- No program end date published.
What Clerk actually gives you
- Free tier (everyone)Hobby plan: 50,000 monthly retained users + 100 monthly retained organizations free per app. Hobby excludes Pro features such as MFA, SMS codes, passkeys and removal of Clerk branding.Any Clerk account on the Hobby plan; no startup application needed
- Startup discount on ProClerk Pro features at a discount (SMS codes, allowlists/blocklists, RBAC, custom session duration, device tracking and revocation, and more); Clerk does not publish the discount size or durationStartups up to 1 year after launch with up to $5M in venture funding
- Partner pre-negotiated discountsPre-negotiated startup discounts through Clerk's partners; terms not published. Clerk's pricing page names Stripe Atlas, Y Combinator, South Park Commons and OnDeck 'and many more'.Companies coming through a Clerk partner program (the startups form lists about 29, including Y Combinator, Techstars, a16z, Seedcamp, Heavybit, Mercury, Lovable, Stripe Atlas, South Park Commons and OnDeck). The same limits apply: up to 1 year after launch and up to $5M venture funding. Apply through the same Clerk for Startups form.
Who qualifies
You likely qualify if
- Your company launched 1 year ago or less (Clerk: 'up to 1 year after launch')
- You have raised $5 million or less in venture funding
- You have a Clerk account with at least one application created
- You apply with a company email address and company website
- You are ready to upgrade to Pro (Clerk says to apply once you are ready to upgrade, because the discount period starts at approval)
You won't qualify if
- Companies more than 1 year past launch
- Companies that have raised more than $5 million in venture funding
- Accounts with no Clerk application created yet (you must create one first)
- Partner-route discounts follow the same 1-year and $5M limits
Geography. Not restricted on the official page; the form asks only for company email and website.
How to apply to Clerk for Startups
- 01Create a Clerk account at clerk.com and sign in (you must be signed in to apply)
- 02Create at least one application in the Clerk Dashboard
- 03Go to clerk.com/startups and fill in your name, company email and company website
- 04Optionally pick your accelerator or partner program from the dropdown (Y Combinator, Techstars, Stripe Atlas, Antler India, etc.) or choose None / Other
- 05Submit; Clerk says 'we'll be in touch', and the discount period starts as soon as the application is approved
Review time: Not published; Clerk only says 'we'll be in touch.' Third-party listings conflict (1-5 business days vs 7-14 business days or 1-2 weeks) and are unverified.. Apply at clerk.com/startups.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
On 5 February 2026 Clerk raised the free tier to 50,000 Monthly Retained Users per app (up from 10,000), folded MFA, satellite domains and simultaneous sessions into Pro, and introduced Pro 'starting from $20/mo' and Business 'starting from $250/mo' (annual billing). Clerk's pricing page currently lists Pro at $25/mo ($20/mo annual) and Business at $300/mo ($250/mo annual), and shows Directory Sync connections billed from 1 January 2027. The startups page publishes no dollar figure; older aggregator claims of '$150K over 2 years' do not appear on the official page.
Clerk credits and your AWS bill
Clerk is a hosted auth service billed separately from AWS (no AWS Marketplace listing found), so it does not consume AWS credits. It is the alternative to building on Amazon Cognito, which AWS credits do cover. Clerk's 50,000 free monthly retained users means most early startups can run auth at $0 and keep their AWS credits for compute and data.
Clerk startup credits, answered
How much does Clerk give startups?
Clerk's startup offer: discount on Clerk Pro (amount not published). There are 3 tiers: Free tier (everyone): Hobby plan: 50,000 monthly retained users + 100 monthly retained organizations free per app; Startup discount on Pro: Clerk Pro features at a discount (SMS codes, allowlists/blocklists, RBAC, custom session duration, device tracking and revocation, and more); Partner pre-negotiated discounts: Pre-negotiated startup discounts through Clerk's partners.
Does Clerk take equity?
No. Clerk for Startups is a credits program, not an investment; you keep 100% of your company. No referral needed; apply directly.
Who qualifies for Clerk for Startups?
Stage fit: Pre-seed and seed: up to 1 year since launch and up to $5M raised. You usually qualify if: your company launched 1 year ago or less (Clerk: 'up to 1 year after launch'); you have raised $5 million or less in venture funding; you have a Clerk account with at least one application created. You will not qualify if: companies more than 1 year past launch; companies that have raised more than $5 million in venture funding.
How long does Clerk take to approve credits?
Not published; Clerk only says 'we'll be in touch.' Third-party listings conflict (1-5 business days vs 7-14 business days or 1-2 weeks) and are unverified. Difficulty: easy, a short form, no referral for the base tier.
When do Clerk credits expire?
No program end date published. Discount length is not stated; it starts when your application is approved.
Can I combine Clerk credits with AWS credits?
Clerk is a hosted auth service billed separately from AWS (no AWS Marketplace listing found), so it does not consume AWS credits. It is the alternative to building on Amazon Cognito, which AWS credits do cover. 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 Clerk application you submit yourself.
