Notion offers up to $12,000 (Notion's own figure: Business at $20/member paid annually, 6 months, for 100 employees).
No equity, no fees. No referral for the base tier; the top tier needs an investor or partner referral.
Stage fit: Pre-seed to Series A. Difficulty: easy.
Notion at a glance
- Max value
- Up to $12,000 (Notion's own figure: Business at $20/member paid annually, 6 months, for 100 employees)
- Stage fit
- Pre-seed to Series A
- Takes equity
- No
- Who files it
- You (top tier via investor)
- Geography
- Global.
- Referral needed
- Top tier only
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Review time
- Up to 3 to 5 business days per Notion's help center (the offer page states no review time)
- Credits expire
- No application deadline stated.
What Notion actually gives you
- 6 months free (partner-affiliated)6 months of the Business plan with Notion AI; Notion states a maximum value of $12,000 for 100 employees ($20 per member paid annually)Non-paying startups under 100 employees affiliated with a Notion startup partner (a VC, accelerator, community or platform; Notion names AWS Activate, Stripe Atlas, HubSpot, Slack, Shopify and JP Morgan among partners) who apply with that partner's code or partner link
- 3 months free (direct, no partner)3 months of the Business plan with Notion AI (about $6,000 at 100 seats by the same arithmetic; Notion does not state this figure itself)Non-paying startups under 100 employees with a valid business website and a company-domain email, building a scalable tech-related product or service, applying without a partner
- 1 month free (SMB / unverified)1 month of the Business plan with Notion AICompanies under 10 employees (SMBs), service-based businesses, agencies, consultancies, solo applicants, or startups whose application details could not be fully verified
Who qualifies
You likely qualify if
- Your company has fewer than 100 employees.
- You are not currently paying for Notion and have never been a paying Notion customer (Notion's current terms: 'currently a non-paying, and were never in the past a paying, Notion Customer').
- You are moving to a net-new Notion Business plan (the offer cannot be applied to an existing Plus, Business, or Enterprise subscription).
- You have a valid Notion workspace (domain).
- You have a valid public company website (not a parked page, not erroring, clearly describing your business).
- You apply with a company/work email; the offer page says no Gmail, Outlook, etc.
- You have not received or redeemed any previous Notion promotion or startup offer (one redemption per company, even if you work with several partners; it cannot be combined with other offers or codes).
- For the 6-month tier: you are affiliated with a Notion startup partner and apply with its unique code (or the partner's own Notion link).
- For the 3- and 6-month tiers: you are building a scalable, tech-related product or service.
You won't qualify if
- Current or former paying Notion customers (no refunds on past invoices either).
- Companies with 100 or more employees.
- Existing Plus, Business, or Enterprise subscriptions; the offer applies only to net-new Business plans, and it cannot be applied to an Enterprise plan.
- Applicants using Gmail, Outlook, or other personal email domains.
- Anyone who has already claimed a Notion promotion or startup offer; it cannot be combined with any other Notion offer or code.
- SMBs, service-based businesses, consultancies, agencies, and teams under 10 people are limited to the 1-month tier.
- Applicants with an inactive/parked or erroring website, only personal social profiles, a single-person application, or insufficient business information get at most 1 month.
- The offer is non-transferable: it cannot be moved to another account or workspace once applied, and it is not redeemable for cash.
Geography. Global. No geographic restriction is stated on the offer page, help article, or terms; Notion says it is especially interested in partners outside major tech hubs.
How to apply to Notion for Startups
- 01If you are in a VC portfolio, accelerator, community, or platform partner (AWS Activate included), get the partner's unique Notion code or partner link first. Without partner affiliation you get 3 months instead of 6.
- 02AWS Activate members: open the Notion listing in the members-only Activate Offers section (it links to ntn.so/aws, which lands on notion.com/startups/aws and then app.notion.com/startups-apply). Do not assume a separate code is needed; the exact in-console mechanics are behind AWS login and were not verified.
- 03Otherwise go to notion.com/startups and click 'Unlock your startup offer'. It goes to app.notion.com/startups-apply, which requires logging in to Notion (use an organization/work email).
- 04Complete the application with your company details (company name, website, work email, team size) and include your partner code if you have one. Notion verifies the information, possibly through a third-party provider, so make sure the website is live and clearly describes a tech product. The exact form fields sit behind login and were not seen.
- 05Allow up to 3 to 5 business days. If approved, Notion emails you to confirm; the Business plan upgrade takes effect on your workspace right away.
- 06If you are denied but believe you qualify, email startups-help@makenotion.com (per Notion's terms).
- 07Once accepted, you can also apply for Notion Perks (software discounts) and one complimentary workspace-setup session with a Notion Certified Consultant.
Review time: Up to 3 to 5 business days per Notion's help center (the offer page states no review time); approval is confirmed by email and the upgrade applies immediately. The 'two to five business days' figure in the help center applies to partner applications, not startup applicants.. Apply at app.notion.com/startups-apply.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
Notion's startup terms were rewritten effective May 11, 2025. The offer moved from the Plus plan to the Business plan with Notion AI included; the employee cap rose from under 50 to under 100; the old $10M funding cap, the change-of-control/IPO exclusion, and the possible minimum-funding requirement for non-partner applicants were dropped; and eligibility tightened from 'currently non-paying' to 'currently non-paying and never a paying customer'. The terms page was edited again on 2025-12-03 in the paragraph covering single use, no combining with other offers or codes, and the non-transferable clause (the pre-May-2025 version has no non-transferability sentence). Guides describing '6 months of Plus with unlimited AI', under 50 employees or a $10M funding cap are stale; note AWS's own Activate Offers listing still carries some of that older wording.
Hold these alongside Notion
Notion credits and your AWS bill
AWS Activate is a named Notion startup partner, and Notion has an AWS-specific landing page (notion.com/startups/aws) advertising 6 months free on the Business plan with Notion AI for non-paying customers under 100 employees, with no funding requirement and no code shown. AWS lists Notion in its members-only Activate Offers, linking to that page via ntn.so/aws, so Activate members can reach the 6-month tier instead of the 3-month direct tier. Caveat: AWS's own Offers listing still shows older criteria (under 50 employees, under $10M raised) and mixed Plus/Business wording, so Notion's current terms and AWS landing page should be treated as authoritative. It does not reduce your AWS bill; it is a side perk that sits alongside AWS credits.
Notion startup credits, answered
How much does Notion give startups?
Notion offers up to $12,000 (Notion's own figure: Business at $20/member paid annually, 6 months, for 100 employees). There are 3 tiers: 6 months free (partner-affiliated): 6 months of the Business plan with Notion AI; 3 months free (direct, no partner): 3 months of the Business plan with Notion AI (about $6,000 at 100 seats by the same arithmetic; 1 month free (SMB / unverified): 1 month of the Business plan with Notion AI.
Does Notion take equity?
No. Notion for Startups is a credits program, not an investment; you keep 100% of your company. No referral for the base tier; the top tier needs an investor or partner referral.
Who qualifies for Notion for Startups?
Stage fit: Pre-seed to Series A, or any company under 100 employees that has never paid for Notion. The dollar value scales with headcount, so it matters most for teams of roughly 10 to 99 who would otherwise buy Business seats; a solo founder or a team under 10 only gets 1 month. You usually qualify if: your company has fewer than 100 employees.; you are not currently paying for Notion and have never been a paying Notion customer (Notion's current terms: 'currently a non-paying, and were never in the past a paying, Notion Customer').; you are moving to a net-new Notion Business plan (the offer cannot be applied to an existing Plus, Business, or Enterprise subscription). You will not qualify if: current or former paying Notion customers (no refunds on past invoices either).; companies with 100 or more employees.
How long does Notion take to approve credits?
Up to 3 to 5 business days per Notion's help center (the offer page states no review time); approval is confirmed by email and the upgrade applies immediately. The 'two to five business days' figure in the help center applies to partner applications, not startup applicants. Difficulty: easy, a short form, no referral for the base tier.
When do Notion credits expire?
No application deadline stated. The offer applies from the date Notion issues it and expires one year after issue.
Can I combine Notion credits with AWS credits?
AWS Activate is a named Notion startup partner, and Notion has an AWS-specific landing page (notion.com/startups/aws) advertising 6 months free on the Business plan with Notion AI for non-paying customers under 100 employees, with no funding requirement and no code shown. AWS lists Notion in its members-only Activate Offers, linking to that page via ntn.so/aws, so Activate members can reach the 6-month tier instead of the 3-month direct tier. 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 Notion application you submit yourself.
