Anthropic is giving startups a free year of Claude Team and $1,000 in credits

Anthropic is widening its Claude for Startups program with a package aimed at early-stage companies. The offer includes a free year of Claude Team, Anthropic’s paid group plan, with up to five premium seats, plus $1,000 in API credits for teams building with Claude.

There’s more than just discounted access here. Startups in the program also get into Claude Marketplace, where they can build plugins for the service, and they can book virtual office hours with Anthropic’s Applied AI team. That makes this feel less like a coupon and more like a guided on-ramp.

The company says the program launched during its SF Tech Week event. In its announcement, Anthropic said it sees the biggest spread of AI coming through the companies building on top of models, not from the models by themselves. So the pitch is simple: help the builders, and the reach follows.

Eligibility is limited. Companies must have been founded in the last five years or have received funding in the last two years. Interested startups can apply through the Claude for Startups program page.