How to Get Free Claude API Credits

Anthropic has no permanent free tier for the Claude API. What it offers is a small one-time credit for new Claude Console accounts, which is enough to test the API and the Console playground. For more than that, Anthropic runs two programs: Claude for Startups, which is not taking new applications right now, and the AI for Science program. This guide covers all three and what each one actually includes today.

What you get

• New-user credit: Anthropic's pricing docs say "New users receive a small amount of free credits to test the API." The amount is not published. See Claude API new user credits.
• Expiry: Anthropic's Credit Terms say promotional credits expire at the time indicated when they are issued, or one calendar year after issue if no time is given. Credits can't be refunded or transferred, and they are lost if you close your account.
• After the credit: API usage is paid with prepaid credits at standard per-token prices. Purchased credits expire one year after purchase.

Steps

1. Go to platform.claude.com and create a Claude Console account, or sign in if you already have one.
2. Open the Billing page in Console settings. Your organization's available credit balance is shown there, so you can see whether a free credit was applied and when it expires.
3. Open the API keys page and click Create key. Name the key, choose an expiration and set Linked account to yourself.
4. Copy the key right away. It starts with sk-ant- and the Console shows it only once. Store it somewhere safe and save it as an environment variable: export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-api-key-here". The official SDKs read ANTHROPIC_API_KEY automatically.
5. Install the Python SDK (pip install anthropic) and send a short test message. Direct HTTP requests send the key in the x-api-key header.
6. Check the Rate limits page in the Console to see your organization's tier and current limits before you build anything that depends on volume.

Never commit the key to a repository or ship it in client-side code.

Make the credit last

• Pick a cheaper model for testing. Prices vary widely: Claude Haiku 5.5 costs $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.50 per million output tokens for prompts up to 100,000 tokens, while Claude Opus 5.5 costs $4 and $20.
• Cache repeated content. Prompt caching reads cached input at a fraction of the normal input price, and for most models cached reads don't count toward your input-token rate limit.
• Combine discounts. Batch API and prompt caching discounts can be used together for work that doesn't need an instant answer.
• Count tokens first. Claude 4.7 and later models use a newer tokenizer that produces about 30% more tokens for the same text, so check request sizes with token counting.

Bigger paths: startups and researchers

Claude for Startups (listing)

• Not accepting new applications. As of October 19, 2026 Anthropic says the current cohort is full, applications still in review were not moved forward, and the Claude Startup newsletter will announce the next cohort.
• Members get the Claude Startup Stack (discounts and credits worth up to $45,000 from companies building with Claude, redeemed with codes in the Console), live Applied AI group sessions every other week, and Claude Startup events, hackathons and meetups. The program page no longer lists a fixed API credit for members.
• Startups backed by a VC in Anthropic's partner network may be eligible for up to $100K in additional API credits, claimed through that VC.
• Program credits work only on the first-party Claude API through the Console, not on AWS, Google Cloud, Azure or other third-party platforms.

AI for Science program (listing)

• Anthropic offers API credits to qualified researchers working on high-impact scientific projects, with a focus on biology and life sciences. The application form says it welcomes applications across the natural sciences and math.
• Credits go to nonprofit and academic researchers attached to a research institution, selected on scientific credentials, potential impact and how much AI can accelerate the work. Apply through the form linked from Anthropic's program announcement. Anthropic does not publish credit amounts.

Already paying for Claude Max or Team? Those plans include monthly Claude API credits: $100 on Max 5x, $200 on Max 20x, and $20 per Standard or $100 per Premium Team seat (pooled, capped at $500 a month). You claim them by linking a Console organization to your plan. Unused credits expire at the end of each billing cycle, they don't cover interactive Claude Code sessions, and Pro plans don't get them.

Limits and the catch

• The amount is small and not published. Treat the new-user credit as a test budget, not a free tier.
• New organizations may start with lower limits. Anthropic's rate-limit docs say new organizations may begin in an Evaluation tier with limits below the standard ones, which rise automatically as usage history builds.
• No credits, no API. Once your balance runs out, API and playground calls stop until you buy more credits. Credit purchases are non-refundable.
• Spend caps apply even after you pay. The Start tier has a $500 monthly spend cap, Build $1,000 and Scale $200,000.
• Startup credits are out of reach for most. Claude for Startups is closed to new applicants, and its API credits come only through partner VCs, so don't plan around them.

If it doesn't work

• API calls fail and your balance is zero: the free credit is used up or has expired. Check your balance on the Billing page and add credits to continue.
• 429 with a retry-after header: you hit a requests-per-minute or tokens-per-minute limit. Wait for the time in the header and add retries with backoff.
• 429 with enforced_spend_limit_reached and no retry-after: your organization reached its tier's monthly spend cap. Usage resumes at 00:00 UTC on the first of next month, or use Request tier increase on the Rate limits page.
• 400 saying you reached your specified usage limits: a spend limit you or an admin set was reached. Raise or remove it on the Billing page.
• The Create key button is disabled: your role doesn't allow key creation. Ask an organization admin to change your role.
• You lost your key: the Console can't show it again. Create a new key.