Free AI for students: every offer and discount (2026)

Every back-to-school season, AI companies fight over students: a free year here, four months there, half price somewhere else. The catch is that half the “deals” going around are expired, limited to the United States, or hide a subscription that starts billing on its own. We checked every offer on September 27, 2026, directly on the official pages, for students wherever they live.

In short: outside the US, the best deal right now is Google’s: a free year of Google AI Plus for students aged 18 and over in more than 140 markets, to claim before December 31, 2026 (US students get Google AI Pro instead). The four free months of ChatGPT Plus are for students enrolled in the United States only. Mistral Vibe (formerly Le Chat) costs $5.99 a month for students, Perplexity Education Pro $10, and GitHub Copilot stays free for verified students. Anthropic has no individual discount, but its Learning mode is free for everyone. Almost everywhere, a payment method is required: write down the end date before you activate anything.

The summary table (checked September 27, 2026)

Offer	What you get	Main conditions	Status
Google AI Plus for students	12 months free, then the regular price (€4.99/month in France)	18+, higher education, SheerID check, payment method	Open until 12/31/2026, 140+ markets, not the US
Google AI Pro for US students	1 year free (normally $19.99/month)	Eligible US college students	Open until 12/31/2026
ChatGPT Plus Back to School	4 free months, then $20/month	US institution, SheerID, payment method	US only, claim by 10/31/2026
ChatGPT Free and Go	Study mode on Free; Go cheaper than Plus	None	Worldwide
Claude	No individual discount; free Learning style	Full access if your university has a deal	Worldwide
Claude Campus Program	$3,600 stipend for selected ambassadors	18+, application	Open
Mistral Vibe Education	Pro at $5.99/month instead of $14.99 (excl. tax)	Verified student, never subscribed, 12 months max	Open
Perplexity Education Pro	Pro at $10/month (50% off)	SheerID verification	Open, 180+ countries
GitHub Copilot Student	Unlimited completions, 200 AI credits/month	Verified via GitHub Education	Open
Microsoft 365 Personal	50% off, Copilot included ($4.99/month in the US)	Verified student, yearly re-check	Open (US, France and more)
Office 365 A1	Free Word, Excel, PowerPoint on the web	Eligible school email	Open
Notion Education Plus	Free Plus plan, AI as a trial	School email address	Open
JetBrains	Free IDEs, non-commercial use	Student, 13+, one-year license	Open
Cursor	Free Hobby plan; promotions at events	None	Free Pro year discontinued
Wolfram|Alpha Pro for students	€5.25/month (billed €63/year)	Student plan	Open

Google: a free year of AI Plus (AI Pro in the US)

Google announced on August 19, 2026 that eligible US college students get a free year of Google AI Pro, normally $19.99 a month, while students in more than 140 other markets get a free year of Google AI Plus (Google). AI Plus comes with doubled Gemini limits, 400 GB of storage, “study notebooks” built from your course material, interactive visualizations and Deep Research. The offer runs until December 31, 2026.

The conditions, per Google One Help: be enrolled in higher education, verify your status through SheerID with a school email address, and have a personal Google Account with a payment method. The AI Plus trial excludes Albania, Bolivia, Canada, Hong Kong, Macau, Tunisia and the United States. Google also offers AI Pro at a discount for up to four years of study. In France, AI Plus renews at €4.99 a month after the free year unless you cancel, and eligibility must be re-validated every year (Google).

Why not AI Pro everywhere? In France, the free year of AI Pro was the 2025 offer, open until December 9, 2025 (Google France). Students whose 2025 trial has expired can claim the 2026 AI Plus offer.

OpenAI: four months of Plus, US only

The 2026 Back to School offer gives four free months of ChatGPT Plus to full-time and part-time students at eligible US degree-granting institutions, verified by SheerID, to be claimed by October 31, 2026 (OpenAI). After that, it renews at $20 a month. One detail matters: if you cancel early, you keep Plus until the end of the current month, but you forfeit the remaining free months.

Everywhere else, you still have the free tier with study mode, and ChatGPT Go, available in every country where ChatGPT is, though it may show ads. The “College Student” plugin announced in August 2026, which builds quizzes and flashcards from your courses, only lives in ChatGPT Edu workspaces bought by institutions (OpenAI Academy).

Anthropic: no discount, but campus access

Claude’s pricing page lists no student discount: Free, Pro at $20 a month ($17 billed annually, excluding tax) and Max. Anthropic works through institutions instead: Claude for Education, launched in April 2025, is a university-wide plan, with early deals at Northeastern, the London School of Economics and Champlain College (Anthropic). Ask your university whether it has one (Claude for Education).

Two things are open to everyone. The “Learning” style, which guides instead of answering, has been free since August 14, 2025 (Engadget). And the Claude Campus Program accepts applications from students anywhere in the world who are 18+ and authorized to work in their country of study: selected ambassadors receive a $3,600 stipend, and Claude Builder Clubs hand out API credits to members.

Mistral Vibe: the European student price

Le Chat is now called Vibe, and accounts and plans carried over (Mistral). The Education plan gives you Pro for $5.99 (or €5.99) a month excluding tax instead of $14.99, with $30 of monthly API credits instead of $15 (Mistral pricing). Conditions: be a verified student at an accredited higher-education institution, never have used Vibe or Le Chat before, and twelve months maximum. If you already have an account, that last clause may rule you out.

Perplexity: Education Pro at half price

Perplexity offers Pro at $10 a month, 50% off, to students and educators verified by SheerID in the US, Canada, Australia and more than 180 other countries, including Learn Mode for flashcards and quizzes (SheerID). The old campaign that gave free months to US campuses expired on December 31, 2024 (Perplexity).

For coding: GitHub, JetBrains, Cursor

GitHub Copilot stays free for verified students. In March 2026, GitHub moved students to a dedicated plan, Copilot Student (GitHub). Since June 1, it includes unlimited completions and 200 AI credits a month, and premium models are only reachable through automatic selection (GitHub). The Student Developer Pack bundles more perks, including Notion with extra AI responses.

JetBrains gives its IDEs to students aged 13 and over for free, for non-commercial, educational use, with one-year licenses (JetBrains agreement). For AI, there is an AI Free tier with 3 AI credits per 30 days (JetBrains); check in your account what your student license includes.

Cursor no longer offers the free Pro year to students. Its student page says anyone can start for free (Hobby plan) and points to promotions at on-campus and online events “starting this fall” (Cursor). Cursor also says it only sells subscriptions directly and that accounts bought from third parties may be suspended (Cursor).

Office, organization, presentations

• Microsoft: 50% off Microsoft 365 Personal, Copilot included, for verified college students; $4.99 a month in the US, with a yearly re-verification (Microsoft). The same discount appears on the French store. Office 365 A1 is free with an eligible school email. Microsoft France’s education page also advertises “12 months of Microsoft 365 Premium” with a university email, subject to conditions it doesn’t spell out (Microsoft): check when you sign up.
• Notion: the Education Plus plan is free for a student signed in with a school email, with no other proof accepted (Notion); Notion AI is only a trial there (Notion pricing).
• Gamma: we found no student discount. The free plan gives 400 credits at sign-up, which don’t refill, plus 200 per referral (Gamma).
• Canva: we couldn’t access its current education terms. Check the official site to see whether your level of study qualifies before paying.

Languages and maths

DeepL Pro has a 30-day free trial: cancel before it ends if you don’t want to pay €7.49 a month. Wolfram|Alpha has a student Pro plan at €5.25 a month, billed €63 a year.

Expired offers: stop looking for them

• Free year of Google AI Pro in France: sign-ups closed on December 9, 2025.
• Perplexity “Race to Infinity”: expired on December 31, 2024.
• Cursor’s free Pro year for students: no longer on the official page.
• The old Copilot access for students: replaced by the Copilot Student plan in March 2026, with premium models you can no longer pick by hand.

Beware of sites promising secret codes or cheap premium accounts: they don’t exist (our article on hidden codes).

How to use these offers without getting caught out

1. Don’t stack five subscriptions. Start with Google’s offer if you qualify, then add one specialized tool at most. Two general assistants do the same job.
2. Put the end date in your calendar. Google, OpenAI, Microsoft and Mistral all take a payment method. At Google, AI Plus turns into a paid plan after twelve months. At OpenAI, cancelling too early forfeits the remaining free months: set a reminder a few days before the end of month four instead.
3. Protect your data. Opt out of training on your chats wherever you can (tool-by-tool details in our comparison). Never paste other people’s personal data or patient data.
4. Ask your institution. Many universities already provide Office 365, Google Workspace for Education or institutional access to Claude or ChatGPT Edu: free for you and often better protected.
5. Check your program’s AI rules before using AI for graded work (our look at university policies).

What’s free at GetPack?

Part of the catalog is, with no subscription: the fiche-revision, quiz-auto, flashcards-anki, methode-feynman, planning-revisions, exercice-pas-a-pas and budget-etudiant skills, plus two connectors: vie-etudiante (French CROUS canteens and residences) and compat-web (browser support for web features). They plug into the assistant you already use: here’s how to install a skill.

What this actually changes for you

Our take: in September 2026, a smart setup for most students fits in three free pieces: Google’s student offer, the free tier of ChatGPT or Claude with its learning mode, and GitHub Copilot if you code. Everything else is only worth it for a specific need, for a period you’ve written down. A free offer that quietly turns into a forgotten payment eats into your budget without you noticing: review your subscriptions once a month.

FAQ

Is ChatGPT Plus free for students outside the US?

No. The four free months of ChatGPT Plus are for students enrolled at eligible US institutions. Elsewhere, you can use the free tier, which includes study mode, or pay for Go or Plus.

How do I get Gemini for free as a student?

If you’re 18 or older and in higher education in an eligible country, claim Google’s student offer before December 31, 2026: your status is checked by SheerID with your school email. It’s free for twelve months, then billed at the regular price unless you cancel.

Is there a student discount on Claude?

Not for an individual subscription as of our check. You can use Claude for free with the Learning style, or get access through your university if it has a Claude for Education agreement.

Is GitHub Copilot still free for students?

Yes, through the Copilot Student plan for students verified by GitHub Education: unlimited completions and 200 AI credits a month. The most advanced models can no longer be picked by hand.

Further reading

• The best AI for students in 2026: our use-case comparison, with privacy settings.
• Why AI is expensive: what’s behind subscription prices.
• Little-known French AI tools: European alternatives worth testing.
• The vie-etudiante connector: free, to find a CROUS canteen or residence in France from your assistant.