AWS Promo Codes & Deals

Separate from the signup credits, AWS keeps more than 30 services available under a permanent Always Free allowance with set monthly limits, covering tools like AWS Lambda, DynamoDB, and SNS. These limits apply on both the Free and Paid account plans and don't run out on a fixed schedule, though AWS can adjust the specific caps over time.

AWS Savings Plans cut compute costs by up to 72% compared to On-Demand pricing in exchange for committing to a consistent dollar amount per hour over a one- or three-year term. Compute Savings Plans apply automatically across EC2, Fargate, and Lambda regardless of instance family, size, or region, making them more flexible than committing to a specific Reserved Instance.

Reserved Instances offer the same maximum 72% discount as Savings Plans, but require committing to a specific EC2 instance type and Region rather than just a spend amount. Standard RIs give the deepest, least flexible savings, while Convertible RIs let you exchange the reservation for a different instance configuration during the term.

Spot Instances use AWS's unused EC2 capacity at discounts of up to 90% off On-Demand pricing, with no commitment required. The tradeoff is that AWS can reclaim the instance with only two minutes' notice when it needs the capacity back, so Spot suits fault-tolerant workloads like batch processing or testing rather than always-on production systems.

The AWS Activate Founders tier gives any early-stage startup $1,000 in credits through a self-serve application, with no accelerator or investor backing required. It includes basic Developer support and is aimed at bootstrapped teams that need infrastructure credits fast rather than a large multi-year runway extension.

Startups backed by a participating accelerator, incubator, or venture capital firm can apply for the AWS Activate Portfolio tier, offering up to $100,000 in credits plus AWS Business Support and architecture guidance. Approval requires an Organization ID from your investor or accelerator, and AWS separately lists access to more than $800,000 in third-party partner offers alongside this tier.

AWS Educate gives students as young as 13 free, hands-on access to cloud skills training without needing an Amazon.com account or a credit card, which matters for minors and learners who can't provide payment details. It includes self-paced courses on services like EC2, S3, and RDS, plus a job board for learners 18 and older looking for entry-level cloud roles.

AWS Skill Builder offers more than 600 digital courses at no cost, including foundational training and AWS Certification exam preparation material for professional learners. Paid Individual and Team subscriptions unlock additional hands-on labs and exclusive content, but the core course library and certification prep resources remain free to anyone with an AWS account.

The AWS Credit Program for Nonprofits, run with TechSoup, provides eligible nonprofits with $2,000 in AWS promotional credit toward on-demand cloud services. Organizations can request one grant per fiscal year, and the credit doesn't cover Reserved Instances, Route 53 domain purchases, or support launch fees, so plan usage around eligible on-demand services.

The AWS Imagine Grant is a competitive program for US-registered 501(c) nonprofits, with the Pathfinder award offering up to $200,000 in cash plus $100,000 in AWS credit for qualifying generative AI projects. Unlike the standard TechSoup credit grant, this requires a full application and isn't guaranteed, so it suits nonprofits with a specific AI or modernization project ready to pitch.