The Cloud Grant
Free hosting and compute for teen devs.
Tech should be accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford it. The Cloud Grant removes financial barriers by giving free cloud hosting, compute power, and infrastructure to young developers who need it.
Whether you’re launching a web app, running a custom server, or experimenting with AI, we’ve got you covered. No paywalls, no hidden fees—just the resources you need to build, learn, and launch.
What You Get
- Free cloud hosting & compute resources – No AWS, GCP, or Azure bills to worry about.
- Domain & infrastructure support – We’ll hook you up with the essentials.
- Security & DevOps guidance – Learn how to deploy and scale like a pro.
We partner with industry-leading cloud providers to offer high-quality, production-grade hosting for students building serious projects.
Who Can Apply?
This grant is not for personal websites, shady stuff, or generic hosting needs. Your project must meet these criteria:
- Requires real cloud resources – If it can run on a free Vercel, Replit, or GitHub Pages plan, this grant probably isn’t for you.
- Must be open-source – Everything supported by The Cloud Grant must be fully open-source.
- No generic game servers – We love custom projects, but if you’re just running a stock Minecraft server, this isn’t the grant for you. If you’ve written your own server software, though, that’s covered under the grant.
- No stagnant or abandoned projects – If you’re not actively working on it, resources will be reallocated.
Absolutely Not Allowed:
- Crypto mining (nice try)
- Personal use (this isn’t free Plex hosting or photo storage)
- Leaving instances running with no purpose
- Anything that clearly exists just to drain resources
How to Apply
Applying is easy:
- Tell us about your project – What are you building? Why do you need cloud resources?
- Show us your repo – Your project must be open-source, so we’ll need a link to your code.
- Get set up – If approved, we’ll allocate resources and help you get started.
Why We’re Doing This
The best way to learn tech is by building things—but that usually costs money. Servers, compute power, and cloud services aren’t cheap, and most students can’t afford the resources they actually need.
We believe cost shouldn’t be a barrier to innovation, so we cover it—but only for serious, open-source projects that actually require cloud resources.
We also believe security and responsible cloud usage matter, which is why we provide guidance on DevOps best practices, cloud security, and ethical cloud consumption.
Sponsors & Partners
The Cloud Grant is 100% funded by sponsors and donors who believe in investing in the next generation of engineers.
Want to help? We’re looking for partners to:
Provide cloud resources & compute credits
Support infrastructure costs for young developers
Help expand access to even more students
If you or your company want to sponsor the next wave of young innovators, let’s talk.
Email [email protected] to sponsor us!
FAQ
How much do I get?
We allocate resources based on actual project needs. If you’re asking for way more than your project requires, we’ll probably say no.
Why do projects have to be open-source?
Because transparency and community-driven development matter. We want to support projects that give back and help others learn—not closed, for-profit ventures.
Can I apply if my project is just an idea?
Probably not. However, if you can show us a proof-of-concept program (that’s open-source), that’s fine too.
Can I use this grant to host my personal website/service or blog?
Nope—use Vercel, GitHub Pages, or Netlify for that.
What happens if I leave my resources and forget about it?
We’ll first send a warning, and if we don’t get a response/the resources still don’t get used, we’ll delete them and reallocate the resources.
How does it Actually work?
If you get accepted, we’ll issue you an IAM account under one of our cloud providers (Currently AWS or GCP), and give you a set budget you can spend based on what we think your project needs. You’ll only be able to use certain services we think your project might need (Like a movie review site might need Amazon DynamoDB, but probably not Amazon Chime). Of course, if you ever need your budget increased, or access to certain services, reach out and we’ll sort it out together.