Baseten for Startups vs Google for Startups Cloud Program (AI tier) (2026): Which Is Better for Startups?

Both are AI credits for startups. Here is how Baseten for Startups and Google for Startups Cloud Program (AI tier) compare on what a startup gets, who qualifies and how to apply, and which one we would pick.

Baseten for Startups

Up to $25,000 for dedicated inference or training and up to $2,500 for Model APIs, for seed to Series A AI startups.

7.0 /10

Pricing: Up to $25k in credits & perks

Pros

Published credit amounts
Covers dedicated inference and training
Responsive support

Cons

Credits expire after six months
Needs seed or Series A funding

Visit Baseten for Startups ↗

Google for Startups Cloud Program (AI tier)

Up to $350,000 in Google Cloud credits over two years for VC-funded startups building on Gemini.

8.5 /10

Pricing: Up to $350k in credits & perks

Pros

Very large credit amount
Covers Gemini and Gemma plus the wider Google Cloud
No partner code needed

Cons

Requires institutional equity funding
Third-party models not covered by credits

Visit Google for Startups Cloud Program (AI tier) ↗

Baseten for Startups vs Google for Startups Cloud Program (AI tier) at a glance

	Baseten for Startups	Google for Startups Cloud Program (AI tier)
Editor score	7.0 / 10	8.5 / 10
Pricing model	Free	Free
What you get	Up to $25k in credits & perks	Up to $350k in credits & perks
Who qualifies	AI-first startups at seed to Series A, founded less than five years ago, that have never received Baseten credits or been on a paid plan in the last 31 days.	VC-funded startups using Gemini/Google AI at the core of their product; qualifying venture funding from seed to Series A; founded within the last 10 years; no more than $5,000 in prior Google Cloud credits. Eligibility decided at Google Cloud's discretion.
Partner code needed	No	No
Steps it helps with	claim startup credits, build your mvp, host and deploy	claim startup credits, choose your ai coding stack, build your mvp, host and deploy
Who it is for	AI startups, Seed stage, Series A+, VC-backed only	AI startups, VC-backed only, Pre-seed, Seed stage, Series A+
Reader upvotes	0	0
Best for	inference, model-deployment, training	google-cloud, gemini, vertex-ai

Our pick

Google for Startups Cloud Program (AI tier) edges it with a score of 8.5 versus 7.0. Google for Startups Cloud Program (AI tier) is the better fit if you value: very large credit amount, covers gemini and gemma plus the wider google cloud. Choose Baseten for Startups instead if you need: published credit amounts, covers dedicated inference and training. Many startups can claim both: see credits by value.