How far free goes
Student resources come in two kinds: those that need student verification, and those that are free for everyone. Use the second kind first.
Free without student status. NotebookLM free: 100 notebooks, 50 sources each, no card; most people never use it all. Google AI Studio starts on a free tier with no card, rate limits only.
Needs student verification.
- GitHub Copilot Student: free after GitHub Education verification (new applications gradually reopened from 2026-06-17; from 2026-06-24 it only supports “Auto” model selection).
- Notion Education Plus: full Plus plan free with a school email.
- Perplexity Education Pro: US$10/month versus US$20 regular (a discount, not free).
- ElevenLabs AI Student Pack: 3 months of Creator free, then back to the free tier (10,000 credits a month, no commercial licence).
When to pay
Only when the feature you need is missing even in the student plans: Perplexity if you do deep research more than three times a day; Copilot Pro (US$10/month) if you need to pin a specific model; Claude Pro (US$20/month) for Claude Code; ElevenLabs Starter (US$6/month) for a commercial licence.
Common pitfalls
- Student plans are not permanent: verification expires, the ElevenLabs pack lasts 3 months, and a school email stops working after graduation. Export what you need.
- Applications can pause (GitHub paused new student applications for 58 days, 2026-04-20 to 06-17).
- Perplexity’s student price is a discount from third-party sources, not confirmed on the official page; check the actual checkout page.
Quick answers
Which student tool should a coder apply for first? GitHub Copilot Student.
Is anything good for students free without proof? NotebookLM and Google AI Studio.
Each tool page lists sources and check dates; programmers also see the coding page.
