6 paid subscriptions your student email can get you for free (or ridiculously cheap)
10 min read
Summary
Similar to how practically everything in the world is getting more expensive with every passing day, the cost associated with being a student has risen too. Tuition has gotten more expensive, higher gas prices make commuting pricier, and even the little expenses you barely think about can add up surprisingly quickly over a semester.
Then there are software subscriptions. Note-taking apps, AI platforms, coding tools, presentation software, and even the services you use to unwind after class all seem to want a monthly fee now. Add a few of them together, and you can easily end up spending far more than you’d expect every month.
Thankfully, being a student also happens to be one of the easiest ways to avoid paying full price. Your student status can unlock many paid apps completely free (or at least at a steep enough discount that paying full price makes very little sense).
Figma Pro
Your group project deserves better than a rough sketch
While Figma is a tool I’d once only recommend to students interested in design, I’ve come to realize that it’s useful for far more than making interfaces look pretty. As a computer science major, I’ve ended up reaching for it whenever I need to prototype an app, map out a user flow, or quickly turn an idea into something visual before I start actually building it.
The best part is that students in higher education can get Figma’s Professional plan completely free through Figma for Education. That’s the tier Figma normally charges 16permonthforaFullseat,anditremovessomeofthebiggestlimitationsofthefreeStarterplan.Yougetunlimitedfilesandfoldersforyourteam,unlimitedversionhistoryinsteadofbeingrestrictedto30days,team−widedesignlibraries,andaccesstoFigma′smoreadvancedprototypinganddeveloperhandofftools.AFullseatgivesyouaccesstoproductsincludingFigJam,FigmaSlides,DevMode,FigmaDraw,andFigmaMake.Forhigher−educationstudents,theEducationplanalsoincludesFigma′sAItoolsandamonthlyallowanceofAIcredits.FigmaMakeisparticularlyinteresting,sinceyoucanpromptittoturnanideaoranexistingFigmadesignintoafunctionalprototypeorwebappratherthanstoppingatastaticmockup!NotionPlusMysemesterwouldfallapartwithoutthisoneIfthere′sone[appIcan′tsurviveasinglesemesterwithout](https://www.makeuseof.com/replaced−my−entire−student−toolkit−with−five−apps/),it′sNotion.Iuseitthroughoutcollegeforeverythingfromkeepingtrackofassignmentsanddeadlinestostoringnotes,planningprojects,andbasicallyrunningmyentiresemesterfromonedashboard.Thefreeplanisalreadygenerousenoughforoneperson,butyourstudentemailcanmakeitconsiderablybetter.Studentsateligiblecollegesanduniversitiescan[upgradetoNotionPluscompletelyfree](https://www.notion.com/product/notion−for−education),providedtheiraccountistiedtotheirinstitution′semailaddress.ThisisthesamepaidtierNotionnormallysellstoprofessionalsandsmallteams,andthestudentversiongivesyouaone−memberPlusworkspacewithoutrequiringasubscription.Whilethefreeplanlimitsindividualfileuploadsto5MBandkeepsjustsevendaysofpagehistory,Plusgivesyouunlimitedfileuploadswithfilesuptoroughly5GBeachandextendspagehistoryto30days.Youalsogetunlimitedcharts,customforms,morecustomizationforNotionSites,anddatabaseautomations.Togetthefreeupgrade,allyouneedtodoissigninwithyourschoolemailandselectGetfreeeducationplanfromtheupgradesettings.YouruniversityneedstobeanaccreditedinstitutionrecognizedintheWorldHigherEducationDatabase,butunlikealotofstudentoffers,Notiondoesn′trequireyoutouploadanIDorgothroughaseparateverificationservice.GitHubStudentDeveloperPackBeingaCSstudentfinallypaysoffIfyou′restudyingcomputerscience,softwareengineering,oranythingthatinvolvescoding,the[GitHubStudentDeveloperPack](https://education.github.com/pack)iseasilyoneofthebeststudentperksyoucanclaim.Ratherthanunlockingasinglepaidapp,thePackgivesverifiedstudentsaccessto80+developertoolsandresources,includingproductsfromGitHubitselfandalonglistofthird−partycompanies.OneofthebiggestperksisGitHubCopilotStudent,whichverifiedstudentscanaccessforfree.Theplanincludesunlimitedcodecompletions,anallowanceofGitHubAICredits,andaccesstoCopilot′schatandagentfeatures.YoualsogetGitHubCodespacesusageequivalenttotheallowanceincludedwithaGitHubProaccount,includingupto180corehourspermonthforyourpersonalaccount.ThePackgetsmuchmoreinterestingonceyoustartdiggingthroughallthepartneroffers,though.Forexample,JetBrainsgivesstudentsafreesubscriptiontoitsprofessionalIDEs,includingIntelliJIDEAandPyCharm,whileCodeˊdexcurrentlyincludessixmonthsofitspremiumClubmembership.Therearealsooffersspanningcloudservices,developertools,learningplatforms,domains,andmore.Sincetheexactpartnerofferscanchangeovertime,I′drecommendgoingthroughthePackonceyou′reapprovedratherthanassumingit′sjustawaytogetGitHub′sowntoolsforfree.Eligibilityisfairlystraightforwardtoo.GitHubsaysstudentsaged13orolderwhoareenrolledinadegreeordiploma−grantingcoursecanapplyusingaschool−issuedemailaddressand/ordatedproofofenrollment.Onceyou′reverified,youcanclaimthePack′sbenefitsthroughyourGitHubEducationaccount!Microsoft365You’llneedWordeventually,trustmeMicrosoft365isanothersubscriptionthat′sdifficulttoavoidasastudent.EvenifyoupersonallypreferGoogleDocsoranotherproductivitysuite,chancesareyou′lleventuallyhaveaprofessorwhowantsanassignmentsubmittedasaWorddocument,agroupprojectbuiltinPowerPoint,oraspreadsheetthatjustsohappenstoendupinExcel.Thankfully,eligiblestudentscanget[accesstoOffice365Educationforfree](https://www.microsoft.com/en−us/education/products/office)throughtheirschool.Microsoft′sfreeA1EducationplanincludesthewebversionsofWord,Excel,PowerPoint,Outlook,andOneNote,soyoucanusemostofthecoreOfficesuitewithoutpayinganythingyourself.There′spotentiallyanevenbetterdealavailabletocollegestudentsrightnow.Microsoftiscurrentlyadvertisingalimited−timeofferthatgiveseligiblestudents12monthsofMicrosoft365Premiumforfreeafterverifyingwithacollegeemailaddress.Sincetheofferappearstovarybymarket,it′sworthcheckingwhatMicrosoftgivesyouafterverifyingyourstudentstatus.Evenifthefree−yearofferisn′tavailabletoyou,Microsofthasanotherstudentdiscountinsomemarkets.IntheUS,forexample,verifiedcollegestudentscancurrentlygetMicrosoft365Personalfor4.99 per month, half its regular price. That gets you the desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook, along with 1TB of OneDrive storage and Copilot features inside Microsoft’s productivity apps.
Spotify Premium
There’s no studying without music, duh
Don’t let my professors see this, but there have definitely been semesters where Spotify has gotten more use than some of my actual course material. Between studying, commuting, working on assignments, and drowning out everything around me when I need to focus, music is the one constant I end up relying on throughout the semester.
Ads and needing an internet connection to listen to said music is a dealbreaker, though. This is why Spotify Premium is an absolute essential for me, and thankfully, it’s also one of the subscriptions students can get for considerably less. In the US, Premium Student costs 6.99permonthinsteadoftheregular12.99, and new eligible students currently get their first month free. It also includes Hulu at no extra cost, which makes the deal even harder to argue with.
Spotify verifies your enrollment through SheerID, and you can keep the student rate for up to four years as long as you reverify every 12 months.
Apple Music
Not a Spotify person? No problem
If you’re not a Spotify person and have found yourself slowly getting sucked into Apple’s ecosystem instead, Apple Music has a pretty great student deal of its own. Verified university students can subscribe at a discounted monthly rate, and in the US, the Student plan currently costs 6.99permonth.Youalsogetyourfirstmonthfree.Thestudentplandoesn′tcutbackontheactualAppleMusicexperience,either.Yougetaccesstothesamecatalogofmorethan100millionsongs,ad−freelistening,offlinedownloads,losslessaudio,SpatialAudio,curatedplaylists,andAppleMusicClassicalthatyou′dgetwithanIndividualsubscription.Betteryet,AppleTVisthrowninatnoadditionalcost,whichmakesthestudentplanfeelmoreliketwosubscriptionsbundledintoone.Thediscountedstudentsubscriptioncanalsostickaroundforupto48months,providedyou′reenrolledatadegree−grantinguniversityandcontinuetoverifyyourstudentstatuswhenAppleasks!PerplexityEducationProOneAIsubscriptionisenoughAsastudentrightnow,IknowbetterthananyonethatAItoolshavebecomeaprettyunavoidablepartofeducation.GivenjusthowmanyAItoolsthereareoutthereandhowexpensiveeachsubscriptionis,astudentcan′trealisticallysubscribetoeachone.Fortunately,AIlabsseemtounderstandthedilemmastudentsfaceandarefrequentlyhandingoutfreesubscriptionsandmassivediscounts.WhilethefreeChatGPTPlusand[GoogleAIPro](https://www.makeuseof.com/google−ai−pro−benefits−youre−not−using−but−should/)dealshavebothexpired,PerplexityEducationProisstillavailabletoverifiedstudentsforjust10 per month! This is half the price of the regular Pro plan, and all you need to do to claim it is verify your student status via SheerID.
The best thing about this subscription is that it isn’t a watered-down version of Perplexity Pro. Education Pro includes the regular plan’s premium models, unlimited Pro Searches, file and image uploads, Learn Mode, and access to Perplexity Computer! I’m a huge fan of Perplexity Computer and have written about my hands-on experience for MUO’s sister outlet, XDA, so getting access to the feature alone makes the 10easytojustify.Forstudentsinparticular,Ithink[LearnModeisoneofthemoreusefuladditions](https://www.makeuseof.com/dont−need−chatgpt−pro−when−notebooklm−perplexity−exist/).Insteadofsimplyspittingoutananswer,it′sdesignedaroundhelpingyouworkthroughatopicandunderstandit,whichmakesPerplexityconsiderablyeasiertojustifyasastudytoolratherthananotherAIsubscriptionyou′repayingforjusttohavearound.WithPerplexity,youdon′tjustgetaccesstothetool′sownmodels,either.ProuserscanswitchbetweenpremiummodelsfromotherAIlabs,includingOpenAI,Anthropic,Google,xAI,MoonshotAI,andZ.ai.AsofJuly2026,theProlineupincludesmodelssuchasGPT−5.6Terra,ClaudeSonnet5,Gemini3.1Pro,Grok4.5,KimiK3,andGLM5.2.Thatmakesthe10 student plan particularly appealing if you’re already tempted to subscribe to multiple AI tools, since one subscription gives you access to several of their models from inside Perplexity instead.
A lot of the best student deals have already expired
For instance, Cursor had a great offer where students could get access to the platform’s paid tier completely free, but the program stopped accepting new sign-ups in June 2026. Google and OpenAI have also run similarly generous student promotions for Google AI Pro and ChatGPT Plus that are no longer available.
That makes the deals that are still around even more worth taking advantage of. Student offers tend to come and go, so if there’s a paid subscription you already use or have been thinking about paying for, it’s always a good idea to check whether your student status can knock a few dollars off the price first!
