Kiro expands its free year for students to universities in 16 countries

Archive entry: this covers an event from September 8, 2026, and we published it on November 8, 2026. The details come from sources dated at the time and may have changed since.

On September 8, 2026, Kiro (AWS) expanded its student program in Kiro's announcement post, written by Sharanya Balaji. Verified students at eligible universities in 16 countries could get one free year of Kiro with 1,000 credits per month.

What changed

• Free year: eligible students got free access for one full year, with 1,000 credits per month.
• What was included: paid features such as premium models and Kiro Web, across the IDE, the CLI, Kiro Web and Kiro Crew.
• Eligibility: students at eligible universities in 16 countries. The program launched in March with 11 universities and had since added 121 universities.
• Verification: students verified with a university email and a SheerID check, and no credit card was needed.

What it means for people who build with AI

Students at eligible universities could use Kiro's paid AI coding features free for a year, with 1,000 credits each month, and did not need a credit card to verify their status. For a student building with AI, that put premium models and Kiro Web within reach at no cost.

Limits and the end of the year

Student status could be verified only once. There were no overages, and unused credits did not carry over. When the year ended, accounts moved automatically to the Kiro free plan.

Sources

• A free year of Kiro, now for students around the world (Kiro, September 8, 2026, official)

Written with AI assistance, strictly from the sources listed above. Before it went live, automated checks verified its dates, sources and every language edition.