This is a guide on Amazon Web Services (AWS) credits and optimisation for e-⁠Residency companies.

This article was contributed by Spendbase, a cloud and SaaS cost-optimisation platform that supports scaling teams.

If you have an e-⁠resident company, you’re probably already running core parts of your product on AWS. 

Like many early-stage teams, you might wonder how to manage growing cloud costs without slowing your roadmap. The good news is that you can turn your AWS bill into a lever to extend your runway.

We’ll walk through a practical AWS playbook based on real savings, more than $10 million and counting. You’ll see how e-⁠resident founders can unlock up to $100,000 in AWS credits, reduce monthly spend, and give their teams more room to build.

Why AWS is your hidden runway as an e-⁠resident founder

For many companies, AWS quickly becomes one of the top three expenses, alongside product development and people. While it’s difficult to pause product delivery or hiring, there’s a lot more flexibility in how you manage cloud costs, often without writing a single line of code.

It typically looks like this for startups:

• You’re global from day one, but your finance and operations teams are lean.
• The founder or CTO often ends up managing cloud costs directly.
• AWS already powers your essential infrastructure: compute, storage, databases, and AI/ML.

That’s where AWS becomes a hidden runway. Available credits from $1,000 to over $100,000 can cover six to 24 months of cloud usage, buying your team more time to grow.

Let’s talk about how to access AWS credits, step by step.

How to claim AWS credits for an instant runway extension

To make the most of AWS credits, you must understand which programmes your company is eligible for and how to use them effectively. 

E-⁠resident founders have four core options. Each offers a different level of support depending on your stage, scale, and cloud strategy.

1. Free Tier and promo credits are your “day zero” runway

Free Tier and promo credits are best for brand-new startups spinning up initial workloads and experiments. They typically save 5-20% of early-stage costs, depending on usage patterns and promos.

They typically apply to new AWS accounts within the first 12 months and focus on Free Tier-eligible services such as EC2 t2/t3 Micro, S3, Lambda, and DynamoDB. The credits must not overlap with other major credit programs.

2. PoC credits: up to $25,000 for proving your idea

PoC (Proof of Concept) credits are designed for startups testing a new architecture, service, or product feature that is expected to move into production on AWS. Use them when you're launching a new product line or migrating a critical workload, especially when you want AWS to share the early-stage risk.

You need a growth projection that shows how this PoC leads to broader AWS adoption. AWS also requires a growth memo covering the next 12-24 months, which may include potential alignment with an Enterprise Discount Program.

What’s expected from your side:

• Participate in scoping calls and provide supporting documentation
• Share progress updates and internal results with AWS
• Show how the PoC contributes to your long-term AWS usage:
  • Short-term: Which parts of the project will move into production if the PoC is successful
  • Mid-term: additional workloads, regions, or teams that may follow
  • Long-term: potential multi-year adoption, possibly tied to an Enterprise Discount Programme (EDP)

3. MAP credits – up to $100,000+ for serious migrations

Migration Acceleration Programme (MAP) credits are for companies migrating significant workloads from on-premise infrastructure, another cloud provider, or a large legacy environment into AWS.

These credits help cover core AWS services during large-scale migrations, often reimbursing 5-15% of total migration costs, depending on the scope and setup. Typical projects qualifying for MAP credits often involve six-figure cloud spend.

Key eligibility signals include:

• A well-defined migration project (not a small test service)
• Active AWS account with billing enabled
• Clear business case and return on investment (ROI)
• Collaboration with an AWS Solutions Architect or approved partner
• Potential alignment with an Enterprise Discount Programme (EDP) or other long-term commit-to-buy plan

Materials you’ll likely need:

• Completed migration assessment, including timelines and estimated effort
• Baseline spend (from on-prem or another cloud)
• Business case deck demonstrating ROI and strategic impact
• Phased migration plan (Assess → Mobilise → Migrate)
• Workload details (services, scale, expected savings)

You have to be prepared to provide a three to five-year usage projection or show how your migration aligns with a longer-term AWS commitment. Applications are stronger when supported by an experienced AWS partner who can guide the process and help frame the opportunity.

When prepared and sequenced properly, a startup can realistically unlock $25,000–$100,000+ in total AWS credits across one to two years. That alone could turn “six months of runway” into a full year or more of cloud sustainability, giving your business more time to grow.

Startups applying independently usually access smaller founder packages ($1,000–$5,000). When applying through a recognised VC, accelerator, or AWS partner, the cap increases, often to $25,000-$100,000, and approval is more likely.

How to build a credit-ready package as an e-⁠resident founder

AWS credit programmes are designed to support startups that are growing, using cloud services strategically, and are likely to become long-term AWS customers.

Here’s an AWS credit-readiness checklist.

1. Eligibility snapshot (for most startup programmes)

You're well-positioned to apply for AWS credits if:

• Your company is less than 10 years old
• You have fewer than 100 employees
• You can provide a 12–24-month growth roadmap with projected AWS usage
• You have an active AWS account with billing enabled
• Your business has a live website or domain
• You can demonstrate affiliation with a VC, accelerator, or AWS partner – or you’re ready to apply via a partner such as Spendbase

Even a remote company founded through e-⁠Residency with a distributed team and no physical office, you can still qualify. Estonia’s digital business environment makes it entirely possible to run a credible, investable, and scalable company from anywhere.

2. Documents founders should prepare

This is a simple data pack for AWS. Most of these documents you likely already have or can prepare within a week.

Company details:

• Pitch deck or one-pager (covering the problem, product, traction, team, funding, and target markets)
• Proof of incorporation (e.g., an extract from the Estonian business register)
• Letter from your investor, accelerator, or recognised partner (for portfolio package applications)

Cloud and growth strategy:

• 12–24-month growth roadmap
• Projected AWS usage and key services (e.g., compute, storage, databases, AI/ML)
• Timeline of major product launches, new markets, or workload deployments

For PoC and MAP applications, more technical details may be needed later, such as architecture diagrams, workload plans, or migration timelines. But starting with this pack already places your application ahead of many others, and signals to AWS that your company is serious, structured, and scaling.

3. Important note on combining AWS credit programmes

One of the most common misconceptions among founders is expecting AWS credits from different programmes to combine automatically or apply simultaneously.

Instead of applying for everything at once, it’s more strategic to sequence programmes over time. 

This approach helps ensure you get the maximum value from each credit programme and apply them where they can have the greatest impact on your runway and cloud growth.

You don’t have to navigate AWS credits alone

Spendbase is an all-in-one platform for cloud and SaaS cost optimisation, designed to help companies turn recurring software and AWS spend into an extended runway.

Through the Spendbase platform and expert team, e-⁠residents can:

• Identify and access the most relevant AWS credit programmes, model safe long-term commitments, and maintain predictable, manageable cloud costs
• Access discounts across 10,000+ tools, see all your subscriptions in one place, and reduce overlap and overspending
• Use up to 100 digital cards, each linked to a specific tool, to keep subscriptions organised and renewal costs under control

Spendbase is part of the e-⁠Residency Marketplace and one of many partners in the ecosystem helping founders run global-first businesses.

Check Spendbase’s profile on the e-⁠Residency Marketplace.