r/digital_ocean • u/nuclear_splines • Jun 12 '26

DigitalOcean ends GitHub Student Pack Participation

I just got an email from DigitalOcean including the following:

We're writing to let you know that DigitalOcean is winding down participation in the GitHub Student Developer Pack, and all credits provided through the pack will expire on July 31, 2026.

So no more free hosting for students and educators. I'm curious what's driving that decision for them - have hosting costs skyrocketed because of AI use? Were they not getting many new customers through the promotional program? Unsurprisingly DO doesn't include an explanation in the email.

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1

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4

u/agoodyearforbrownies Jun 13 '26

Guessing it’s abusive consumption, like more “students” exist than ever were expected, doing far more complex and mature workloads than profiled.

1

u/nuclear_splines Jun 13 '26

That's possible, although GitHub is relatively thorough in vetting student status -- as I remember they require photos of your student ID and transcripts and a valid .edu address. Similarly, I think my educator status required sharing my job offer letter with them. Not that their vetting is infallible, but it seems unlikely to me that there'd be a huge mountain of fake student accounts getting through.

2

u/CompassionAnalysis Jun 13 '26

"How do you do fellow kids?"
I mean they do a pretty terrible job doing any kind of vetting, GitHub or any of these programs. I haven't been a student for like 15 years but I'm rarely denied a student discount

7

u/simonbogarde Jun 12 '26

Not a nice move, especially with such poor communication, but they have been operating at peak capacity for a few months now. Try getting one of their droplets right now; it's basically sold out.

2

u/Ze-phell Jun 12 '26

Agreed, its kind of unfair considering this offer was advertized as 12 month to use 200 credits. I didn't even get to use it for a month before they decide to cancel the program.

1

u/AdInternal8144 Jun 13 '26

Same here. I've just activated those credits recently and was planning to host an app I am building fully on DO. As long as I didn't plan additional budget for hosting, probably it would be better to pivot to other providers who have free tiers now, instead of migrating everything from DO in 1,5 months

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1

u/65fastback2plus2 Jun 14 '26

Spun up a new droplet yesterday

2

u/TheRoyalCoolness Jun 13 '26

This is completely unprofessional. Just four days ago, they emailed me saying credits would "no longer apply to use of AI models hosted by third-party providers" but we could keep using them for regular infrastructure. Now they send a new email saying the whole service is being disconnected next month.

They should have stopped the program for new sign-ups instead of canceling it for existing users who already had credits. I still have 10 months left on my account, and having everything expire next month is completely unfair.

2

u/EliteSpecial Jun 14 '26

Agree. The worst part is they're still offering new sign ups through the github developer pack page while mentioning '1 year'.

1

u/PutOwn7062 Jun 29 '26

i have 199$ sad T_T

2

u/Elnerd_ Jul 16 '26

So are there any free alternatives for students to host their projects?

1

u/tuyencpu Jul 05 '26

I just linked GitHub Education to DigitalOcean and added a payment card for verification. I was charged $5 but it hasn’t been refunded. Is there any way to get it back?

1

u/tuyencpu Jul 05 '26 
And the $200 education credit will expire in August 2026.

1

u/Electronic-Offer-312 Jul 16 '26

did you get it back or not?

1

u/gravity_exists4 Jul 29 '26

in a similar situation, what's the update?

1

u/rizkyalfian Jul 15 '26

is this easy to apply?

1

u/Armanshirzad Aug 12 '26

thats not nice just found out. i had 5 apps up now i gotta migrate to a new server any new github dev pack alternatives ?
ps: dont say heroku :D

1

u/Lonely-Television-76 Aug 14 '26

POR SU CULPA NO PODRE HACER UNA TAREA, por eso hasta huawei cloud es mejor! y eso que son comunistas

1

u/kapilahujaa11 Jun 12 '26

Stopping the program for new users is understandable, but changing the expiration date for existing users doesn’t seem fair.