Datadog for Startups gives early-stage companies up to $100,000 in Datadog credits, which Datadog frames as up to a year of free Datadog Pro. The catch is access: you can only get in through a referral from one of Datadog’s official partners. We checked the official Datadog programme page on 1 November 2026, and the details below come from it.
What you get
Accepted startups receive credits worth up to $100,000, applied to their Datadog account for the first year. Datadog does not publish how it decides the exact amount for each company, so treat $100,000 as the ceiling rather than the default.
The credits work across the platform rather than on a cut-down startup tier. Datadog says they cover:
- Front-end and back-end observability modules
- Security modules
- All generally available products, plus any product that reaches general availability while you are in the programme
- Preview products, when there is capacity for them
Alongside the credits, Datadog lists these support benefits:
| Benefit | What Datadog says it includes |
|---|---|
| Onboarding | A welcome guide and onboarding materials |
| Technical Engagement Manager | Optional, once metrics, logs or traces are flowing. Covers demos, best practices, architecture reviews and optimisation, not setup or troubleshooting |
| Technical support | Through the standard Datadog support address |
| Customer success | A representative checks in after several months to review usage and plan your move off the programme |
Who qualifies
Datadog’s published criteria are short:
- Stage: Series A or earlier.
- Referral: You must be referred by an official Datadog for Startups partner. Datadog gives VCs, accelerators, and hyperscaler or vendor startup programmes as examples. Direct applications are not accepted.
- New customers only: Your company must be new to Datadog and must not have received programme credits before.
Datadog does not list a company age limit. Current and former Datadog customers are excluded, as is anyone who has already had credits from the programme.
How to apply
Datadog describes the process in four steps:
- Get your referral from your investor, accelerator or the cloud startup programme you belong to, then submit the application with details about your team.
- Start a Datadog trial straight away. You can use it while the application is reviewed.
- Wait for an acceptance email. The programme FAQ gives 3-5 business days as the usual timeframe.
- Once accepted, the credits are added to your account.
If you have a question about the programme itself, Datadog lists a dedicated startups contact address on the Datadog for Startups page.
Things to check before you apply
- Pick your data region carefully. Datadog says you cannot change region after you start the programme, and data cannot be moved between regions. Decide this before you set up the trial account you plan to keep.
- The 30-day activation window. After acceptance you have 30 days to confirm credit activation. Miss it and the acceptance lapses, so you have to reapply.
- Stay active. Three months of no usage triggers a warning and a 30-day deadline to resume, after which you are removed.
- One year, then full price. The credits are tied to your first year. Plan for the bill that follows, especially if you switch on logs or APM at volume, since Datadog charges by usage.
- No referral, no entry. If none of your investors or programmes is a Datadog partner, this offer is closed to you. The 2-week trial is the fallback.
How it compares
Up to $100,000 is one of the larger observability credits available to startups, and Datadog’s decision to include every generally available product is generous. The referral requirement is what sets it apart from self-serve offers such as Sentry’s or Grafana Labs’ programmes, which let founders apply directly. If you are part of a cloud provider’s startup programme or a well-known accelerator, ask your programme manager whether Datadog is one of their listed perks before you start a paid account, because existing customers lose eligibility.
Datadog also runs a separate Student Developer programme with two years of free access, but that one is limited to enrolled students in the GitHub Student Developer Pack and is not a startup offer.
