Your .edu email is worth hundreds of dollars per year in subscription discounts. Here is every student deal worth knowing about, from 50% off streaming to completely free professional software.
Being a student in 2026 means being broke. That part has not changed since the invention of universities. What has changed is that nearly every subscription service offers a student discount, and most students only know about Spotify's. You are leaving serious money on the table.
We compiled every worthwhile student subscription discount across streaming, music, software, news, cloud storage, and shopping. Some of these are well-known. Others will genuinely surprise you. The total savings if you claim everything you qualify for? Easily $1,500+ per year.
$144/yr
Music streaming
$480/yr
Software
$90/yr
Shopping
$300/yr
News & learning
These are conservative estimates based on the most popular discounts. Individual savings depend on which services you use.
Includes Hulu (with ads) and SHOWTIME
$11.99/mo regular
50% off
Savings
$72
Saved per year
SheerID
Verification
The gold standard of student discounts. Half-price Spotify Premium is good enough on its own, but the included Hulu (with ads) subscription makes this absurd value. You are getting a music streaming service AND a video streaming service for less than the regular price of either one alone. Hulu alone costs $9.99/month for non-students.
How to get it: Sign up at spotify.com/student. SheerID verifies your enrollment against school databases -- you will need your school name and sometimes your school email. Re-verification is required every 12 months. Maximum 4 years total.
Includes Apple TV+ free
$10.99/mo regular
45% off
Savings
$60
Saved per year
UNiDAYS
Verification
If you are in the Apple ecosystem, this edges out Spotify Student because of the included Apple TV+ subscription (normally $9.99/month). So you are effectively getting Apple Music for $5.99 and Apple TV+ for free. Lossless Audio and Spatial Audio are included, which Spotify still charges extra for.
How to get it: Verify through UNiDAYS in the Music app or Apple ID settings. Available for up to 4 years. Apple TV+ access ends when student pricing ends. Graduate students qualify.
Includes YouTube Music Premium
$13.99/mo regular
39% off
Savings
$66
Saved per year
SheerID
Verification
If YouTube is your primary video platform (and for many students, it is), this removes all ads, enables background play for podcasts and music, and includes YouTube Music as your music streaming service. One subscription replaces both a music app and makes YouTube bearable on mobile.
How to get it: Available at youtube.com/premium. Verify via SheerID. Annual re-verification required. Available for up to 4 years. Not available in all countries.
with Spotify Student
You do not need to sign up for Hulu separately. The Spotify Premium Student plan includes Hulu (with ads) at no additional cost. This is not a trial -- it is included for the entire duration of your student subscription. Activate it through your Spotify account settings after subscribing. If you are currently paying for Hulu individually, cancel it and use the Spotify bundle instead.
Savings: $9.99/month or $120/year. This alone makes the Spotify Student plan pay for itself twice over.
Includes Prime Video, Music, Reading, Photos
$14.99/mo regular
50% off
Savings
$90
Saved per year
.edu email
Verification
Half-price Prime is enormous value for students. Free 2-day shipping on textbooks and dorm supplies alone can save you the subscription cost. Add in Prime Video for entertainment, Prime Music for basic streaming, unlimited photo storage for backing up your phone, and Prime Reading for textbook supplements. Plus: 6-month free trial for new student sign-ups.
How to get it: Sign up at amazon.com/joinstudent with a .edu email address. The 6-month free trial is genuinely free with no catch. After that, $7.49/month or $69/year. Available for up to 4 years after enrollment.
Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects + more
$59.99/mo regular
67% off
Savings
$480
Saved per year
SheerID
Verification
This is the single biggest student discount in terms of raw dollar savings. The full Creative Cloud suite -- every Adobe app -- for $20/month instead of $60. If you are studying design, photography, video production, or any creative field, this is non-negotiable. Even if you only use Photoshop and Premiere Pro, those two apps alone cost $22.99 each individually.
Important: The student price is $19.99/mo for the first year. It increases to $29.99/mo in year two, which is still half off regular pricing. After graduation, it jumps to full price. Lock in the discount as early in your academic career as possible.
GitHub Pro + $200+ in partner tools
$4/mo (Pro) + partner costs
100% free
Savings
$200+
Value in partner deals
.edu email
Verification
If you write code (or plan to), this is the most valuable free student offer anywhere. GitHub Pro gives you unlimited private repos with advanced features. But the real treasure is the partner pack: free domains from Namecheap, free DigitalOcean credits, free JetBrains IDE licenses, free Canva Pro, free cloud hosting credits, and dozens more. The combined retail value exceeds $200.
How to get it: Apply at education.github.com with your .edu email. You may need to upload a photo of your student ID or enrollment letter. Approval usually takes 1-7 days. GitHub Copilot (the AI coding assistant, normally $10/mo) is also free for verified students.
$10/mo regular
100% free
Savings
$120
Saved per year
.edu email
Verification
Notion's Plus plan -- which normally costs $10/month -- is completely free for students. That means unlimited file uploads, 30-day page history, unlimited guests, and all the database features. For note-taking, project management, assignment tracking, and building a personal wiki, Notion is the most powerful free tool a student can have.
How to get it: Sign up with your .edu email at notion.so/students. Instant verification for most schools. No time limit as long as you have a valid .edu email. Notion AI features are not included in the free student plan (those cost extra).
$15/mo (Professional plan)
Figma's Professional plan features are free for students, including unlimited projects, team libraries, and advanced prototyping. Design students and anyone building portfolios, app mockups, or presentation decks should have this. FigJam (the whiteboarding tool) is also included.
How to get it: Apply at figma.com/education with your .edu email. Verification may take a few days. Available to students and educators at accredited institutions.
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, OneDrive
$6.99/mo regular
Many students do not realize that the full online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote are free with a .edu email, no questions asked. Some schools also provide the full desktop app downloads. Check your school's IT portal first -- you might already have access to the complete Office suite without paying anything.
How to get it: Go to microsoft.com/education and enter your school email. If your school has a Microsoft agreement (most do), you will get immediate access. Some schools provide 1TB OneDrive storage as part of the package.
$17/mo regular
Many universities provide free NYT digital access through their library. Check your school library website first. If not available through your school, NYT often runs $1/week student promotions. Either way, you get full access to news, opinion, Wirecutter reviews, cooking recipes, and games (including the addictive Wordle and Connections). Invaluable for research papers and staying informed.
Check first: Over 2,000 universities provide free NYT access. Visit nytimes.com/passes and check if your school is listed before paying anything. Academic access sometimes includes The Athletic (sports) too.
$38.99/mo regular
90% off
Savings
$420
Saved per year
.edu email
Verification
Ninety percent off is not a typo. The WSJ student rate is one of the steepest discounts in all of publishing. Essential for business, finance, and economics students. The markets coverage, analysis, and investigative journalism are genuinely world-class. Also useful for job hunting -- WSJ regularly publishes salary data, industry trends, and career advice.
How to get it: Visit wsj.com/student-offer. Requires a .edu email. Some schools provide free WSJ access through the library -- check there first to avoid paying even the $4/month.
Beyond the half-price membership, Amazon Prime Student includes perks that most students never discover:
These student discounts have hard expiration dates tied to your enrollment status. Plan accordingly so you are not hit with surprise price increases after walking across the stage.
Jumps from $5.99 to $11.99/mo. Hulu access removed entirely. Re-verification fails after enrollment ends. Lock in the full 4 years if possible.
Jumps from $19.99 to $59.99/mo. The most painful price jump on this list. Start exploring alternatives (Figma, Affinity, DaVinci Resolve) before graduating so the transition is not abrupt.
Music jumps from $5.99 to $10.99/mo. Free Apple TV+ access ends completely. Consider switching to an Apple One Individual plan ($19.95/mo) which bundles both plus more.
Jumps from $7.49 to $14.99/mo. Grubhub+ Student benefit removed. The annual plan ($139/yr) becomes the better deal at regular pricing.
Good news: these all have generous free tiers even without student status. You will lose some premium features but the core functionality remains free after graduation.
Some universities let alumni keep their .edu email address indefinitely. This extends your access to services that only verify the email (not enrollment). Do NOT abuse this for services that clearly require current enrollment -- but knowing your email status helps with planning.
Most student discounts verify annually. If you sign up in September, you get a full 12 months before re-verification. Do not wait until you need the service -- set up all your student discounts at once when the semester begins.
Taking a single community college course (often $50-100) can get you a .edu email and student status. We are not saying to enroll purely for discounts, but if you are considering any continuing education, the subscription savings can offset the course cost.
Masters, PhD, MBA, law, medical students -- you all qualify for every discount on this list. SheerID and UNiDAYS verify enrollment, not degree type. If you are in a 5-year PhD program, that is 5 years of student pricing.
Student discounts require annual re-verification. If you miss the window, you get bumped to full price automatically. A subscription tracker with renewal reminders ensures you re-verify on time and never pay more than you should.
| Service | Student Price | Regular Price | You Save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify + Hulu | $5.99/mo | $21.98/mo | $192/yr |
| Apple Music + TV+ | $5.99/mo | $20.98/mo | $180/yr |
| YouTube Premium | $8.49/mo | $13.99/mo | $66/yr |
| Amazon Prime | $7.49/mo | $14.99/mo | $90/yr |
| Adobe Creative Cloud | $19.99/mo | $59.99/mo | $480/yr |
| GitHub Pro + Copilot | Free | $14/mo | $168/yr |
| Notion Plus | Free | $10/mo | $120/yr |
| Figma Professional | Free | $15/mo | $180/yr |
| Microsoft 365 | Free | $6.99/mo | $84/yr |
| WSJ Student | $4/mo | $38.99/mo | $420/yr |
| Total potential savings per year | $1,980+ | ||
Prices as of February 2026. Not all discounts apply to every student. Actual savings depend on which services you use.
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