One-time US$500 setup fee (includes Delaware gov filing fees, next-day expedited processing, and year-1 registered agent service) forms a Delaware C corp, LLC, or C-corp subsidiary; company tax ID (EIN), founder equity issuance, and 83(b) election filing included. Fundraising tools (YC-drafted post-money SAFE, board consents, per-SAFE tracking, investment deposit tracking via Treasury) are included at no additional cost. Registered agent renews automatically at US$100/year after year one (cancellable anytime).
Eligibility
Open to founders in 175+ countries; all founders must be 18+; no US SSN, nationality, or .edu email required. Delaware entities only (C corp/LLC/subsidiary). Prohibited activity: no business in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, or Crimea; restricted business categories (weapons, unregulated financial services, etc.) excluded. No startup age/funding cap — it is a formation service.
How to claim
1) Sign up at dashboard.stripe.com/register/atlas; 2) submit company + co-founder details, sign docs; 3) pay $500; 4) Delaware incorporates within ~2 business days; EIN (faster for US SSN holders, 7-14 days for non-US); 5) open Stripe Treasury/US business bank account. Perks appear in the Dashboard 'Perks' tab after Atlas application approval.
Expiry
$100/yr registered agent renews automatically after year one; cancel anytime. Perks are 'subject to change'.
Gotchas
The $500 fee IS required up front (payment card needed), so it is not a free offer by itself — the fee becomes free only via the Treasury refund (see separate finding). Auto-filed 83(b) and IP-assignment templates suit typical startups but not founders rolling QSBS gains or contributing valuable IP. Atlas is self-service, not a law firm; Delaware annual franchise tax (~$400/yr) is a separate, often-underrated ongoing cost. Stripe is not a bank; US current accounts are provided by Fifth Third Bank N.A.
US$2,500 Stripe product credits for Atlas companies (first year) high confidence
US$2,500 in Stripe product credits, usable in the first year after incorporation, granted automatically to companies incorporated via Atlas. Per Stripe's Atlas perks support page, the credits are delivered as two separate offers: US$2,500 on Stripe Payment Links and US$2,500 on Stripe Invoicing (each 'in your first year after incorporation').
Eligibility
Any company incorporated through Stripe Atlas (C corp, LLC, or subsidiary), regardless of founder country. No .edu, no funding cap, no CC required beyond the initial $500 Atlas fee.
How to claim
No separate application: incorporate via Atlas (dashboard.stripe.com/register/atlas); credits apply automatically in the Dashboard once incorporated; details/claims surfaced in the Atlas Perks tab.
Expiry
Credits expire 12 months after incorporation (or when used). No renewal.
Gotchas
Credits offset Stripe fees only — they are not cash; per the Stripe Startups FAQ the credit model excludes Crypto, Capital, Atlas fees, Terminal, Link passthrough, PayPal, and professional-services fees. Companies that incorporated before ~Oct 16, 2025 received the legacy format instead (processing fees waived on the first US$100,000 of revenue for 1 year) — that legacy offer is no longer available to new companies (date per third-party CloudRoute tracker; medium confidence).
Atlas fee refund: $500 back + US$1,500 (C corp) / US$1,000 (LLC) bonus for a US$5,000 Stripe Treasury deposit high confidence
Depositing US$5,000 into a Stripe Treasury financial account within 90 days of incorporation refunds the US$500 Atlas setup fee AND earns a US$1,500 bonus (C corp) or US$1,000 bonus (LLC) — netting up to ~US$2,000 in value for the same $5,000 held. This is how Atlas incorporation becomes effectively free while banking with Stripe.
Eligibility
Atlas companies that can open a Stripe Treasury financial account (availability depends on the Stripe account/region; US Treasury availability is broad but not universal). LLC and C-corp bonus amounts differ.
How to claim
1) Incorporate via Atlas; 2) open a Stripe Treasury financial account from the Dashboard; 3) deposit/fund US$5,000 within 90 days; refund + bonus are applied per the perks terms. No separate application.
Expiry
The 90-day funding window is per incorporation (Stripe does not state whether it starts at payment or incorporation date). Bonus is one-time; Treasury itself persists as a regular account.
Gotchas
This is 'deposit $5,000 to get $500-$2,000 back' — you must actually have the cash; it is not a discount on the fee upfront. Stripe 'cannot guarantee' all perks apply to every company; bonus tiers as worded on the support page.
Atlas partner perks: 'over US$50,000' in startup tool discounts/credits (AWS, Cloudflare, PostHog, Azure, Google, Xero, Deel, etc.) high confidence
Access to 50,000+ USD of partner offers, incl.: AWS Activate US$5,000 credits (new AWS users only), Cloudflare US$100,000 credits via the Cloudflare Startup Program, PostHog US$50,000 credits, Microsoft for Startups US$5,000+ Azure credits (+GitHub/Office discounts), Deel US$1,500 credits, Xero free 6 months, Google Ads US$500 after US$500 spend, Google Workspace 20% off first year, Ramp US$1,500 sign-up bonus, Bubble US$500 credits, Replit up to US$500, plus % off/free months on Notion, Linear, Slack, Gusto, Rippling, Carta, Vanta, Lovable, etc.
Eligibility
Any approved Atlas company (C corp or LLC). No .edu or funding cap for the bundle itself, but each partner applies its own eligibility/compliance rules (e.g., AWS credits new users only; Ramp requires a US bank account with >US$25,000).
How to claim
After Atlas application approval, open the Perks tab in the Stripe Dashboard and claim each partner offer there; no referral required.
Expiry
Individual partner offers have their own terms and are 'subject to change'; bundle value (US$50,000) is a marketing aggregate, not a guaranteed single credit pool.
Gotchas
Stripe cannot guarantee partners will work with every Atlas company; egress/data costs, partner account minimums, and single-use limits apply per partner; most are free-tier credits, but some are only % discounts.
Stripe Startups program: fee credits + exclusive Invoicing cap (0.4%, up to US$10 per invoice, 12 months) high confidence
Separate program (launched May 2025), stackable with Atlas: fee credits offsetting Stripe fees on Payments, Connect, Billing, Tax, and Sigma for 12 months (dollar amount not published on the public page; investor-network variants range US$500–US$5,000, with waived-processing-fee format in countries where credits are unavailable), plus capped Invoicing pricing 'starting at 0.4%, up to a maximum of US$10 per paid invoice' for the first 12 months (local-currency equivalents published, e.g., CA$14, A$14, EUR 8, GBP 7, S$12). Also expert advice, education, and founder community at no cost. Pricing review offered at US$100k MRR for 3 consecutive months.
Eligibility
Early-stage, venture-backed companies: proof of institutional funding required (PitchBook link, funding press, or investor docs). Active fully-verified Stripe account on standard pricing; must not already hold a fee offer. No .edu path — student founders without VC backing do not qualify. One offer per startup for its lifetime.
How to claim
1) Apply via the public form at stripe.com/startups or a private referral link from a Stripe Startup Partner (VC/accelerator); 2) confirm active verified Stripe account; 3) review takes 2-3 business days; 4) activate the offer from the Dashboard within 12 months of approval.
Expiry
12 months to activate, then 12 months active (or until limit hit), no pausing; invoicing cap is first-12-months only; unused fee credits expire 12 months after activation; no automatic expiry reminder.
Gotchas
VC-backing gate excludes bootstrapped students/early builders; credits explicitly exclude Crypto, Capital, Atlas, Terminal, Link passthrough, PayPal, professional-services fees; invoicing cap is keyed to payment date, not creation date, and each installment payment gets its own US$10 cap.
Stripe Treasury fee-credit rewards (ongoing, non-startup-exclusive) high confidence
US and Australia businesses whose Stripe Treasury financial account holds a combined USD+USDC end-of-day balance over US$2,000 earn fee credits at a 1% annual rate on the balance (calculated daily, issued monthly), automatically applied to eligible fees. Effectively free money back on balances already sitting in the Atlas-linked Treasury account.
Eligibility
US- or AU-located businesses using Stripe Treasury; Atlas companies that open a Stripe Treasury account qualify. No .edu requirement.
How to claim
Automatic — just hold the balance in the Treasury financial account; credits accrue and apply to eligible fees without a separate application.
Expiry
Ongoing; credits issued monthly; program subject to the Stripe Fee Credit Terms.
Gotchas
Credits offset eligible fees only (not cash), 1% is modest; excluded/eligible fee categories are defined in the Fee Credit Terms.
Students/education: No student-specific or .edu-licensed Stripe offer was found (Atlas, Atlas credits, or Stripe Startups all use startup/VC-backed criteria, not educational status), so there is no 'education license' to list; .edu email is not required anywhere in the Atlas flow. Sunset/changes 2025-2026: (1) The legacy Atlas credit format — 'waived processing fees on the first US$100,000 of revenue for 1 year' — was replaced by the fixed US$2,500 product-credit format for companies incorporated on/after ~October 16, 2025 (date from third-party tracker CloudRoute; not re-stated on Stripe's marketing page, so medium confidence on the exact cutover date). (2) The Stripe Startups program launched May 13, 2025 and is growing, not sunsetting; its FAQ notes fee credits are progressively replacing the older waived-processing-fees format globally. (3) Stripe's older support FAQ 'Getting started with Stripe Atlas' still advertises 'US$100,000 USD in exclusive benefits', while all current pages say 'over US$50,000 in partner discounts' — a messaging/bundle revision, not a removal of perks. (4) Jan 2025 feature (third-party, medium confidence): Atlas now lets startups accept payments immediately after incorporation, even before receiving the EIN. Caveat: this session's WebSearch budget was exhausted after the searches noted; a dedicated student-program check (e.g., 'Stripe for students') was not completed, so absence of a .edu offer rests on the official pages read today plus training knowledge.