How to get approved for Cloudflare for Startups with no funding
eksis was a month old and had no outside funding when I applied to Cloudflare for Startups. It was approved for $10,000 in credits. Here is what the form asks, what to have ready, how long it took, and what the credits leave out.
On this page
I applied to Cloudflare for Startups for eksis, the social media scheduler I'm building, on 25 September 2026. The company was a month old and had no outside funding. On 12 October it was approved for Tier 3: $10,000 in Cloudflare credits, valid for 12 months.
I re-checked every requirement, number, and form field below on the official page at cloudflare.com/startups on 18 October 2026. The program can change at any time, so open that page again before you apply.
Pick the right tier
| Tier | Credits | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 3 | $10,000 | Bootstrapped or self-funded, or under $1M raised |
| Tier 2 | $100,000 | Under $5M raised, from an investor that is a Cloudflare partner |
| Tier 1 | $350,000 | $5M or more raised, from an investor that is a Cloudflare partner |
If you have no funding yet, apply for Tier 3. The official page also lists a general criterion of "funded up to Series B, funded within the last 12 months". eksis was approved without any funding, so don't let that line stop you.
Tiers 1 and 2 need an investor affiliated with Cloudflare. If your investor isn't one of their partners, those two tiers are out of reach.
Older articles put Tier 3 at $5,000. That figure is out of date: Cloudflare raised it to $10,000.
Have these ready before you open the form
- A business email on your website's domain, such as
name@yourstartup.com. Personal addresses like Gmail are rejected. My Cloudflare account signs in with Gmail, but I put my domain email on the form, and that is where the decision was sent. - A live website that shows your software product. The form says "Must be a live site with your software product", and they check it.
- An active social presence on GitHub, LinkedIn, or X. The form has fields for your GitHub username, your personal LinkedIn profile, your X handle, and your company LinkedIn page.
- A Cloudflare account with a payment card on it. In the form you sign in to Cloudflare and pick the account that receives the credits. Cloudflare says that account needs a payment method so the credits can be applied automatically once you're accepted. Credits can't be moved to another account, so pick the one that runs your product, and write down its account ID for follow-ups.
- Honest funding details. The form says "We verify funding information publicly", so don't inflate the numbers.
When I applied, eksis already used Cloudflare DNS and R2 on the same account. Cloudflare doesn't list that as a requirement, so treat it as a bonus, not a must.
Fill in the form
On cloudflare.com/startups, click Apply now!. The form opens as a pop-up with four steps. These are its fields as of 18 October 2026.
| Step | What it asks | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Company name, website, year founded. Country, city, and address are optional. | The company must be founded no more than 10 years ago. |
| Contact | Your Cloudflare account (sign in, then pick the account for the credits), full name, email, GitHub username, LinkedIn profile, X handle, company LinkedIn page | Use your domain email. Every update about your application goes there. |
| Funding | Funding stage (Bootstrapped / Self-funded, Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B+), total raised (starting at Under $1M), key investors | With no funding yet, pick Bootstrapped / Self-funded and Under $1M. |
| Accelerator | Partner VC or accelerator (a searchable list), batch, and who referred you | The list has more than 150 names, including Y Combinator, NVIDIA Inception, Product Hunt Founder Club, Startup Grind, and Oracle for Startups. Pick one only if you are actually in it. Otherwise pick None. |
Check that the program is meant for you
The program doesn't accept educational institutions, personal blogs, consultancies, service agencies, MSPs, or resellers. It is for for-profit companies building a technology product.
Each startup can join once. If you run several genuinely separate startups, each one can apply with its own account ID and email.
If no reply comes, send a follow-up
Cloudflare says reviews usually take up to 48 hours, and the decision goes to the email on the form. Check your spam folder too.
Mine took longer. I submitted the form on 25 September and heard nothing for more than two weeks. On 12 October at 14:47 Jakarta time (UTC+7), I emailed startups@cloudflare.com. The approval arrived at 20:33 the same day, with the $10,000 in credits already live.
Part of the delay may have been on my side. I switched email providers partway through, so a message could have been lost.
So if a week passes with no answer, write to them. You'll get an automatic reply with their FAQ. If your email already includes the details below, you don't need to answer it. Replace the parts in square brackets:
Subject: Application status: Cloudflare for Startups ([Startup Name])
Hi Cloudflare for Startups team,
I applied to Cloudflare for Startups on [application date] and haven't received a decision yet.
Company: [company name] ([website])
Email used on the application: [email on the form]
Cloudflare account ID: [account ID]
Could you check the status of my application, or resend the decision if it was already sent?
Thank you,
[Your Name]If you are rejected, Cloudflare gives a reason, and they will look at the application again if you can show supporting information.
After approval, avoid surprise bills
The credits don't cover everything, and anything outside them is billed to the card on your account.
- They last 12 months or until they run out, whichever comes first, with no extensions. Put the date of your approval email in your calendar.
- Some products aren't covered: Registrar (buying and renewing domains), AI Gateway (for now), Enterprise add-ons (available on request by email), and premium network services such as Magic Transit, Spectrum, dedicated IPs, and the China Network.
- Some products have their own cap. R2 is covered up to $10,000. Workers AI is covered up to $2,500 on Tier 3, $10,000 on Tier 2, and $50,000 on Tier 1. Anything above a cap goes to your card.
- Usage from before you officially join isn't covered.
- Check your balance under Manage Account > Billing > Credits. Your monthly invoice also breaks down usage and the credits applied.
- You get three Enterprise domains, which you upgrade yourself from the domain dashboard. If you pick Pro or Business and see a payment prompt, Cloudflare's FAQ says that is expected and the cost is covered while you're in the program.
- Some features have to be requested. By email: Advanced Certificate Manager, SSL for SaaS, Advanced Rate Limiting, and Load Balancing for extra origins. By support ticket: Bot Management, API Shield, Apex Proxying, and extra Zero Trust seats.
- When the program ends, Enterprise domains you haven't moved to a paid plan drop back to Free, and further usage is billed to your card. Cloudflare sends three reminders before that date.
- Cloudflare can feature you. By joining, you allow them to use your startup's name and logo in their marketing.
The short version
You need a domain email, a live website that shows your product, one active social account, and a Cloudflare account with a card on it. Apply from cloudflare.com/startups and pick Bootstrapped / Self-funded if you have no funding yet. No reply after a week? Send a follow-up with your account ID.
Sources: the official page and application form at cloudflare.com/startups, checked 18 October 2026, and eksis's own application emails.
