The nine categories, and what kind of offer each one actually is
These are not equivalent. A laptop discount is a percentage. A software programme is usually free outright. A coaching "discount" is a competitive exam you have to sit. Knowing which is which saves the wasted afternoon.
| Category | What the offer usually is | Who runs one |
|---|---|---|
| Laptops and devices | A percentage off, on a separate education store | Apple, Dell, Lenovo, HP, ASUS, Samsung, Microsoft, Xiaomi, OnePlus |
| Software and subscriptions | Often free, not discounted | Adobe, Canva, Figma, Miro, Notion, Grammarly, QuillBot, Evernote, Descript, JetBrains, GitHub, IBM SPSS, NVivo, Wolfram Alpha, Perplexity |
| Music and learning | A reduced monthly price, renewed yearly on re-proof | Spotify, YouTube, JioSaavn, Skillshare, Kapwing, Picsart, Animaker |
| Travel | A student fare, usually with extra baggage | Indian Railways, IndiGo, Air India, Air India Express, Akasa Air, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, SpiceJet, MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, ixigo |
| Coaching and exam prep | A scholarship test or fee waiver, not a code | Aakash, FIITJEE, Physics Wallah, Vedantu, Career Launcher, Kaplan, iQuanta, Oliveboard, GeeBee |
| Studying abroad | Free counselling and waived application or test fees | IDP, Yocket, Leap Scholar, Duolingo English Test |
| Insurance | A student travel policy priced below the standard one | HDFC ERGO, ICICI Lombard, Star Health, Tata AIG, Bajaj Allianz |
| Shopping and essentials | Seasonal student offers | Flipkart, Croma, Lenskart |
| Everything else | Housing, tutoring and project tools | Amber, TutorBin, Asana |
The ones that are free, not cheaper
This is the group worth doing first, because the saving is the entire price rather than a fraction of it, and because the eligibility is usually generous.
- GitHub Student Developer Pack — not one product but a bundle of dozens, including free private repositories, domain names and cloud credit.
- JetBrains — the full professional toolbox, free for the duration of your course, renewed annually.
- Notion — the paid Plus plan, free on a verified student account.
- Canva for Education and Figma — the education tiers carry most of what the paid plans do.
- Asana — free for students on a verified account.
- Microsoft 365 Education — free through most institutions, which is a different route from Microsoft education pricing on hardware.
Why most students never claim any of them
Not because the offers are hidden. Because of proof. Almost every programme above verifies a student one of three ways, and all three fail in India more often than they work.
- A college email address. The global default, and the one that assumes something India does not have. Large numbers of students at state universities, affiliated colleges and open universities are never issued an institutional address at all.
- A photograph of an ID card. Manually reviewed, frequently rejected, and slow. Card designs differ by college, so a reviewer abroad has nothing to check against.
- An honour system. Which works for the company right up until it does not, at which point the programme is withdrawn rather than fixed.
What to do this week
- Start with the free software. GitHub, JetBrains and Notion between them are worth more per year than most of the percentage discounts, and they accept the widest range of proof.
- Check your travel before you book, not after. The Indian Railways concession and the airline student fares are applied at booking and cannot be added afterwards.
- If you are going abroad, price the student travel insurance separately from whatever your agent quotes. All five major Indian insurers publish a student policy.
- Do not pay for a coaching "discount" code. Every large chain runs a scholarship test instead, and the test is free to sit.
The full list, by category, with what each company calls its own programme, is on our students page. Student Sewa is not affiliated with any of the companies named here and arranges none of these prices — they are each company’s own standing programme, on their own terms.