Google is expanding its Developer Program by introducing a premium membership tier. This new offering builds upon the program’s success since its launch earlier this year at the I/O 2024 conference. The previous (standard) tier remains free and accessible to millions of developers worldwide, while the premium plan will provide several new features (and you have to pay to access them).
“Earlier this year the Google Developer Program was announced at I/O. As part of this initial launch, developers got access to our standard suite of services and exclusive benefits, at no-cost, ranging from Gemini on documentation, Cloud Learning credits and more,” Google announced in a blog post. “Today, with millions of developers already in the standard membership, we’re thrilled to share the launch of the Google Developer Program premium membership which provides a tailored suite of services to help developers throughout the learning, building and deployment phases of their journey.”
The new premium plan is priced at $299 annually and comes with an annual $500 credit for Google Cloud services, which can be used for tools such as Gemini Code Assist and Firebase. Members who complete a Google Cloud certification each year are eligible for an additional $500 in credits. Other notable benefits include unlimited access to Google Cloud Skills Boost (a platform offering over 700 on-demand training modules, hands-on labs, and skill badges). Additionally, the premium plan provides members with a certification voucher valued at up to $200.
In addition to this, members can get personalized support by scheduling one-on-one consultations with Google Cloud experts, receiving tailored advice on tackling complex challenges, optimizing architecture design, or addressing specific AI-related problems. Google is setting up the premium plan as “the next evolution of our commitment to streamlining the developer experience and presents the continued investment in the Google Developer Program as the hub of benefits and resources across Google’s many developer products and services.”
However, the premium membership is not available to everyone, and comes with certain restrictions in the European Economic Area (EEA), the UK, and Switzerland, where it is limited to business or professional use. The premium plan builds upon the company’s Cloud Innovators Plus program, which provided comparable benefits but lacked some of the newer features, such as the integration of Cloud Skills Boost. With the new offering, the dashboard has also been updated to include a dedicated “Benefits” section, making it easier for premium members to access and manage their perks, as well as get additional detail about them.
