Gmail Edu Rentals — Worth it? An honest review

Gmail Edu is a Google account issued by universities. The nice thing is it comes with a bunch of perks that regular Gmail doesn't offer.

What do you actually get?

Here's what I've personally activated with Gmail Edu:

• Large Google Drive storage — not "unlimited" anymore, but way more than the free 15GB
• GitHub Student Pack — this is the best one. Includes Copilot, free domain, DigitalOcean/Azure credits
• Canva Pro — completely free
• JetBrains — all IDEs free
• Notion Plus — free upgrade

Short-term or long-term rental?

Depends on what you need:

• 24-72h: Enough to activate GitHub Student, Canva Pro, download files. Cheapest option.
• 7-30 days: If you need ongoing access, like using GitHub Copilot for a project.

My actual experience

I rented a 24h one to activate GitHub Student — done in 10 minutes. Then I used that GitHub account ongoing, didn't need the Edu mail anymore. Worth every penny.

Also rented a 7-day one for Canva Pro to export files without watermarks. Saved a lot compared to buying Canva Pro monthly.