AI Coding Tools: Age Requirements for Kids & Teens
App-store ratings don’t tell you the real rule — the terms of service do, and they’re buried, inconsistent, and changing fast. We read the current official terms for every major AI coding tool and pulled out the answer parents actually need: the minimum age, whether there’s a legitimate path for minors, and what’s actually free. Where a company’s own documents contradict each other, we say so instead of picking the convenient reading.
Quick reference
| Tool | Minimum age | Path for minors | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude / claude.ai | 18+ | None | Free plan exists (chat, code generation, file creation) with usage limits. |
| Claude Code | 18+ for individuals | None (individual use falls under the same consumer terms as claude | Not on the free plan |
| ChatGPT & Codex | 13+ with parent permission | Yes | Free plan includes limited GPT-5.5 use, uploads, data analysis |
| Cursor | 18+ | None | Hobby plan with limited agent requests and completions (no published numbers). |
| GitHub Copilot | 13+ | Flat 13+ floor (higher where local law requires) | Copilot Free: 2,000 completions + 50 chat requests per month, including Copilot CLI. |
| Windsurf | Conflicting: 13+ vs 18+ | None in either document | Free plan with a light agent-credit quota and unlimited tab completions (no published numbers). |
| Replit | 13+ (practical reading) | Yes | Starter plan: free daily Agent credits, a database, one published project |
| Lovable | Under 18 with parent permission | Yes | 5 build credits/day (max 30/month), 20 cloud credits/month. |
| Bolt.new | No age clause at all | None found | 300K AI tokens/day (1M/month), hosting, unlimited databases, Bolt branding on published sites. |
| v0 | 16+ (16–17 with permission) | Yes | $5 monthly credits, 7 messages/day, deploy to Vercel, GitHub sync. |
| Kiro | Unverified (18+ for the student offer) | None found | 50 credits/month with rate-limited access to frontier models. |
| Google Gemini app | 13+ (younger via Family Link) | Yes | Free tier includes Gemini 3.5 Flash, limited Pro use, image generation, and Deep Research. |
| Google AI Studio / Gemini API | 18+ | None | AI Studio is free; the API has a free tier on Flash models (free-tier data is used for product improvement). |
Green = clear path for teens · Amber = restricted, conflicting, or unstated · Red = 18+ only. Details and sources below.
Frontier assistants & agentic tools
Claude / claude.ai (Anthropic)
18+
- Path for minors: None — under-18 use is prohibited, and Anthropic actively disables accounts it detects as minors.
- Free tier: Free plan exists (chat, code generation, file creation) with usage limits.
- Student offer: None for individual students. Claude for Education is institutional; Claude for Teachers is educators-only.
- Source: Anthropic Consumer Terms (checked July 20, 2026)
The strictest policy of any major lab: 18 or older, no parental-consent pathway, enforced with age verification. A teen cannot compliantly hold their own Claude account.
Claude Code (Anthropic)
18+ for individuals
- Path for minors: None (individual use falls under the same consumer terms as claude.ai).
- Free tier: Not on the free plan — requires Pro, Max, or Team, or pay-per-use API credits.
- Student offer: None specific; included in institutional Claude for Education.
- Source: Claude Code legal & compliance (checked July 20, 2026)
For under-18s this means hands-on Claude Code work belongs under a parent-held account with supervision (how our own classes arrange it) — not a teen's own login.
ChatGPT & Codex (OpenAI)
13+ with parent permission
- Path for minors: Yes — explicit clause plus real parental controls: account linking, quiet hours, safety notifications.
- Free tier: Free plan includes limited GPT-5.5 use, uploads, data analysis — and Codex for quick coding tasks.
- Student offer: Codex for Students: $100 in credits for verified US/Canada university students (not teens).
- Source: OpenAI Terms of Use (checked July 20, 2026)
The only frontier lab with a sanctioned path for minors: 13+ with parental permission, and actual parental-control tooling to go with it.
Cursor (Anysphere)
18+
- Path for minors: None — the privacy policy says accounts belonging to under-18s are deleted.
- Free tier: Hobby plan with limited agent requests and completions (no published numbers).
- Student offer: No standing program — and despite a 'students' page existing, the 18+ terms still apply.
- Source: Cursor Terms of Service (checked July 20, 2026)
Don't be misled by the student marketing page: the terms are a hard 18+.
GitHub Copilot
13+
- Path for minors: Flat 13+ floor (higher where local law requires) — no consent mechanism needed.
- Free tier: Copilot Free: 2,000 completions + 50 chat requests per month, including Copilot CLI.
- Student offer: Copilot Student plan free for verified students 13+ — explicitly including high school and homeschool students with proof of enrollment.
- Source: GitHub Terms of Service (checked July 20, 2026)
The most teen-friendly verified combination on this page: clear 13+ terms, a real free tier, and a student program that admits high schoolers.
Windsurf (Cognition)
Conflicting: 13+ vs 18+
- Path for minors: None in either document.
- Free tier: Free plan with a light agent-credit quota and unlimited tab completions (no published numbers).
- Student offer: Discounted Pro for accredited higher-ed students only — no high-school eligibility.
- Source: Cognition Platform Terms (checked July 20, 2026)
An unresolved conflict in their own documents: the terms of service say 13+, the privacy policy says 18+. Until they fix it, we'd advise parents to treat it as 18+.
AI app builders
Replit (incl. Replit Agent)
13+ (practical reading)
- Path for minors: Yes — under-13 written parental consent per the ToS; parents are responsible for under-18s' activity.
- Free tier: Starter plan: free daily Agent credits, a database, one published project. Agent credits burn fast — parents, watch the plan.
- Student offer: $15/mo off the first 6 months of Core with a student email.
- Source: Replit Terms of Service (checked July 20, 2026)
Their own documents conflict too: the ToS permits under-13 with written consent, while their community standards state a flat 13+. Treat it as 13+.
Lovable
Under 18 with parent permission
- Path for minors: Yes — explicit under-18 permission clause (default is age of majority).
- Free tier: 5 build credits/day (max 30/month), 20 cloud credits/month.
- Student offer: 50% off the Pro 100-credit plan for up to 12 months — university verification required.
- Source: Lovable Terms (checked July 20, 2026)
Bolt.new (StackBlitz)
No age clause at all
- Path for minors: None found — the governing terms contain no age, minor, or consent language whatsoever.
- Free tier: 300K AI tokens/day (1M/month), hosting, unlimited databases, Bolt branding on published sites.
- Student offer: None found.
- Source: StackBlitz Terms (checked July 20, 2026)
We word-searched the full terms and privacy policy: there is genuinely no age requirement stated. That's not permission — it's a gap. Parents should apply their own judgment.
v0 (Vercel)
16+ (16–17 with permission)
- Path for minors: Yes — 16–17 need parent/guardian permission under Vercel's AI Product Terms.
- Free tier: $5 monthly credits, 7 messages/day, deploy to Vercel, GitHub sync.
- Student offer: 1 year of free Premium — but only for verified students at participating universities.
- Source: Vercel AI Product Terms (checked July 20, 2026)
Kiro (AWS)
Unverified (18+ for the student offer)
- Path for minors: None found.
- Free tier: 50 credits/month with rate-limited access to frontier models.
- Student offer: 12 months free Pro — US/Canada, 18+, ten named universities only.
- Source: Kiro License (checked July 20, 2026)
Google’s ecosystem
Google Gemini app
13+ (younger via Family Link)
- Path for minors: Yes — under-13 via a Family Link supervised account a parent enables, with extra content filters for minors.
- Free tier: Free tier includes Gemini 3.5 Flash, limited Pro use, image generation, and Deep Research.
- Student offer: The old free student year ended March 11, 2026; no verified replacement.
- Source: Gemini age policies (checked July 20, 2026)
Age floors vary by country (13 in the US; 14–16 across much of Europe and Asia).
Google AI Studio / Gemini API
18+
- Path for minors: None — the API terms prohibit use in services directed at under-18s.
- Free tier: AI Studio is free; the API has a free tier on Flash models (free-tier data is used for product improvement).
- Student offer: None found.
- Source: Gemini API Terms (checked July 20, 2026)
Google splits sharply: the consumer Gemini app is teen-usable, but everything developer-side — AI Studio, the API, the API-key path of Gemini CLI, and Firebase Studio's AI features — is 18+.
Questions parents ask about age rules
Can my 14-year-old legally use Claude Code or Cursor?
Not on their own account. Both Anthropic (Claude, Claude Code) and Cursor set 18+ in their terms with no parental-consent pathway, and both enforce it — Anthropic with age verification, Cursor by deleting under-18 accounts. Under-18 hands-on work with these tools belongs under a parent-held account with supervision, which is also how structured programs (including ours) arrange it.
What AI coding tools can a teen use on their own account?
The clean 13+ options verified from official terms: GitHub Copilot (13+, with a student plan that admits high schoolers), ChatGPT/Codex (13+ with parental permission and real parental controls), Replit (13+), and the consumer Google Gemini app (13+, Family Link for younger). Lovable allows under-18s with parent permission, and v0 allows 16+.
Do these age rules actually get enforced?
Increasingly, yes. Anthropic runs age-assurance checks and disables detected minor accounts. Cursor's privacy policy states under-18 accounts are deleted. App-store ratings are not the real rule — the terms of service are, and they change often, which is why we date-stamp this page and re-verify it.
How we verified this — and what we couldn’t
Every age claim above was read from the tool’s current official terms of service, privacy policy, or policy help center on July 20, 2026 — links provided per tool. We do not repeat numbers that only circulate in forums or blog posts. Things we could not verify from official sources and therefore don’t state: Bolt.new has no age clause at all; Kiro publishes no general age floor; Windsurf’s and Replit’s own documents conflict (flagged above); and several free-tier quotas (Cursor, Windsurf, Claude) are published only qualitatively.
This page is careful research, not legal advice. Terms change frequently — always check the linked source before relying on it, and tell us if something has changed so we can update this page.