DFINITY developer grants: still closed, and where to apply

What did DFINITY say in September 2026?

The clearest statement is a reply in the forum thread BUHDDA ICP Development Update and Grant Program Guidance, posted on September 14, 2026. Asked about the grants program and other ICP funding, the DFINITY staff member said three things:

1. The developer grants program is still closed.
2. No other DFINITY funding programs, such as the DeAI grant or targeted RFPs, are currently active, and he thinks they are unlikely to come back anytime soon.
3. DFINITY does not keep a list of projects to contact when the program reopens.

That last point matters in practice. Emailing DFINITY to "get on the list" will not help, because there is no list. If grants return, they will be announced publicly, and everyone will apply at the same time.

Why DFINITY grants are not in web3grant's directory

web3grant lists only programs you can apply to today. Between October 1 and October 29, 2026 we checked 222 candidate programs; 99 made the directory and 123 did not. Of those 123, 23 were paused like DFINITY, 26 were discontinued and 48 had no way to apply that we could find.

DFINITY's grants sit in the paused group. If the program reopens with a working application, it can be added back. Until then, the Web3 grant directory shows what is open, with deadlines and grant sizes.

Where can Internet Computer builders apply instead?

No program in our directory funds Internet Computer work specifically, so the honest answer is to fund the work rather than the chain. Two routes are realistic.

Programs that fund the work, wherever it runs

Some funders care about what you build, not which chain it settles on. These are open as of October 31, 2026:

• Former DeAI applicants: Open Source AGI Grants from the Sentient Foundation fund open-source AI models, tools and apps. At least one essential part (model, weights, code, data or evals) must be openly available. Spiral also takes email proposals for open-source AI work alongside Bitcoin.
• Data and indexing work: The Graph Grants Program pays GRT for open-source work that contributes to The Graph ecosystem.
• Wallets and payments: Tether Grants and Bounties pays $1,500 to $5,000 in USDT or bitcoin, but only for work on Tether's open stack (QVAC, WDK, MDK and Pears). The HTX DAO Genesis Grant pays milestone grants in HTX for crypto and AI projects in payments, DeFi, wallets and infrastructure.

• Open Source AGI GrantsSentient FoundationUndisclosedAnytime
• Spiral GrantsSpiralUndisclosedAnytime
• The Graph Grants ProgramThe Graph Foundation$1K–$325KAnytime
• Tether Grants and BountiesTether$1.5K–$5KAnytime
• HTX DAO Genesis GrantHTX DAOUndisclosedAnytime

For more options in this field, see Web3 AI grants and our guide to decentralized AI grants.

Open programs on other chains

If your product can run on another chain, or you plan to deploy there too, chain programs are the larger pool. A few with open, rolling applications as of October 2026:

• Solana Foundation grants fund open-source work and public goods, and ask you to explain why the project needs Solana. See Solana grants for the rest.
• Aptos Ecosystem Grants typically pay $5,000 to $50,000 by milestone, for teams with a live product.
• The Stellar Community Fund has SCF #46 open until November 8, 2026, with awards of up to $150,000 in XLM.
• The Polkadot OpenGov Treasury lets anyone with a Polkadot account ask DOT holders for funding in an on-chain referendum.

Each of these wants work that clearly belongs on its chain. A proposal written for the Internet Computer and pasted into another program's form will read that way to reviewers. Our guide on how to choose a Web3 grant program covers how to judge fit before you write.

How will you know if DFINITY grants come back?

Watch the official channels: the DFINITY developer forum at forum.dfinity.org and DFINITY's developer pages. Because there is no waitlist, a public announcement is the only way a reopening will be visible.

Be wary of anyone who offers to get you into a DFINITY grant, speed up a review or "pre-register" you, especially for a fee. With the program closed and no list kept, such offers cannot be real. Our guide to crypto grant scams lists the common patterns.

We recheck closed and paused programs, so email alerts are the low-effort way to hear about new programs. If you see DFINITY announce a reopening before we do, you can suggest the program.

FAQ

Is the DFINITY DeAI grant still running?

No. The DFINITY DeAI grant is not active as of October 2026. In a forum reply on September 14, 2026, a DFINITY staff member said that no other DFINITY funding programs, naming the DeAI grant and targeted RFPs, currently exist, and that he thinks they are unlikely to return anytime soon. Builders working on open-source AI can look at chain-agnostic AI funders such as Sentient Foundation's Open Source AGI Grants instead.

Will DFINITY developer grants come back?

DFINITY has not given a date. When it closed the Developer Grants form around November 2025, DFINITY called the closure temporary and said it was restructuring the program. Ten months later, in September 2026, a DFINITY staff member said the program was still closed and that other DFINITY funding was unlikely to return soon. Treat a reopening as possible but unscheduled, and do not plan a budget around it.

Can I still get funding to build on the Internet Computer?

Not from DFINITY directly, as of October 2026. The DFINITY developer grants program, the DeAI grant and targeted RFPs are all inactive. Internet Computer builders can apply to chain-agnostic programs that fund the type of work, such as open-source AI, data tooling or wallets, or to open programs on other chains if the product can be deployed there as well.

Why does the DFINITY grants page not load?

The DFINITY grants page at dfinity.org/grants stopped loading after DFINITY closed the Developer Grants application form around November 2025. It was still not loading when web3grant checked on October 1, 2026. A missing page is not a technical fault to work around: the program is closed, and the DFINITY developer forum is where DFINITY staff have confirmed its status, most recently on September 14, 2026.