Get PICO-8 Free

The full PICO-8 software costs $15 USD, and if you can afford it, then we highly suggest buying it to support the developer. But if you cannot afford that, then there are other options still available to you.

First, there is the PICO-8 Education Edition which is free, runs in your browser, and is almost feature complete.

Thanks to the generous supporters of this website, we also want to give opportunities to earn full licenses of PICO-8. Instead of money, we simply ask for your effort to prove your dedication and creativity, which is all you truly need to make games in PICO-8.

Three ways to earn PICO-8:

Complete these
Side Quests

In our free beginners course, we have 4 quests where you need to draw in code using the PICO-8 Education Edition in your browser!

Even if you've never coded before, you can follow along the course videos and learn what you need to know to complete the Side Quests.

Game Design
Document

In April 2025, we hosted a game design jam and we are still accepting late submissions directly to our email.

Fill out the template document we provide and follow the details on the jam page to claim a free license of PICO-8!

Teachers &
Schools

We want to see PICO-8 in more classrooms! Game development is multidisciplinary and can motivate students to apply their knowledge from all subjects to create games.

If you are a teacher or school administrator, reach out to us to find out how you can claim a free license and other support we can provide to your school.

Contact Us:

Reach out to us either by email ( theNerdyTeachers@gmail.com ) or on Discord.

Become a Sponsor!

Thanks to our supporters on Ko-Fi, we are able to host these events, create the free content, and give away licenses to many students around the world! So if you'd like to be a sponsor of more giveaways like this, consider becoming a Ko-fi member of our site.