Base's Builder and Creator grants pay up to $5,000 and $4,000, and the Trencher Grant up to $5,000; none of the pages states a deadline, budget or payment schedule.

Base runs three grant programs, each aimed at a different kind of applicant: the Builder Grant for teams with a live product, the Creator Grant for independent content creators, and the Trencher Grant for people who lead communities or create content around Base culture. @base summarized them on Oct. 30, 2026: Builder up to $5,000, Creator up to $4,000, Trencher up to $5,000. This guide covers what each pays, who it is for, and what Base has and has not published, as of Nov. 1, 2026. Base publishes the Builder and Creator terms on its documentation site and in Google application forms. The Trencher Grant's terms and form are published in Base's Oct. 26 X thread; there is no docs page for it.

Builder Grant: for teams with a live product

@base introduced the Builder Grant Program on Aug. 10, 2026 as "up to $5,000 in seed capital, plus GTM & Product support for actively building on Base." The thread lists monthly GTM and product feedback, faster technical support and ecosystem support as perks. Season 2 opened on Oct. 27, 2026, when @base wrote: "Season 2 of the Builder Grant Program is live. Get a $5,000 grant for building on Base."

Base's Builders page frames the amount as a ceiling: "up to $5,000 in grants, GTM and product support." It lists six tracks, including prediction markets, token launchpads, DeFi 2.0, agents and consumer apps. The same page says "the Base team provides grants very selectively" and that "the first step to be eligible for grants is to integrate Builder Codes," identifiers that tag an app's transactions.

The application form states who the program is for: you are exclusively building on Base right now, you are past the idea stage with a live product that is getting used, and you need product, GTM and launch help more than capital. Required fields include:

team background, a live product link and a Loom demo link;
a contract address on Base and the project's Base Builder Code;
usage numbers: users, daily and weekly actives, and volume;
how the product makes money, a three-month GTM plan, and the main bottleneck.

The Builder form also asks: "If you're applying for the Second time, What changed from the last application?"

Creator Grant: for independent content creators

@base introduced the Creator Grant Program on Sept. 2, 2026: "up to $4,000 to make great content about Base, our ecosystem, and builders." The thread lists a pipeline of builders to feature and coverage from Base regional accounts as perks, and invites applicants "creating exclusively on Base, running your own show, or an independent creator." On Oct. 28, 2026, @base announced "Season 2 of the Creator Grant Program" with "a grant of up to $4,000 for creating content about Base."

Base's Creators page says it is backing independent creators "who are already making great content around Base" in five categories: writers, streamers and live-show hosts, recurring podcast or show creators, independent video creators, and educators. Applicants fill out a form "to be included in our next cohort."

The Creator application form requires name, contact details, X handle and Telegram username, plus:

category and how long they have been creating this content;
publishing cadence, platforms, audience and region, and impressions or views over the last three months;
links to the top two or three pieces with stats;
whether they cover other ecosystems, and what makes their perspective different.

It carries the same second-time question as the Builder form. Its legal text says grants are "subject to execution of our grant agreement," that winners and allocations are chosen "at the sole discretion of Base," and that winners "will be subject to identity verification and applicable tax obligations."

Base's Sept. 2 thread also lists "Creator of the week bounties up to $500 in grants for emerging creators" among the perks. Neither the Creators page, the application form nor the Season 2 thread repeats it, so its current status is not stated.

Trencher Grant: community and content around Base culture

@base announced the Trencher Grant Program on Oct. 26, 2026: "Get up to $5,000 for leading a community or creating content about Base culture." Base's docs have no Trencher page; the terms are in the thread's replies.

Pays: the thread lists "$1,000 to $5,000 in grants," a direct line to the Base team, and a Telegram group chat with Base team members and community leaders.
Who should apply: per the thread, leaders of meme communities on Base, admins running trading communities on Base, and content creators posting about Base culture and memes.
Conditions: per a reply, Base may update eligibility conditions at any time, all participants are subject to internal policy review, recipients and final amounts are chosen at Base's sole discretion, and winners are subject to identity verification and applicable tax obligations.

The Trencher form asks for:

a Base wallet address and 2 to 3 links showing the applicant's contribution to trading culture on Base;
a 30-day views bracket and the share of their content or chat that is about Base;
two Base community leaders or projects who can vouch for them;
two or three commitments, with numbers, for the next three months;
whether they are currently paid to promote any tokens or projects, and whether they have been part of a public dispute, controversy or ban in the last 30 days.

Season 1 record

For Builder, @base said it backed 6 projects in Season 1, and another post said 387 projects applied. For Creator, @base said it backed 5 creators, and another post said more than 2,700 creators applied. Both threads invite applicants who did not make it to apply again with new traction: "users, volume, launches" for Builder, "views, reach, campaigns" for Creator.

What the programs do not state

Neither the Builder form, the Creator form, the Trencher form, nor the Builders and Creators pages, as read on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 2026, states:

an application deadline or a closing date for the current cohort;
the total budget, or how many grants will be awarded;
how grant sizes below the maximum are set; only Trencher states a floor, $1,000;
how payment is made or on what schedule;
country restrictions or sanctions screening. The Creator and Trencher forms print only identity verification and tax obligations;
what changed between seasons. Base calls the Oct. 27 Builder round and the Oct. 28 Creator round "Season 2," but neither page lists differences.

The Builders and Creators pages say applications are for the "next cohort," and Base has not said when that cohort is chosen.

How to apply

Builder: integrate a Base Builder Code, then use the Builder form linked from the Builders page.
Creator: use the form linked from the Creators page.
Trencher: use the Trencher form linked in Base's Oct. 26 thread.

Sources

@base, Oct. 30, 2026: amounts for all three programs.
@base, Oct. 26, 2026 and replies audience, perks, conditions: Trencher.
Trencher form: questions and legal text.
@base, Oct. 27, 2026 and Aug. 10, 2026: Builder Season 2 and launch; Season 1 replies backed, applied.
@base, Oct. 28, 2026 and Sept. 2, 2026: Creator Season 2 and launch; replies perks, backed, applied.
Base docs: Builders and Creators.
Builder form and Creator form.

Base's Builder, Creator and Trencher grants: what each pays and how to apply