Which AI tools does the PSG actually cover? (July 2026)

The short answer: the Productivity Solutions Grant doesn't cover "AI tools" the way you'd buy them off the internet. It covers pre-approved packaged solutions sold by registered vendors — and a growing slice of that catalogue is AI-enabled. Buy from the list, apply before you pay, and PSG funds up to 50% of eligible costs, capped at S$30,000 per year. Buy anything outside the list — including a ChatGPT subscription — and PSG pays nothing.

Everything below is as published on the official pages on 11 July 2026. Grant terms change; the sources at the bottom are the pages to re-check.

What the PSG is, in five lines

• It supports "Singapore companies improve their productivity and automate existing processes through IT solutions and equipment" — Enterprise Singapore's words.
• Support level: up to 50% of eligible costs for local SMEs.
• Cap: an annual grant cap of S$30,000 per company (the grant year runs 1 April to 31 March), per the official FAQ.
• Eligibility: registered and operating in Singapore, at least 30% local shareholding, and group revenue ≤ S$100 million or ≤ 200 employees. The solution must be used in Singapore.
• The mechanics: pick a solution from the pre-approved catalogue, get the vendor's quotation, apply on the Business Grants Portal before paying anything, then claim reimbursement after deployment. One claim per application, paid to your PayNow Corporate account.

"AI tools" and the PSG: what's actually in the catalogue

Two official facts matter here.

First, Budget 2026 explicitly pushed the PSG toward AI. Enterprise Singapore lists the PSG as enhanced: "Expanded to support more digital and AI-enabled solutions, so that every firm, regardless of size, can access tools that help them work smarter and compete better."

Second, the government told us the AI share of the catalogue. The Ministry of Digital Development and Information's National AI Impact Programme factsheet (March 2026) says IMDA, with EnterpriseSG, "has curated and pre-approved market proven cost-effective solutions from reputable vendors, available with grant support to reduce barriers for SME adoption" — and that IMDA will take steps to increase the proportion of AI-enabled solutions from 30% of the pre-approved catalogue. In January 2026, the Minister of State put the catalogue at more than 300 pre-approved solutions in her ASME AI Festival speech.

So roughly: hundreds of pre-approved solutions, about three in ten AI-enabled, and the government on record that the AI share will grow.

What does "AI-enabled solution" mean in practice? Think packaged software with AI inside — the kind a vendor deploys for you: customer-service chatbots, AI-assisted accounting and inventory systems, marketing tools, and AI-powered cybersecurity. That last category is the government's favourite example for a reason: IMDA's Singapore Digital Economy Report 2025 found SMEs adopting AI-enabled solutions under the PSG reported average cost savings of 52% — and 71% for AI-powered cybersecurity specifically. (Worth knowing: those figures are based on PSG applicants' self-declared outcomes, per the report's own footnote. Treat them as encouraging, not gospel.)

What the PSG does not cover

• Consumer AI subscriptions. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Midjourney — the tools most small firms actually experiment with first — are not pre-approved packaged solutions. IMDA's own report notes most micro and small SMEs are "adopting off-the-shelf generative AI (Gen AI) tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Midjourney, Copilot, etc." — that adoption path is real, it's just not what PSG reimburses.
• Custom builds. A bespoke AI workflow wired around your operations is Enterprise Development Grant territory ("There are no pre-approved vendors for the EDG"), not PSG.
• Anything you already paid for. The official page is blunt: the applicant must not have made payment, or signed any contract, before the application is submitted. Retrospective applications are rejected. This is the single most common way SMEs lose the grant.

How to check a specific tool in 10 minutes

1. Go to GoBusiness → Productivity Solutions Grant (gobusiness.gov.sg) and open the solution search.
2. Search the category first (e.g. "accounting", "CRM", "chatbot"), not the brand name — vendors often list under solution names that aren't the product's marketing name.
3. If the tool you want appears: note the vendor, the package scope (user counts, modules, one-time vs subscription) and the quoted price. The grant applies to that package, from that vendor — not to any deal you negotiate elsewhere.
4. If it doesn't appear: it isn't PSG-fundable today. Your options are (a) an equivalent that is listed, (b) EDG for a custom project, or (c) just buying it directly — see the next section before you assume the grant route is automatically better.
5. Before you commit to anything, get the vendor's PSG-format quotation and apply on the Business Grants Portal. Do not pay a deposit "to lock in pricing" first. That kills the application.

The uncomfortable part: sometimes the grant isn't worth it

Here's the thing the brochures skip. Because vendors know the government pays half, some quote PSG packages well above the open-market price of comparable software. SME owners in Singapore forums describe pre-approved vendors as "grant farmers", report markups of "more than 100%", and in several first-hand accounts found the direct price of an equivalent solution lower than the post-grant price of the PSG package.

That doesn't make the PSG a scam — it makes it a market where you must do one comparison before signing: post-grant price of the PSG package vs the best direct price for an equivalent outcome. We've published a full walkthrough of that math, with the questions that expose an inflated quote: The PSG markup problem: is your vendor quote fair?

Who should skip the PSG entirely

• You'd be buying a tool that's genuinely cheap anyway (under ~S$30/month) — application effort and vendor lock-in aren't worth the subsidy.
• Your need is served by a free tier you've barely explored.
• You can't front the cash: PSG reimburses after deployment and claims; it doesn't pay the vendor for you.
• You're pre-revenue and below 30% local shareholding, or otherwise fail the eligibility gates above.

Stack it if you do proceed

If you're PSG-eligible this year, two other schemes stack on top: the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit (S$10,000 employer credit — final claims close 30 November 2026) and the Enterprise Innovation Scheme (400% tax deduction on qualifying AI expenditure, capped at S$50,000 per Year of Assessment, for YA2027–2028). The combined arithmetic is the subject of the stacking guide, and you can run your own numbers in the calculator.

One more thing to have on your radar: the PSG itself is being replaced. Enterprise Singapore says a unified scheme called EDGE launches in 2H2026, consolidating PSG, EDG and MRA — with existing grants accessible until launch. What that means for applications in flight is tracked, with dates, in our EDGE tracker.

FAQ

Is ChatGPT covered by the PSG? No. Consumer AI subscriptions aren't pre-approved solutions. If your team lives in ChatGPT and it's working, keep it — it's cheap. PSG matters when you're buying packaged business systems (chatbots, accounting, cybersecurity, CRM) from vendors.

Can I pick any vendor for a pre-approved solution? No — the approval attaches to specific vendor-solution packages. Same software from a non-listed reseller isn't fundable.

How fast is the money? The FAQ describes claims paid about 14 working days after approval of a complete claim, via PayNow Corporate. The slow part in practice is your own paperwork: invoices, proof of payment and deployment evidence must match the application exactly.

Does using PSG affect the SFEC credit? They stack: SFEC can offset up to 90% of your out-of-pocket expenses on supportable schemes, including PSG projects, while your credit lasts — details in the stacking guide.

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Next action: shortlist the category you actually need (not the shiniest one), run the 10-minute catalogue check above, then put your numbers through the grant-stacking calculator and one direct-price comparison before you sign anything.