[FormFollowsFunc]

Some companies provide free non-commercial versions for learning e.g. Houdini and Nuke. I wish more companies would do it.

[zamnos]

Hell, Davinci gives away their video editor application Resolve Free for commercial use. They're able to do that because they money off of hardware sales and getting editors into their ecosystem is worth more than a software license would be. (They do also sell a pro/Studio version of their software.)

A lot of high end software does have an education discount version if you're affiliated with a local college or university.