## 2.5.2  Using Free Service Plans
The free tier model for SAP BTP lets you try out services in global accounts without any additional cost using the consumption-based commercial model and an enterprise account.
We offer free service plans for many services within SAP BTP. Free service plans are limited in scope and capacity. They are designed to allow you and your team to explore new SAP BTP capabilities before committing to subscribing to a full capacity paid service.
The free tier model for SAP BTP is added automatically to new and existing contracts using the consumptionbased commercial model. There, the free service plans are visible.
##  Note
The use of the consumption-based commercial model is subject to its availability in your country or region.
The consumption-based commercial model is available in the following flavors: the SAP BTPEA (SAP BTP Enterprise Agreement), the CPEA ( Cloud Platform Enterprise Agreement ) and Pay-As-You-Go for SAP BTP . For more information, see What Is the Consumption-Based Commercial Model? [page 104].
To try out services that participate in the free tier model for SAP BTP, create a service instance using the Free service plan offered by the service.
##  Tip
To find out which services offer the free plans, see Discover Free Services [page 109]. Here, you also find information on how to identify the technical limitations of the free plan of each service. Access Free Services [page 110] by assigning entitlements to subaccounts and creating service instances.
Once you reach the technical limits of a service and want to continue using it, you must move to a paid service plan. Upgrading an existing service instance from free tier to paid usually doesn't require creating a new service instance. Find out how to upgrade a service plan at Upgrade to a Paid Service Plan [page 110].
Use of free tier service plans is subject to additional terms and conditions as provided in the Business Technology Platform Supplemental Terms and Conditions Only community support is available for Free service plans and these aren't subject to SLAs.
## Discover Free Services
Find out which services offer Free plans and what the limitations are.
Free Tier services can be explored in the service catalog of SAP Discovery Center. A free tier service appears as a "Free" plan offering for a service.
1. Access the Service Catalog in the SAP Discovery Center .
2. In the Categories section, select Free Tier Services .
3. Select one of the services displayed in the catalog.
4. Navigate to the Pricing tab.
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On this page, you can see all available plans for this service, including the limitations of each plan. Plans that participate in the free tier model for SAP BTP are labeled Free .
## Access Free Service Plans
To try out the free tier model for SAP BTP, you must entitle your subaccount for the free plan and create a service instance using this plan.
##  Note
The free tier model for SAP BTP is available for accounts that use the consumption-based commercial model.
1. Enter your global account. For more information, see Access the Cockpit.
2. Configure entitlements for the subaccount in which you want to use the free service plans. Select the service and choose the free plan.
For more information, see Managing Entitlements and Quotas Using the Cockpit [page 2261].
3. Navigate into the subaccount and go to the Service Marketplace .
4. Find the service you want to try out and select it.
You find a description of the available service plans, including the free service plan. By clicking More , you find the scope and limitations of the free plan for this service.
5. Create an instance of the service and select the free service plan. For more information, see View and Manage Services from the Service Marketplace.
You can now start using this service.
## Update to a Paid Service Plan
Once you've reached the limits of the free plan, you can upgrade the free service plan to a paid plan.
##  Note
The option to upgrade from free tier service plans to paid service plans is not yet available for all services and runtimes, such as Kyma. To use a paid service plan for Kyma runtime, you will need a new Kyma cluster. It is possible to have both - free and paid clusters - in parallel.
##  Note
To update the ABAP environment to a paid service plan, you first need to configure entitlements and quotas for the ABAP environment. You need at least the following entitlements assigned to your subaccount:
- service plan: standard or build-runtime (service ABAP Environment)
- quota plans:
- 1 abap\_compute\_unit
- 2 hana\_compute\_unit
For more information, see Increasing the Quota for the ABAP Environment [page 180].
##  Note
It's not possible to switch from a paid plan to a free plan.
1. If the service instance has been created in the Cloud Foundry environment, make sure that you have the Space Developer role for the space of the service instance (otherwise, ignore this step).
1. In your Cloud Foundry subaccount, navigate to the space, in which you have created your service instance.
2. Navigate to Space Members and check if your user is listed there.
3. If your user is not listed there, add your user and assign it the Space Developer role. For more information, see Add Space Members .
2. In your subaccount, navigate to the Instances and Subscriptions page.
3. Find the instance of the service and click  (Actions) and Update .
4. In the Update Instance dialog, change the plan to a paid service plan.
5. Click Update Instance to save your changes.
You can now use the service without the limitations of the free service plan.
## Scope
- The free tier model for SAP BTP is available for CPEA and Pay-As-You-Go for SAP BTP contracts. For more information, see What Is the Consumption-Based Commercial Model? [page 104].
- Services using the free tier service plans run on the same platform as paid services.
- Services are technically limited. This limit depends on the service. You can find a description of the service plans in the Service Marketplace in the cockpit or in the SAP Discovery Center .