Azure Free Account? Is it really free?
Tags: azure, free, web, serverless
Published: 2020-03-09 12:00:21

---
title: Azure Free Account? Is it really free?
published: true
description: Learn about the Azure free account offering
tags: azure, free, web, serverless
cover_image: https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/calgsvm1o7sn4whfqcq0.png
---

## Azure Free Account? Is it really free?

Azure is an extremely big and powerful cloud platform that you can use to develop and run your applications. There are services to run your applications with, like [Web Apps](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/app-service/web/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum), [VMs](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/virtual-machines/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum), [Kubernetes](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/kubernetes-service/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum), [Logic Apps](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/logic-apps/) and many more. And there are lots of other services, that help you focus on the things that matter, instead of building plumbing. These are services like [Cosmos DB](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/cosmos-db/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum), [Cognitive Services](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/cognitive-services/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum), [Azure Active Directory](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/active-directory/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum) and many more.

If you are new to Azure or if you want to run an experiment on Azure, you can use it for free, for 12 months.

In this post, we'll explore how to create an Azure account that you can for free, and what's included in the offer.

#### Creating a free Azure account

To start your journey into Azure, you can go to [https://azure.microsoft.com/free/](https://azure.microsoft.com/free/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum). This takes you to the landing page of the free account offer, which looks like this:

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/apax3tvyscdsiomm37o0.png)

(Free Azure account website)

You can explore the page to see what's included in the offer. This is what you get when sign up for a free Azure account:

**12 months of free use of the following services:**
 * [Linux Virtual Machines](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/virtual-machines/linux/?WT.mc_id=docs-azuredevtips-micrum)
 * [Windows Virtual Machines](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/virtual-machines/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
 * [Managed Disks](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/virtual-machines/windows/managed-disks-overview?WT.mc_id=docs-azuredevtips-micrum)
 * [Blob Storage](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/storage/blobs/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
 * [File Storage](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/storage/files/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
 * [Microsoft SQL Server Database](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/sql-database/?WT.mc_id=docs-azuredevtips-micrum)
 * [Azure Cosmos DB](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/cosmos-db/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
 * [Bandwidth (Outbound Data Transfer)](https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/details/bandwidth/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
 * [Cognitive Services](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/cognitive-services/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
   * [Computer Vision](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/cognitive-services/computer-vision/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
   * [Personalizer](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/cognitive-services/personalizer/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
   * [Translator Text](https://docs.microsoft.com/nl-nl/azure/cognitive-services/translator/?WT.mc_id=docs-azuredevtips-micrum)
   * [Anomaly Detector](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/cognitive-services/anomaly-detector/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
   * [Form Recognizer](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/cognitive-services/form-recognizer/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
   * [Content Moderator](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/cognitive-services/content-moderator/overview?WT.mc_id=docs-azuredevtips-micrum)
   * [Custom Vision](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/cognitive-services/custom-vision-service/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
   * [Face](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/cognitive-services/face/overview?WT.mc_id=docs-azuredevtips-micrum)
   * [Ink Recognizer](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/cognitive-services/ink-recognizer/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
   * [Language Understanding](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/cognitive-services/luis/what-is-luis?WT.mc_id=docs-azuredevtips-micrum)
   * [QnA Maker](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/cognitive-services/qna-maker/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
   * [Text Analytics](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/cognitive-services/text-analytics/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)

You can use all of these services for free for 12 months, within the free service limits for the particular service.
For instance, you get 750 hours of **Windows Virtual Machine** for free. You can spend these hours over 12 months.

**$200 Azure credit for the first 30 days**
If you want to use a service that is not in the list of free services, or if you use more than the free service limits, you get charged for that usage. In the first 30 days after you've created your free account, this charge is deducted from $200 that you get for free. When you've spent the $200 or your 30 days are up, you will be charged for any service usage that is beyond the free service limits.  

**Services that are always free to use**
On top of the free services offer, there are Azure services that have a free tier that you can always use. These are the services that have a free usage tier:
* [App Service](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/app-service/?WT.mc_id=docs-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Azure Functions](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/functions/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Event Grid](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/event-grid/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/kubernetes-service/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [DevTest Labs](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/devtest-lab/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Active Directory B2C](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/active-directory-b2c/active-directory-b2c-overview?WT.mc_id=docs-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Service Fabric](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/service-fabric/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Azure DevOps](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/devops/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Security Center](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/security-center/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Advisor](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/advisor/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Load Balancer](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/load-balancer/load-balancer-overview?WT.mc_id=docs-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Data Factory](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/data-factory/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Cognitive Search](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/search/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Notification Hubs](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/notification-hubs/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Batch](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/batch/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Automation](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/automation/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Data Catalog](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/data-catalog/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Virtual Network](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/virtual-network/virtual-networks-overview?WT.mc_id=docs-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Inter-VNET data transfer](https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/details/vpn-gateway/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
* [Bandwidth (Outbound Data Transfer)](https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/details/bandwidth/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)

**Create your free account**

1. Go to [https://azure.microsoft.com/free/](https://azure.microsoft.com/free/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum) and click the green **Start button**
2. Login with a **Microsoft account** or a **GitHub account**. If you don't have one yet, you can create one
3. First, you need to verify your identity by phone. You can do that by entering your **phone number** and putting in the **verification code** that you receive
4. Next, you need to fill in the details of a credit card. Don't worry, you won't be charged. And by default, the Azure subscription that you create has a spending limit on it, so you can't use more than the free $200 that you receive until you remove this limit manually
5. Fill in your personal details and click **Next**
6. Finally, agree to the agreement and click **Sign up**. Your free Azure account will now be created

After a few moments, your Azure subscription is ready. Now, you can go to the Azure portal ([https://portal.azure.com/](https://portal.azure.com/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)) and start using Azure. 

#### Start using Azure

Now that you have a free account, you can start using Azure. 

A great place to start is with the [Azure Cognitive Services](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/cognitive-services/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum). These are services that provide AI-as-a-service. They come with pre-trained machine learning algorithms and are packaged as APIs that you can call. Take the [Face API](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/cognitive-services/face/overview?WT.mc_id=docs-azuredevtips-micrum) for instance. You can spin up an instance of it and send it an image of a person. It will tell you if it can see the person's face in the image and where it is in the image. And it will also tell you the gender of the person, estimated age, facial hair, glasses, emotion, hair and more. And you get 30.000 transactions for free!

Let's create a Cognitive Service:
1. Go to the [Azure portal](https://portal.azure.com/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
2. Click the **Create a resource** button (the plus sign in the top left corner)
3. Search for **Cognitive Services** and click on the result to start creating one
   * This brings you to the create blade of Azure Cognitive Services
   * Fill in a **Name** for the service
   * Select a **Location**
   * Select the **S0 Pricing tier**
   * Select a **Resource Group** (or create a new one)
   * **Check the box** to indicate that you've read and understood the legal notice
   * Click **Create** to create the Cognitive Service 

Once the Cognitive Service is created, you can give the Face API a try by following one of the 5-minute quickstarts on [this page](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/cognitive-services/Face/?WT.mc_id=docs-azuredevtips-micrum).

You can also use one of the services that have a free tier. You can try that with [Azure Web Apps](https://azure.microsoft.com/services/app-service/web/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum). This has a free tier that you can use forever. The only catch is that the free tier isn't as powerful and doesn't have as many capabilities as paid tiers. 

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/b132rulzl7qz4w13si3v.png)

(Web Apps free tier in the Azure portal)

#### Monitor your free usage

In the Azure portal, you can see the usage of your free services when you look at your subscription details:
1. Go to the [Azure portal](https://portal.azure.com/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum)
2. Search for **subscription** in the search box at the top of the portal and click on the **Subscriptions** result
3. Select the subscription (it is probably called **Free Trial**)

You'll now see your usage for the free services, shown in percentage. Here, you'll also see your free $200 credit and if anything of that is used and for what.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/o37p9r56c82zwi73xgib.png)

(Free service usage in the Azure portal)

#### Conclusion

If you want to try Azure for free, you can! There are many services that you can use for free, for 12 months. On top of that, you get $200 to spend in the first month. And there are many services that always have a free usage tier so that you can use them for free, or just try them out. [Sign up now](https://azure.microsoft.com/free/?WT.mc_id=azure-azuredevtips-micrum) and check it out!

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