How to Get a Free Azure Subscription

Yes — Microsoft gives you USD $200 in credit for the first 30 days plus 12 months of always-free services (B1S VMs, 5 GB blob storage, Cosmos DB free tier, Azure Functions, and more). After 30 days, you’re moved to pay-as-you-go automatically — but Microsoft won’t charge your card unless you explicitly upgrade. The always-free services keep running for 12 months. Sign up at azure.microsoft.com/free.

Any valid credit card with international payment enabled — Visa, Mastercard, American Express. Microsoft does a $1 verification charge that’s refunded within 3-5 days. The card is used for identity verification only; you won’t be charged unless you upgrade out of the free tier or exceed the always-free service quotas. Some prepaid cards work; many don’t (verification fails).

30 days from the day you activate. After 30 days the unused credit expires regardless of whether you used it. The always-free services (12-month tier and forever-free tier) keep running. To stretch the $200, focus on hands-on lab work in the first 30 days, then continue with always-free services like B1S VMs and Cosmos DB free tier for ongoing practice.

Yes — Microsoft accepts most email providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, work emails). The exception is if your work email is already tied to an existing Azure tenant; in that case, the free trial isn’t offered. If you’re a student, use the Azure for Students program instead — $100 credit, no credit card required, with school .edu verification.

Three I’d actually use: (1) Build a Virtual Machine and connect via RDP / SSH (covers AZ-104 compute + networking basics); (2) Create a Storage Account and practise blob containers, tables, and queues; (3) Deploy a Bicep / ARM template (gets you used to IaC, asked in every Azure interview). Each takes 30-60 minutes and uses negligible credit. Avoid spinning up larger VMs (Bs1ms or higher) or premium storage — they burn credit fast.