Microsoft Azure: free credits and offers

Azure Free Account — $200 credit + 12 months of free services high confidence

$200 Azure credit usable within the first 30 days (forfeited if unused; not banked/transferable). Plus 12 months of free monthly amounts of 20+ popular services and 65+ 'always-free' services, including some AI/Foundry tools: Azure Speech in Foundry Tools (0.5M neural chars/mo, always), Content Safety in Foundry Control Plane (5,000 text records or images/mo, always), Document Intelligence in Foundry Tools (500 pages S0, 12 mo), Azure Vision (5,000 transactions S1/S2/S3, 12 mo), AI Search, Azure SQL DB (100,000 vCore-sec serverless/mo + 32GB), 750 h/mo of B1s/B2pts v2/B2ats v2 VMs. No free LLM/OpenAI token tier. After 30 days or credit exhaustion you must move to pay-as-you-go to keep the 12-month free amounts; overage beyond free monthly amounts then bills P2P.

Eligibility

New Azure customers only (never had an Azure account / 12-mo free services). Individual or org. 12-month free services NOT available to customers signing up directly for P2P in China and India. Country/region is locked at sign-up and cannot be changed later.

How to claim

1) Go to azure.microsoft.com/pricing/purchase-options/azure-account. 2) Choose 'Azure free account'. 3) Complete the 3-step account setup (profile, billing address, payment card). 4) A spending limit is on by default; you immediately get $200/30 days + 12-mo free amounts. 5) To keep free services after 30 days, remove the spending limit (convert to P2P) — only usage above the free amounts is then charged.

Expiry

$200 credit expires at the end of day 30. The 12-month free-service amounts end at 12 months (the 65+ 'always-free' services continue). Inactive accounts (>90 days) may have compute resources removed with 30 days' notice.

Gotchas

Credit card IS required at signup (temporary $1 authorization; non-prepaid card). It is a trial-then-pay offer, not a perpetual free tier. Services not on the free list (notably Azure OpenAI/LLM tokens, and egress) bill immediately. Unused $200 is lost. Free quantities don't roll over month to month.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure for Students — $100 credit / 12 months, no credit card high confidence

$100 Azure credit valid for 12 months (usable on most Azure products, incl. Azure OpenAI after you apply for access), plus 25+ free services, free monthly amounts of 20+ popular + 65+ always-free services, and free software downloads (Visual Studio Community/Enterprise, SQL Server, Windows Server, R, Visio, Windows 10/11 VMs without needing a Windows 11 Enterprise license). Renewable every year while still a student — each successful renewal grants a fresh $100 and a new 12-month term. A no-credit-card 'Azure for Students Starter' variant also exists.

Eligibility

Full-time students age 18+ at an accredited 2- or 4-year degree-granting institution. Must verify academic status via school/institution email (.edu or org domain) or via GitHub Student Developer Pack. Not available for MOOCs or for-profit professional training. One subscription per eligible customer, non-transferable, can't be combined with other offers.

How to claim

1) Go to azure.microsoft.com/free/students. 2) Sign up with your school email (or GitHub Student Pack) to verify student status — no credit card. 3) Receive the $100 credit + 25+ services + software downloads. 4) To use Azure OpenAI/LLM, separately apply for access in the AI Foundry portal. 5) Renew annually by re-verifying status (reminder email ~30 days before the anniversary).

Expiry

$100 credit valid 12 months; renewable yearly while eligible (a new $100 + new 12-month term per renewal). If you exhaust the credit before 12 months the subscription disables until you upgrade to P2P. Deployed resources are decommissioned at term end; you have a 90-day window to upgrade to P2P to keep them.

Gotchas

No credit card required, but continuing after the credit means pay-as-you-go. There is no dedicated free LLM tier — OpenAI/LLM usage is application-based and consumes your $100 credit. Cannot be combined with other offers. Inactivity >90 days may deprovision compute. Remaining credit is tracked in the Azure Sponsorships portal.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure for Startups (self-serve, no investor code) — $1,000 instantly, up to $5,000 total high confidence

For new-Azure-customer startups without an investor referral: $1,000 in Azure credits instantly, no application; plus up to $4,000 more after business verification = up to $5,000 total. Initial $1,000 credits valid 90 days; post-verification credits valid 180 days. Access to the full Azure catalog up to credit limits. This self-serve track can later grow into the Microsoft for Startups / Founders Hub program (up to $150,000) as you demonstrate adoption.

Eligibility

New Azure customers / early-stage B2B startups; privately held, for-profit; HQ in a country where Azure is available; not an educational institution, government, or consultancy; no cryptocurrency mining; must use a personal consumer Microsoft account (work/school email rejected). Credit card required for identity verification and for any usage beyond the credits.

How to claim

1) Apply at startups.microsoft.com ('Get started now') or the Azure for Startups signup on azure.microsoft.com/free/students footer. 2) Choose 'Continue without a code' / 'Build your startup', verify (e.g., via LinkedIn), then complete the 3-step Azure account setup (profile, address, payment card) → $1,000/90 days active. 3) Complete business verification to unlock up to +$4,000 (180 days). 4) If you later obtain an investor referral code, apply for the investor track.

Expiry

Self-serve: $1,000 = 90 days; +$4,000 = 180 days (post-verification). Credits auto-convert to pay-as-you-go when used or expired. (When on the Founders-Hub track: activate credits within 90 days of accepting the program; once activated, valid up to 2 years, no extensions.)

Gotchas

Credit card IS required (identity verification + non-covered services + P2P transition). Overage beyond credits bills P2P. Country/region locked at signup. Framing discrepancy: the MfS 'application' page shows a '$200' no-code starter and '$1,000' for the code path, while the FAQ/self-serve offer states '$1,000 (90d) + up to $4,000 (180d)'; treat $1,000 as the current no-investor baseline. Credits are tied to the specific MSA/subscription and cannot be transferred.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Microsoft for Startups / Founders Hub (investor-referred) — start ~$100,000, expand to up to $150,000 high confidence

Startups with a 10-character referral code from a Microsoft Investor Network investor/accelerator/VC start with ~$100,000 in Azure credits and can unlock up to $150,000 total over time based on business verification, service adoption, and sustained Azure usage. The investor offer also bundles third-party benefits: GitHub Enterprise, LinkedIn Premium Business, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Visual Studio Enterprise, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, plus Azure Standard Support and a dedicated MfS point of contact. OpenAI/Foundry (LLM) usage is covered by the Azure credits. Program is open-ended on time; you reapply/requalify as you grow.

Eligibility

Pre-seed through Series B (NOT Series C or later). Privately held, for-profit B2B software/AI startup; working toward/at MVP. Must NOT have received more than $350,000 in lifetime free Azure credits. HQ in a country where Azure is available. Not an educational institution, government, consultancy, or agency; no crypto mining. Must use a personal consumer email (work/school/company-domain email rejected). Referral code comes from an Investor Network member (list not public).

How to claim

1) Get a 10-character investor referral code from your investor/accelerator/VC (Microsoft doesn't publish the list). 2) At startups.microsoft.com, 'Get started now', sign in with a personal Microsoft account, enter the code, verify contact email + phone (SMS). 3) Submit business info (registered name matching legal docs, industry, website, address). 4) 3-step Azure account setup with a payment card → $1,000 starter active while reviewed. 5) Review ~3 business days; on approval, credits expand up to $150,000. 6) Activate credits within 90 days of accepting the program agreement.

Expiry

Activate within 90 days of accepting the program agreement or the offer expires (reapply). Once activated, Azure credits valid up to 2 years; extensions are not available. Auto-convert to P2P when credits run out.

Gotchas

Credit card required. Benefits (GitHub, M365, VS Enterprise, etc.) must be redeemed on the SAME personal Microsoft account and NOT on an existing enterprise account — 'Already redeemed' errors are common. Credits can't be transferred across accounts. Declined applicants may reapply after 14 days. The $350,000 lifetime free-Azure-credit cap and the Series-C ceiling are hard disqualifiers. Country/region locked at signup.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Azure OpenAI / Microsoft Foundry (Azure AI Foundry) — no free LLM tier; paid + application-based high confidence

There is NO free monthly tier or free API-call allowance for OpenAI/LLM models on Azure (now branded 'Azure AI Foundry' / 'Microsoft Foundry', with sub-brands Foundry Tools, Foundry Control Plane, Foundry IQ). Pricing is pay-as-you-go per input/output token, or provisioned throughput units (PTUs) with monthly/annual reservations; the Batch API returns completions within 24h at ~50% discount. The only 'free' way to get LLM tokens is to burn the credits from the other offers above ($200 free account / $100 student / $1,000-$5,000 startup). Other Foundry tools DO have free allowances (Speech 0.5M chars/mo always-free; Content Safety 5,000/mo; Document Intelligence 500 pages/12mo; Vision 5,000/12mo).

Eligibility

Requires an Azure account plus a payment method; model deployments are application-based (apply for access, specify use case/responsible-AI mitigations; historically gated by demand). Available only in selected regions per model.

How to claim

1) Hold one of the credit offers above (or P2P). 2) In the Azure portal, create an Azure AI Foundry resource. 3) Request access to a model (e.g., GPT) by submitting a use case. 4) Deploy the model; token usage draws down your free credits first, then bills P2P.

Gotchas

Not a genuine free LLM tier — 'free' only via borrowed credits; once credits exhaust it is pay-as-you-go. Per-model/per-region deployment quotas and limits apply; high-demand models may be gated. Data egress and extra meters add cost. Rebrand means 'Azure OpenAI' docs/prices now live under 'Microsoft Foundry'.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Student developer tools — Visual Studio (Community/Enterprise), GitHub Student Pack, Azure Dev/Test credits medium confidence

Azure for Students includes free software downloads (Visual Studio Community/Enterprise, SQL Server Developer/Standard, Windows Server, R, Visio Professional, Windows 10/11 VMs). Eligible students get Visual Studio Enterprise with ~$150/month of Azure Dev/Test credits (renewable; no payment method needed — usage auto-stops when the monthly credit is consumed); Visual Studio Professional gives ~$50/month. The GitHub Student Developer Pack (free, .edu) bundles GitHub Copilot, VS Code tools, Databricks and more. 'Dev Tools for Teaching' extends software access to faculty/students of enrolled institutions.

Eligibility

Verified students (.edu or GitHub Student Pack). Visual Studio Enterprise for students is available through eligible programs (e.g., Student Ambassadors); the Dev/Test credits are strictly for development/test (non-production). GitHub Student Pack requires a .edu email. Dev Tools for Teaching is institution-licensed.

How to claim

1) Verify student status (.edu / GitHub Student Pack) via Azure for Students. 2) Download Visual Studio / dev tools from your Visual Studio subscription benefits portal. 3) Claim the GitHub Student Developer Pack at github.com/student (free, .edu). 4) If on an eligible VS plan, activate the individual Azure Dev/Test credit subscription (no payment method; usage stops at the monthly cap).

Gotchas

Dev/Test credits are void if used for production. Microsoft no longer sells new Visual Studio Enterprise/Professional ANNUAL cloud subscriptions (existing customers can renew; new users go to visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/pricing). GitHub Pack items carry their own terms/caps (e.g., Copilot free tier for students). Monthly Dev/Test credit does not roll over.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Azure for Students (higher-ed): $100 Azure credit + free services, no credit card high confidence

Verified 2026-10-22 on azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/students and the official offer page (ms-azr-0170p). Students get $100 in Azure credits to use within 12 months plus: free monthly amounts of 20+ popular services for 12 months (new Azure customers only), free monthly amounts of 65+ always-free services, access to the full Azure service catalog up to free amounts + the $100 credit, and access to Azure OpenAI and Microsoft Foundry with 1,700+ foundation models (OpenAI o1/GPT-4 series, Hugging Face, Meta, Cohere, Phi SLMs). Includes free 'Software Download Benefits' via the Azure Education Hub: Visual Studio (Community/Code/for Mac, Agents for VS), SQL Server Developer & Standard, Windows Server, Visio Professional, R Client/Server, Hyper-V Remote Tools, System Center, Azure DevOps Server, SQL Server Mobile Report Publisher. Renew annually while a student: each renewal gives a fresh $100 + another 12-month term (confirmed by MS staff in a March 2026 Q&A and the official FAQ; reminder emails ~30 days before expiry; no hard cap on renewals).

Eligibility

Full-time students at an accredited degree-granting 2- or 4-year university; affirm age 18+; verify academic status via your organization's (school) email address — Shibboleth where supported, or GitHub Student Developer Pack verification code as fallback; NOT available for MOOCs or for-profit professional training; one subscription per person; 'limited supply of activations, while supplies last'; not available in sovereign-cloud (US Gov, China, Germany) regions; offer available where Azure is commercially available.

How to claim

Go to azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/students → sign up with a Microsoft or GitHub account → verify student status with school email (or GitHub code at signup.azure.com/studentverification?offerType=1) → accept offer terms; no credit card at sign-up. Track remaining credit in the Azure Sponsorships portal. After 12 months, re-sign up for the offer to renew; to renew you re-verify status.

Expiry

$100 credit and 12-month free services window run from sign-up; renew annually while eligible. If credit is exhausted early the subscription is DISABLED (you can upgrade to Pay-As-You-Go via support; deployed resources are then decommissioned at the end of the 12-month term — 90 days to convert). Invoicing statements may appear monthly but are covered by the credit.

Gotchas

Credits cannot be used on Azure Marketplace offers and don't carry over between months or subscriptions; unused credit is forfeited at 12 months; if you previously held any Azure free trial/student offer on the same Microsoft identity you cannot sign up again (you'll hit a 'no access' wall and must convert that old sub to PAYG); the offer can be terminated at Microsoft's discretion; the 20+ free-for-12-months services apply only to NEW Azure customers; anything beyond free amounts deducts from the $100; the 'Visual Studio Pro for 12 months' item in many older guides is NOT in this offer anymore — Pro only comes from the separate GitHub Student Developer Pack; keep at least one resource/portal activity so the sub doesn't lapse as inactive (MS community advises 90-day activity, not official).

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure for Students Starter (K-12 path): free core-service tiers, no credit card, $0 spend limit high confidence

Verified 2026-10-22 (official offer page ms-azr-0144p + Learn doc 'About the Azure for Students Starter program'). A second, lighter Azure student path — the same free/students page says 'Try Azure for Students or Azure for Students Starter — no credit card required.' Gives a verified K-12 (secondary/high-school) student free-tier access with a $0 spending limit to: Azure App Service, Azure Functions, Azure Notification Hubs, Azure Database for MySQL (in-app), Application Insights (Azure Monitor), and Azure DevOps. No commitment or time limit stated on the offer page; one subscription per eligible customer; not transferable; can't be combined with other offers; not for MOOCs/for-profit training; upgrade to Pay-As-You-Go at any time for the full catalog. (A Russian-localized Learn copy says the sub lasts a year and must be renewed — the en-US offer page governs: no time limit.)

Eligibility

Verified K-12 students; affirm age 13+ if residing in the US, 16+ if residing elsewhere; verify academic status through your organization's email (or Shibboleth where supported); no credit card.

How to claim

Enroll at the Azure for Students Starter offer page (azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/offers/ms-azr-0144p, linked from the 'Choose the right Azure account' section of azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/students) → verify with school email/Shibboleth → account starts with a $0 spend limit; upgrade in the Azure portal to PAYG when you need more.

Expiry

Offer page: no commitment or time limit. Upgrade path: Pay-As-You-Go anytime.

Gotchas

$0 spending limit means you can ONLY use the free tiers of the listed services — everything else is blocked, not billed; limited to six service families (no VMs, no OpenAI models, no credits); one per customer; prior Azure trial on the same identity blocks signup.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Microsoft for Startups, self-service track: $1,000 Azure credits instantly (90 days), up to $5,000 (180 days) after business verification high confidence

Materially changed in 2025-2026. As of 2026-10-22, the 'Azure for Startups' card on azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/students (fetched today) states: $1,000 in Azure credits instantly, no application required; unlock up to $5,000 in total credits with business verification; credits valid 90 days (initial) and 180 days (post-verification); full Azure catalog up to credit limits; 'spending protection — credit card required only for identity verification and services beyond credit'; no upfront commitment, cancel anytime, moves to pay-as-you-go after credits expire. This replaced the old Founders Hub on July 1, 2025. As of June 2026 (official MS blog + Learn overview, updated 2026-08-05): the program is now single-path — apply at startups.microsoft.com, start building immediately with Startup credits while eligibility is verified, and 'unlock up to $150K in Startup credits over time' based on verified progress, service adoption, and sustained Azure usage; applications typically reviewed in 3 business days; LLM/AI access is via Microsoft Foundry (GPT-4-class models, 1,700+ foundation models).

Eligibility

New Azure customers only; privately held, for-profit company developing a software-based product it owns; headquartered in a country where Azure is available; NOT an educational institution/government/consultancy/agency; no cryptocurrency mining; NOT raised Series C funding or later; NOT previously received more than $350,000 lifetime free Azure credits (updated cap; the legacy Founders Hub signup page still shows a $10,000 cap — the current Learn doc governs). A credit card is required (unlike the student offers) — only for identity verification and for any services/usage beyond the credits.

How to claim

Sign up at startups.microsoft.com ('Get started') — the $1,000 is granted instantly with no application/verification wait; complete the business-verification checklist to unlock the remaining $4,000 (credits then valid 180 days); enter an Investor Network referral code during application if you have one. Manage/activate credits and benefits in the Azure Portal. After credits expire you move to pay-as-you-go; cancel anytime.

Expiry

$1,000 valid 90 days from sign-up; $5,000 tier valid 180 days from verification. No renewals; expiration converts the sub to PAYG. June 2026 change: further credits up to $150K are unlocked incrementally 'over time' based on service adoption/sustained usage (not a fixed grant).

Gotchas

Credit card IS required here (identity verification) — unlike the student offers; no dedicated technical support on the self-service track (that's the Investor-Network benefit); the 90/180-day windows are short — if you can't burn $5k in 6 months the account flips to PAYG; Microsoft can change/terminate the offer (as it did on 2025-07-01 with little notice); legacy Founders-Hub 'levels' (Expert/Champion Networks) no longer exist.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Microsoft for Startups, Investor Network track: referral-gated, $100,000+ Azure credits + dedicated Microsoft point of contact medium confidence

Per the July 1, 2025 restructuring (The Register/TechRadar coverage + official blog) and the June 2, 2026 official blog: startups referred by a Microsoft for Startups Investor Network partner (a select group of VCs, accelerators, and universities) enter a 'higher touch' track that 'starts with $100,000 in Azure credits' (press figures; the official Learn overview describes it less precisely as 'higher-value benefits earlier', 'additional Startup credits, expanded support, and third-party benefits'). Includes dedicated Microsoft POC, deeper Microsoft Marketplace and co-sell support, and invitation-only Pegasus program (dedicated Cloud Solutions Architect) which Microsoft explicitly kept unchanged. The old Founders Hub tiers up to $150K and the Expert/Champion Networks were retired; existing activated legacy credits stayed valid until their expiry, then auto-converted to PAYG.

Eligibility

Startup must be tied to an Investor Network-affiliated VC/accelerator/university that issues you a referral code, entered during the startups.microsoft.com application; same company-level eligibility as the self-service track (private, for-profit, software product, no Series C+, HQ in an Azure region).

How to claim

Get the referral code from your investor/accelerator partner → apply at startups.microsoft.com and enter the code → you are routed to the enhanced track instead of the $1,000/$5,000 self-serve ramp.

Expiry

Credit validity follows program terms (legacy $100K-tier grants were ~180-day windows per level; new grants track the 'credits over time' model). Pegasus is invitation-only and ongoing.

Gotchas

The exact $100,000 figure is from press, not the current official Learn page (which I fetched today) — treat as 'about $100K+'; no funding-amount cap like AWS Activate, but the Series C+ and $350K lifetime-free-credit caps disqualify most well-funded companies; if your legacy Founders Hub credits expired without investor affiliation, your sub already converted to PAYG.

Source

microsoft.com

Azure Free account (also open to students without .edu verification): $200 credit for 30 days + 12-month and always-free services high confidence

Verified 2026-10-22 on azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/. For any new Azure customer (incl. students who don't have a qualifying school email): $200 credit usable within 30 days; free amounts of 20+ popular services for 12 months (750 h/mo B1s + B2pts v2 Arm + B2ats v2 AMD VMs; Azure SQL serverless 100,000 vCore-sec/mo + 32 GB; PostgreSQL & MySQL Flexible 750 h/mo B1MS + 32 GB storage + 32 GB backup; Cosmos DB 1,000 RU/s + 25 GB; Container Registry Standard 100 GB; SQL Managed Instance 720 vCore-h + 64 GB data + 64 GB backup; Vision 5,000 txns/tier) plus 65+ always-free services (DevOps 5 users, Functions 1M requests, App Service 10 apps/1 GB/1 h-day, Static Web Apps 100 GB bandwidth, Cosmos/DocumentDB 32 GB, IoT Hub 8,000 msg/day, Logic Apps 4,000 actions, Notification Hubs 1M, AI Search 50 MB/10k docs/3 indexes, Document Intelligence 500 pages S0, Translator 2M chars, Content Safety 5,000 records, Speech 0.5M neural chars/mo, Container Apps 180k vCPU-s/360k GiB-s/2M reqs, API Mgmt 1M calls/mo, Azure Maps 1,000–5,000 txns, AKS management free). LLM/AI: Azure OpenAI and Microsoft Foundry models accessible with the $200 (or student $100); the OpenAI 'free trial' token allowances (historically ~1,000 gpt-4o-mini tokens/day, 40k/mo, ~3 months; 50/day gpt-4o, o1, gpt-4; 500/day gpt-3.5-turbo) could not be re-verified today because the pricing tables render via JS and returned placeholders — treat exact token figures as unconfirmed. One free-credit account per person; not available in US Gov/China/Germany sovereign clouds.

Eligibility

Any NEW Azure customer (students, startups, individuals). Requires a phone number + a credit/debit card (non-prepaid) — card used for identity verification with a small reversed authorization hold; in Hong Kong and Brazil only credit cards are accepted; billing country must be in the supported list (~140 countries/regions). A startup on this path uses the $200 trial PLUS the $1,000→$5,000 Startup credits on a separate offer.

How to claim

azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/ → 'Try Azure for free' → sign in with Microsoft or GitHub account → enter phone + card → $200 credit and free tiers activate immediately. After 30 days, if you don't convert to PAYG, the account is disabled (unused credit is kept only if you convert early).

Expiry

$200 credit: 30 days. 12-month free amounts: 12 months from sign-up, then billed at PAYG. Always-free services: ongoing, no expiry. No renewals.

Gotchas

This is the one Azure offer that REQUIRES a credit card — students without .edu can't use it card-free; data egress (internet outbound), inbound-to-public-IP traffic, and any meter beyond the listed free amounts are charged against the $200 and then PAYG; '12-month free' services that are 'always free' are different products — check the Free/Are-You-Aware tabs on each pricing page; sovereign-cloud regions excluded; one per person.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

LLM & AI free tiers inside Azure (Microsoft Foundry / Azure AI services) — what students and everyone get at no cost medium confidence

From the official student/free pages fetched 2026-10-22: always-free (all customers, no CC): Azure Speech in Foundry Tools 0.5M neural characters/month; Azure AI Search 50 MB storage / 10,000 docs / 3 indexes per service; Azure Document Intelligence 500 pages S0 tier; Translator 2M characters; Content Safety 5,000 text records or images; Machine Learning 'Free' (no meter); Azure Maps 1,000–5,000 transactions; IoT 8,000 msgs/day. 12-month (new customers): Azure Vision 5,000 transactions each S1/S2/S3. Students additionally get: 'access to industry-leading technology like Azure OpenAI' and 1,700+ foundation models (Microsoft, OpenAI, Hugging Face, Meta, Cohere, incl. Phi small language models) via Microsoft Foundry, billed to their $100 student credit or free quotas; the 'try Azure OpenAI' free-trial token quotas (e.g., gpt-4o-mini 1,000 tokens/day / 40,000/mo for 3 months; 50/day for gpt-4o, o1, gpt-4; 500/day gpt-3.5-turbo) are the long-standing published numbers but I could not re-confirm today (JS-rendered pricing tables returned '$–' placeholders), so treat per-model token quotas as possibly stale. Notably the 2026 pages rebrand Azure AI services as 'Microsoft Foundry'/'Foundry Tools'.

Eligibility

Always-free tiers: any Azure customer, no credit card. 12-month quotas: new Azure customers. Azure OpenAI models on the student offer: valid Azure for Students subscription (no CC) with access requests/approval per model — access to some frontier models still requires an OpenAI access application stating use case.

How to claim

Student: sign up for Azure for Students (no CC) → deploy AI resources (Foundry/OpenAI, Speech, AI Search) and stay within free quotas; anything above quotas deducts from the $100. Startup/general: $200 free account or $1,000 Startup credits cover model usage; Foundry Playground offers free trial model calls for experimentation.

Expiry

Always-free quotas: ongoing monthly allowances. 12-month quotas: end at 12 months. OpenAI free-trial tokens: historically 3 months from account creation (unconfirmed for 2026-10).

Gotchas

Token-based LLM pricing means the $100/$1,000 credits burn quickly on frontier models (o-series and GPT-6 'Sol/Luna' tiers are the expensive end of the catalog); free-tier F0 quotas per-minute/per-day limits apply; credits can't be used on Marketplace; 'always free' does NOT cover premium tiers of the same service (e.g., Content Safety S1+, Vision S4+); check per-service 'Free' vs 'Are you aware' pricing tabs; egress/data-transfer for media responses is a separate meter.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Managed databases & data-platform free tiers (usable by students; the 'free tier' front) high confidence

Verified 2026-10-22 on azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/. Managed-database offers: (always free, all customers) Azure SQL Database serverless 100,000 vCore-seconds/month + 32 GB storage; Azure Cosmos DB dedicated 1,000 RU/s + 25 GB/month free for 12 months then continues as 'Free' tier with 2 free GB storage + 500 RU/s for all customers; DocumentDB dedicated MongoDB cluster 32 GB; Database Migration Service free Standard compute; Azure Data Catalog unlimited users; Data Factory 5 low-frequency activities; Data Explorer free; Query Store free. (12 months, new customers) Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server 750 h B1MS + 32 GB storage + 32 GB backup; Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server same; SQL Managed Instance 720 vCore-hours (4 or 8 vCore General Purpose) + 64 GB data + 64 GB backup; Azure SQL Database 750 h B5m/baseline + 100 vCore-min burstable. Free backup: 7 days for SQL DB/Managed Instance. These are the main free managed-database options; no CC needed for the student offer that bundles them.

Eligibility

Always-free database tiers: any Azure customer, no CC. 12-month amounts: new Azure customers only (students get them via the no-CC Azure for Students offer; startups via $1,000→$5,000 Startup credits; everyone else via the $200 CC-required free account).

How to claim

With a no-CC Azure for Students subscription, deploy PostgreSQL/MySQL Flexible Server B1MS or the SQL serverless database directly from the portal within the free amounts — no card, no charge until you exceed them; students can use up to the $100 credit for overflow.

Expiry

Always-free: ongoing (Cosmos free tier is a permanent tier, not 12-month). 12-month amounts: end at 12 months then PAYG. Post-12-month Cosmos DB falls to the permanent free 500 RU/s + 2 GB tier, not deletion.

Gotchas

Free amounts are per-service per-region; backup storage beyond the free 32 GB is billed; egress from VMs/DBs to internet is a separate meter not in the free quota; 'always free' for Cosmos ≠ unlimited — writes beyond 25 GB are blocked or billed; PostgreSQL/MySQL free 750 h is instance-hours (one B1MS instance, 24/7), not multiple; AKS cluster management is free but node VMs and disk are billed; free SQL serverless is capped at 4 vCore serverless pools.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Education licenses: Visual Studio Dev Essentials (student dev subscription; the VS Pro question) low confidence

Per vs-azure-eligibility (learn.microsoft.com, fetched 2026-10-22) and university IT pages: Visual Studio subscriptions carry individual Azure Dev/Test credits (Pro $50/mo, Enterprise $150/mo) usable without a payment method; 'Visual Studio Enterprise – Azure Dev Tools for Teaching' no longer exists. Dev Essentials (the successor to the free 'Microsoft Imagine' dev subscription) offers students a Premium tier that bundles up to $200/month Azure credit, Visual Studio Enterprise access, and 10,000 Azure hours of training/tools — students qualify via GitHub/education verification (the exact Premium grant figures come from a university IT mirror, low confidence; official visualstudio.com page returned 404 today). This is how students today get 'Visual Studio Pro/Enterprise-class' IDE licenses for 12 months — NOT via Azure for Students, whose bundled software list is Visual Studio Community/Code (Pro/Enterprise are not in the Azure-for-Students benefit set after the 2025 Dev Tools for Teaching sunset).

Eligibility

Verified students (or individual developers for Basic tier) — students get the Premium Dev Essentials subscription at no cost via education verification; Basic tier is free to everyone with a Microsoft account.

How to claim

Sign in at my.visualstudio.com / visualstudio.microsoft.com with a verified student email or GitHub account claiming the student benefit → Dev Essentials Premium activates, including the monthly Azure Dev/Test credit; renew annually while still a student.

Expiry

Monthly Azure credits renew while the subscription is active (VS subs: renewable, per the eligibility table). GitHub Student Developer Pack route (not Azure, adjacent offer) also grants 12 months of Visual Studio Pro/Enterprise-class licenses plus OpenAI credits — the likely origin of the '12 months of Visual Studio Pro' figure in the known-so-far notes.

Gotchas

The $200/mo Dev Essentials Azure credit figure is third-party-cited (university IT mirror) and could not be confirmed on the official page today (404) — verify before relying on it; Dev Essentials Basic has no Azure credits; credits stop automatically when the monthly amount is used (no CC on file = auto-stop); 'Pro' IDE via GitHub pack is not an Azure offer and its terms/eligibility are GitHub's.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Low confidence: verify before claiming.

Microsoft for Startups — Azure Startup Credits (milestone program, up to $150K) high confidence

Tiered 'Startup credits' on a sponsored Azure subscription: M1 $200 (sign up + verify with a personal LinkedIn account), M2 $5,000 (business verification: registered legal entity), M3 $25,000 (5+ Azure workloads active ~60 days; also grants a one-time 2-year extension to use credits), M4 $50,000 (7+ workloads ~60 days), M5 $150,000 (10+ workloads AND ~$3,000/month Azure usage ~60 days). The 60-day clock starts once each workload has at least $1 of spend; all required workloads must stay above $1/day for the full 60 days. Tiers are NOT sequential — accounts are auto-evaluated and upgraded, so a scaling startup can jump tiers. Credits apply to eligible Azure consumption, select first-party Microsoft Foundry models, and GitHub Copilot/Codespaces/Actions (only if the Azure subscription is connected as the GitHub billing method). When credits are exhausted or expire, the subscription auto-converts to pay-as-you-go.

Eligibility

B2B software/AI/tech startups, pre-seed through Series B (must NOT have raised Series C or later); privately held, for-profit, not a subsidiary; owns its software product; HQ in a country/region where the program operates (country/region is locked at sign-up and cannot be changed; unsupported country = offer unavailable); not an educational institution, government, consultancy, or agency; not involved in crypto mining; company has NOT received more than $350,000 in lifetime free Azure credits. Sign-in must use a personal consumer Microsoft account — work/school/company-domain emails are rejected.

How to claim

1) microsoft.com/en-us/startups → 'Get started now'; 2) sign in with a personal Microsoft account; 3) 'Continue without a code' (or enter a 10-char investor code, see separate finding); 4) verify identity with a personal LinkedIn account; 5) complete 3-step Azure account creation (profile, billing address, payment card); 6) 'Build your startup' dashboard shows $200 unlocked immediately (balance can lag up to 24h); 7) application reviewed in ~3 business days, decision by email; manage credits/portal in Azure Portal and MfS portal.

Expiry

M3 ($25K) grants a one-time 2-year extension of credit validity; otherwise no fixed validity per tier is published on the pages fetched — when credits are fully used or expired the subscription automatically becomes pay-as-you-go. Set Azure budgets/alerts; 'credits eventually run out' is Microsoft's own framing.

Gotchas

CREDIT CARD IS REQUIRED (non-optional: card number/expiry/CVV at sign-up; auto-converts to pay-as-you-go when credits run out or expire — no upfront commitment, subscription cancellable). Personal consumer email only. Country/region cannot be changed later. GitHub usage is NOT credit-covered out of the box — you must connect the Azure subscription as a GitHub payment method, and then only metered/eligible GitHub services draw on credits. Third-party (partner/community) Foundry models are separately billed and not covered. Egress and other metered Azure items are still billed through the credits, not free forever.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Microsoft for Startups Investor Network referral code ($1,000 starter credits, up to $200K cap, earlier tier unlocks) high confidence

Startups with a referral from a Microsoft for Startups Investor Network partner (VC/accelerator) enter a 10-character code during application and immediately unlock $1,000 in starter Azure credits instead of $200 while their application is under review. Per the benefits page (updated 2026-06-15), eligible Investor Network-backed startups may unlock up to $200,000 in Startup credits (vs the $150K standard cap) plus expanded support and third-party benefits, and 'may unlock higher-value benefits earlier in their journey'. Microsoft does not publish the list of participating investors.

Eligibility

Same base program eligibility (pre-seed→Series B B2B software startup etc.), PLUS the referral code from your VC/accelerator. Code is obtained directly from your investor — not issued publicly. Business name/address must match legal documents or business verification fails and acceptance is delayed.

How to claim

1) Ask your investor/accelerator for the 10-character code; 2) at microsoft.com/en-us/startups select Get started and enter the code; 3) verify contact email (code expires in 10 min) and phone number; 4) submit business information (registered name, industry, website, legal address); 5) complete Azure account setup — dashboard shows 'We're reviewing your application' with $1,000 in starter credits immediately available; 6) approval (~3 business days) unlocks expanded credits (up to $200K cap) and the full benefits package.

Expiry

Email verification code expires in 10 minutes. Credit/term rules follow the standard milestone program (2-year extension at the $25K milestone; auto pay-as-you-go on exhaustion).

Gotchas

Code is not public and investor lists are not shared — ask your accelerator/VC directly. Mismatched legal name/address = failed business verification. The $1,000 is while the application is under review; higher tiers follow the same workload/usage milestones (M3–M5) as the standard track.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Microsoft for Startups — free software/tool benefits (M365, GitHub Enterprise, Power BI, Dynamics, LinkedIn, GPU, support) high confidence

Technical benefits table (learn.microsoft.com, updated 2026-08-12): Microsoft 365 Business Premium 50 seats/1 year; GitHub Enterprise 20 seats/1 year; Power BI Pro 10 seats/1 year; Visual Studio 5 seats (until time in the MfS portal ends); Power Apps & Power Automate 10 seats/1 year; Dynamics 365 Customer Service & Sales Enterprise 10 seats/1 year; Dynamics 365 Team Member 25 seats/1 year; LinkedIn Premium Business 1 seat at 75% off for 4 months; 'Startup Cluster' short-term GPU access (ND H100, NDm A100 VMs, subject to availability); higher Azure OpenAI quota limits; ACA serverless GPU quota (2–7 day approval); 24/7 Azure Standard Support (normally ~$1,200/year); dedicated MfS point of contact; go-to-market benefits (Microsoft Marketplace, co-sell).

Eligibility

Approved Microsoft for Startups members (apply per the program; investor-backed startups get the expanded set). GPU/AI-access items are explicitly 'subject to availability' and gated by support tickets.

How to claim

Sign in to the MfS portal / Azure Portal after approval; 'find, activate, and manage benefits' per the program docs; GPU VMs: request per Azure quota guidance (or ticket via the MfS portal including the Azure request number, 2–7 days); serverless GPUs: Azure Container Apps → Support ticket; AI limited-access features: formal registration then MfS ticket if not auto-approved.

Expiry

Software seats: 1 year (Visual Studio: until MfS membership ends). LinkedIn discount: 4 months. GPU access: short-term/availability-based.

Gotchas

GPU and AI quota benefits are availability-based, not guaranteed. Benefits are 1-year seats and must be re-earned/refreshed with program membership. Credits do not cover non-Azure products, Microsoft Support Plans, or Azure Marketplace purchases.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Azure free account — $200 trial credit + 12-month free services + 65+ always-free services high confidence

Any new customer: $200 credit usable for 30 days; 20+ popular services free for monthly amounts for 12 months (e.g., 750 hrs of B1s/B2s burstable VMs, 750 hrs PostgreSQL/MySQL Flexible Server B1MS + 32GB storage, 720 vCore-hrs SQL Managed Instance, Container Registry 100GB/10 webhooks, plus Azure DevOps 5 users, Functions 1M requests, Cosmos DB 1,000 RU/s + 25GB, App Service up to 10 web/API apps, Static Web Apps 100GB bandwidth + .5GB storage, AKS management free, AI Search 50MB/10,000 docs, etc.); 65+ 'always-free' services (Speech 0.5M neural chars/mo, Bot Service 10K premium msgs, Notification Hubs 1M pushes, API Management 1M calls, etc.) have no time limit. One $200-credit free offer per new customer.

Eligibility

New Azure customers in one of 140 commercially available countries/regions. Sign-up requires a phone number and a credit or non-prepaid debit card (a ~$1 verification hold may appear and is reversed; credit cards only in Hong Kong and Brazil). Excludes sovereign clouds: US Government, Azure China, Azure Germany. No .edu, no age cap, no startup restriction.

How to claim

azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free → 'Try Azure for free'; sign up with a Microsoft account (or 'Sign in with GitHub'); if you switch to pay-as-you-go before day 30, remaining credit stays valid for the full 30-day window.

Expiry

$200 credit: 30 days. Free monthly amounts: 12 months. Always-free tiers: indefinite. Auto-convert/disability to pay-as-you-go after credit expiry.

Gotchas

CREDIT CARD REQUIRED — the free account is NOT a no-CC offer. After 30 days or credit exhaustion the account is disabled unless converted to pay-as-you-go; the 12-month free service amounts lapse after 12 months (service then bills metered). Data egress and non-free meters are always billed. Trial is 30-day; only the 'always-free' tiers are indefinite.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure for Students — $100 credit + free cloud services, no credit card high confidence

Students get $100 in Azure service credits plus free access to popular cloud services and developer tools (Visual Studio, VS Code, AI/ML/data learning resources), 12-month-style free service access; via the GitHub Student Developer Pack the Azure offer is '25+ cloud services and $100 in Azure credit' for students 18+ (a separate 13–17 track exists). No credit card required and 'no need to enter a credit card' — eligibility is proven with a school email.

Eligibility

Current, verified students — sign up with your school/academic email; no CC. The GitHub Pack routes 18+ students to the main Azure offer and 13–17 to a separate offer. Faculty offer ($200 in past pages) could not be verified today (education pricing page now 404).

How to claim

azure.microsoft.com/en-us/education → 'Start free' → verify with school email → $100 credit and free services available; or claim the Azure offer inside the GitHub Student Pack (github.com/settings/education/benefits).

Expiry

$100 credit: single allotment; free services tied to active student status. No renewal cycle published on the page fetched.

Gotchas

No CC required (contrast with the $200 free account). Credit is not a subscription; separate from any pay-as-you-go account. Regional availability follows Azure availability.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

GitHub Student Developer Pack — free GitHub Pro, Copilot, Codespaces + 100+ partner benefits (incl. Microsoft 365/1TB, Azure $100) high confidence

For verified students: free GitHub Pro; unlimited GitHub Copilot completions plus an allowance of GitHub AI Credits with limited chat/agent usage; free Pro-level Codespaces; GitHub Pages (1 site + unlimited project sites); Microsoft Azure $100 credit + 25+ services; Microsoft 365 productivity apps with AI + 1TB OneDrive; JetBrains subscription (renewed annually); MongoDB $50 Atlas credits + free certification; Datadog Pro (10 servers, 2 years free); 1Password free 2 years incl. Developer Tools; Heroku $13/mo for 24 months; Notion Education plan; free domains/SSL from Namecheap/Name.com/.TECH; 6–12 month access to Educative, FrontendMasters, Scrimba, DataCamp, Appwrite; learning bundles organized into 'Experiences' tiers.

Eligibility

Verified students via the GitHub Education portal (school academic email or institutional proof; 18+ main track, 13–17 separate track). No credit card needed for the pack itself.

How to claim

Sign in to GitHub → github.com/settings/education → verify student status → claim offers from the benefits page ('All offers' listing, filterable by category).

Expiry

Per-benefit: 1–24 months (Heroku 24 mo, Datadog/1Password 2 yr, learning platforms 1–12 mo, JetBrains annual). Pack © 2026; 2025–26 changes: new AI-partner additions (Camber, Boot.dev, ToDiagram) and the 'Experiences' bundle layer; several older standalone offers no longer listed.

Gotchas

Most benefits end when student status ends ('while you are a student'); specific durations vary (1 month–24 months); JetBrains requires annual renewal; Copilot access is 'limited chat and agent usage' under the student allowance, not full Copilot plans.

Source

education.github.com

Microsoft 365 Education — free Office (Word/Excel/PowerPoint/OneDrive) with a school email medium confidence

Students and faculty can get free Microsoft 365 with a verified school email: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Teams and ~100GB OneDrive (desktop + online apps). The microsoft.com/en-us/education landing page (fetched today) confirms 'student offers for Microsoft 365, GitHub, and Azure' are live; the detailed office-online offer page timed out on repeated fetch attempts, so the app list and storage figure are based on the long-standing offer structure rather than a page read today.

Eligibility

Currently enrolled students or faculty with a valid academic/school email (typically K-12/higher-ed .edu or national equivalents); no credit card, no payment details.

How to claim

1) microsoft.com/microsoft-365/education (or /education/office-online) → 'Get Office online with your school email'; 2) enter the school email; 3) verify; 4) download/sign in to desktop apps — renew annually.

Expiry

Renewable annually while a student/faculty; benefits end when school-email status lapses.

Gotchas

Free tier is for personal/educational use — not a license for companies; OneDrive storage is far below the 1TB in the GitHub Student Pack's M365 benefit; page could not be fetched today (timeouts), so treat exact app/storage list as medium-confidence.

Source

microsoft.com

Microsoft 365 / Office Developer Program (Individual) — free development licenses, no credit card low confidence

For individual developers (not companies) building add-ins/extensions for Microsoft 365: free enrollment in a developer tenant with M365 E5-based developer licenses carrying hard service limits (e.g., ~25GB OneDrive per user; tenant refreshes every 30 days), plus Visual Studio and dev tooling access; no credit card and no cost. Intended for students/bootstrapping founders prototyping on M365. NOTE: today, multiple candidate URLs on developer.microsoft.com for this program returned 404 — the page structure appears to have moved; program terms could not be re-verified on an official page this session.

Eligibility

Individual developers only — companies/organizations are excluded (they need the paid Partner Developer Program); free Microsoft account; no credit card.

How to claim

Enroll from the M365/Developer hub on developer.microsoft.com (Individual Developer Program); after enrollment the dev tenant (with limited E5 licenses, 30-day refresh) is provisioned; claimable without payment details.

Expiry

Tenant refreshes every 30 days; benefits continue while enrolled.

Gotchas

Service quotas/limits apply per license (not full E5); the 30-day refresh resets data/usage limits; dev licenses are for development only, not production use; today's 404s on the program's sub-pages mean the exact quotas may have changed — verify on the live page before relying on specifics.

Source

developer.microsoft.com

Low confidence: verify before claiming.

Azure Free Account — $200 credit / 30-day trial high confidence

New Azure customers get $200 credit usable within 30 days across the full catalog (up to free amounts + credit), with spending protection so the card is not charged during the trial. After 30 days or credit exhaustion the account moves to pay-as-you-go (or is disabled). This trial is the only path that makes Azure's dedicated/bare-metal-adjacent SKUs (dedicated hosts, larger VM sizes) reachable at $0, since no dedicated-server free allotment exists.

Eligibility

New Azure customers only. Phone number + non-prepaid credit or debit card REQUIRED (a ~$1 temporary authorization may be placed); Microsoft or GitHub account. Commercially available in ~140 countries; explicitly excludes US Government cloud, Azure China, and Germany sovereign regions.

How to claim

Sign up at https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/ → provide phone/card/account → $200 credit is live immediately; no application or approval.

Expiry

Credit valid for the full 30 days from account creation even if partially unused; then pay-as-you-go or disable.

Gotchas

Credit card IS required (not card-free). Free 12-month and always-free services continue after the 30-day trial; unused 12-month services keep running at PAYG billing. Egress/data charges apply above free amounts. No free dedicated-host or bare-metal allotment — dedicated servers are only reachable via this credit or startup credits.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure free services tier — 12-month + 65+ always-free services (VPS & managed-database fronts) high confidence

On the same free account: free monthly amounts of 20+ popular services for 12 months, incl. VPS front: 750 hours each/month of B1s, B2pts v2 (ARM) and B2ats v2 (AMD) burstable VMs; managed-DB front: Azure Database for PostgreSQL/MySQL Flexible 750 hours B1MS + 32 GB storage + 32 GB backup; SQL Managed Instance 720 vCore-hours of a 4- or 8-vCore General Purpose instance + 64 GB data + 64 GB backup; Azure Container Registry 1 Standard registry/100 GB; Data Factory 5 low-frequency activities; Vision 5,000 transactions each of S1/S2/S3. Plus 65+ always-free services: Cosmos DB 1,000 RU/s + 25 GB; SQL Database serverless 100,000 vCore-seconds/month + 32 GB; Functions 1M requests/month; Container Apps 180,000 vCPU-seconds + 360,000 GiB-seconds + 2M requests; App Service 10 F0 web/API apps (1 GB); Static Web Apps 100 GB bandwidth + 0.5 GB storage; Logic Apps 4,000 executions; AKS control plane; DevOps 5 users; AI Search 50 MB/10K docs/3 indexes; Speech 0.5M neural chars; Translator 2M chars.

Eligibility

New Azure customers (12-month items); always-free items available to any Azure customer including students (no card needed under Azure for Students).

How to claim

Automatic once the free account or student subscription is created; nothing to redeem separately.

Expiry

12-month amounts stop at the 12-month anniversary (running services continue, now billed PAYG); always-free services have no expiry.

Gotchas

Only burstable b1ms-class VMs are free — no guaranteed-performance VMs; no free dedicated/bare-metal capacity; egress above free allowances and any service beyond free amounts bill to the card on file (trial account).

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure for Students — $100 credit / 12 months, no credit card, renewable high confidence

Azure for Students: $100 credit usable within 12 months plus the same 20+ 12-month free services (incl. 750 h VMs, managed-DB free amounts) and 65+ always-free services; full catalog access up to free amounts + $100 credit; includes Azure OpenAI access and software download licenses (Visual Studio, SQL Server Developer/Standard, Windows Server, Hyper-V, R, etc.). Balance visible in the Azure Sponsorships portal. Official offer terms: age 18+, accredited degree-granting 2/4-year institution, full-time student, verified via the organization's email address; one subscription per person, nontransferable, not combinable, limited supply.

Eligibility

Full-time university/college students (2- or 4-year accredited, degree-granting; 18+). Verified with school/organization email — .edu not required, but MOOC/for-profit trainings excluded. No credit card required.

How to claim

Sign up at https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/students/ with school email → no card → $100 credit available immediately. Also obtainable through the GitHub Student Developer Pack.

Expiry

12 months; unused credit does not carry over month-to-month and lapses at 12 months. Renewable annually as long as you remain a full-time student (reminder emails before the anniversary). If you exhaust the credit or let the year end without upgrading, the subscription is canceled; you have 90 days to upgrade to pay-as-you-go.

Gotchas

$100 is small next to the $200 trial credit; after expiry your deployed resources are decommissioned; the offer is while-supplies-last and Microsoft can terminate it at discretion.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure for Students Starter — card-free free-product tier medium confidence

Card-free alternative to Azure for Students: select Azure products (e.g., App Service) free for students, without the $100 credit. Listed in Microsoft's official AcademicContent repo ('Azure for Students Starter | use select Azure products like App Services for free - no credit card required with academic verification'); the /free/students page offers it as 'Try Azure for Students or Azure for Students Starter — no credit card required'.

Eligibility

Students with academic verification (school email); no credit card.

How to claim

Offered from https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/students/.

Expiry

Tied to student status; per-service limits are not itemized on the pages fetched today.

Gotchas

Exact service list/limits are not documented on the fetched page — verify in-portal before relying on it; WebSearch budget was exhausted before a dedicated offer-detail page could be pulled.

Source

github.com

GitHub Student Developer Pack — Microsoft Azure benefit medium confidence

The GitHub Student Developer Pack (student-verified, via GitHub or school email) includes Microsoft Azure's student offer: $100 Azure credit plus 12-month free amounts of 25+/20+ services, under the Pack's 'Microsoft Azure' offer. It is the alternate redemption route when a school email isn't accepted by the Azure for Students flow.

Eligibility

Verified students through GitHub Education (school email or enrollment proof); not .edu-only.

How to claim

Sign up at https://education.github.com/pack with student verification → open the Microsoft Azure offer to activate the Azure for Students subscription.

Expiry

12 months, matching Azure for Students.

Gotchas

Same $100 credit as Azure for Students; Pack benefits are partner-offered and can change; one Azure student subscription per person.

Source

education.github.com

Microsoft for Startups — 2026 milestone program, up to $150,000 in Azure credits high confidence

Current model (docs ms.date 2026-05/2026-10, page updated 2026-08/10): every startup enters the same way. Apply without an investor code → $200 starter credits immediately, no application form (identity via personal LinkedIn). With a 10-character investor-network referral code → $1,000 starter credits immediately while the application is reviewed (~3 business days); approval unlocks expanded credits. Credits then auto-progress in tiers — no separate applications: $5,000 after business verification; $25,000 after 5+ distinct Azure workloads in active use for a sustained ~60 days (each workload must spend >$1/month for the whole 60 days; one-time two-year extension of credit validity at this tier); $50,000 at 7+ workloads; $150,000 at 10+ workloads plus ~$3,000/month Azure usage sustained ~60 days. Milestones can be skipped straight if requirements are met. Program support, AI capabilities (Microsoft Foundry models), and go-to-market resources are included.

Eligibility

Early-stage B2B software/AI/technology startups; funding stage pre-seed through Series B; at or working toward MVP; privately held independent companies (not subsidiaries); headquartered in a region where MfS operates (country choice at signup cannot be changed; if your country is absent, the offer is not available). Sign-in must use a personal consumer email (work/school/company domains rejected); phone number; registered business name matching legal documents; payment card is entered at Azure account creation (spend protection; converts to pay-as-you-go when credits are used up or expired).

How to claim

1) Go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/startups → 'Get started now'. 2) Sign in with a personal Microsoft account. 3) No code: 'Continue without a code' → 'Verify with LinkedIn' → 3-step Azure account setup (profile, billing address, payment card) → '$200 in Azure credits' unlocked. With code: enter the 10-char investor code → verify email + phone → business info form → submit → $1,000 credits immediately, approval within ~3 business days. Credits are managed in the MfS portal (portal.startups.microsoft.com); usage is auto-evaluated monthly.

Expiry

Per program FAQ guidance: credits must be activated within 90 days of accepting the program agreement; once activated they are valid up to 2 years with no extensions — except the one-time two-year extension awarded at the $25K milestone (per official docs).

Gotchas

Contrary to 'no card' expectations, the application flow requires a card at account creation (identity verification + billing above credit). 'Up to $150,000' is a ceiling, not a day-one grant — day one is $200 (or $1,000 with an investor code). Marketing pages still show stale 2025-track copy: /free/students advertises 'Azure for Startups: $1,000 instantly, up to $5,000, 90/180-day validity', which is the retired self-service track. The $150K figure in the Azure portal is a generic ceiling indicator, not a grant; additional credits are applied automatically (no 'redeem more' button exists). All activation must use the same personal Microsoft account registered at signup.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Microsoft for Startups — Investor Network (enhanced track) medium confidence

Startups referred by Microsoft for Startups Investor Network partners (VCs, accelerators, incubators, universities; the partner list is not public) get the enhanced experience on top of the base program: dedicated Microsoft point of contact, deeper Microsoft Marketplace and co-sell support, and access to additional Startup credits beyond the standard program (up to the $150,000 ceiling). Under the current docs the investor path starts with $1,000 in credits immediately and unlocks up to $150,000 after application approval. (The interim 2025 track had started at $100,000 for investor-backed startups.)

Eligibility

Same base MfS eligibility (pre-seed–Series B, B2B, privately held, supported region) plus a 10-character referral code from a participating investor/accelerator/university.

How to claim

Ask your investor/accelerator for the 10-character referral code → apply at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/startups with the code.

Expiry

Same activation/validity rules as base MfS (activate within 90 days; valid up to 2 years; 2-year extension at the $25K tier).

Gotchas

Extra credit amounts above the standard tiers are investor-dependent and not standardized publicly; the partner list is unpublished, so you must get the code from the investor directly.

Source

microsoft.com

Azure for Education — faculty dev-tool licenses (no cloud credits) low confidence

Education-licensing front: Azure for Education gives teachers/educators free access to Microsoft and Azure development tools and software licenses for teaching (Visual Studio Community, SQL Server Developer/Standard editions, Windows Server, Hyper-V, R Client/Server, VS Code, etc.) — included even inside Azure for Students subscriptions. No cloud credits are part of the education program; faculty who want credits must take the standard $200 free account (card required) or request an academic grant/sponsorship (custom spending-limit Azure Sponsorship subscriptions, e.g. for competitions, via Azure for Education support).

Eligibility

Educators in K-12 and higher education; verification through school/organization. Not a credit offer.

How to claim

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/for-education/ for the dev-tools program; sponsorship/academic grants via Azure for Education support (azureforeducation.microsoft.com contact).

Expiry

Licenses valid while the account is a qualifying educator/student.

Gotchas

No credits — if the research question is 'free compute for faculty', the answer is the standard $200 trial card or a bespoke sponsorship request, not an education program. This page was not directly re-fetched today, hence low confidence.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Low confidence: verify before claiming.

Bare-metal & dedicated servers front — no dedicated free offer high confidence

Azure publishes no free tier, free trial allotment, or always-free amount for dedicated hosts or bare-metal VM SKUs. The VPS front is covered by the free 750 h/month burstable VMs + $200 trial credit; the managed-database front by the free Flexible Server/Managed Instance/always-free Cosmos and SQL serverless amounts. Dedicated/bare-metal capacity is reachable only by spending trial credits or Microsoft-for-Startups credits on eligible services — i.e., the 'free' path for a dedicated server is a credit, not a free allotment.

Eligibility

Via the $200 free-account trial (card required) or MfS startup credits (card at account creation).

How to claim

No standalone claim; use a trial or MfS credit in a paid subscription.

Expiry

As the underlying credit (30-day trial credit; MfS activation + up to 2-year validity).

Gotchas

Do not plan runways around free dedicated capacity — it does not exist; credit ceilings are hard caps, and beyond them it is straight PAYG.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure SQL Database (serverless) — 'Free forever' tier high confidence

100,000 vCore-seconds/month of Azure SQL Database serverless compute plus 32 GB storage, at $0 while within the free amounts, with no time limit (monthly recurring allowance). 100,000 vCore-sec ≈ 3.33 vCore-hours/day: a continuously running 1-vCore database ≈ 27.8 hrs/month; a 4-vCore database ≈ 6.9 hrs/month. Verified 2026-10-22 on the official /free/ page and the student-offer page; the dedicated SQL serverless pricing-details URL now 404s (Azure has reorganized pricing URLs).

Eligibility

All new and existing Azure customers (free account, student account, or pay-as-you-go); no credit card needed to stay inside the free amounts (signing up for an Azure account may still require a payment method unless using the no-CC student route). Not available in sovereign-cloud regions (US Government, Azure China, Azure Germany).

How to claim

1) Create an Azure account (free, student, or PAYG). 2) Deploy an Azure SQL database with serverless compute. 3) Stay within 100,000 vCore-seconds/month and 32 GB storage; compute auto-stops idle. No separate enrollment needed.

Expiry

No expiry — the free allowance recurs monthly for the life of the account (student accounts renew yearly while enrolled).

Gotchas

Compute beyond 100,000 vCore-sec/month and storage beyond 32 GB bill at PAYG rates; backups beyond included storage bill; data persists while compute auto-stops, but the DB is not 'free' if you exceed allowances. Not the old provisioned F0 'free' SKU — that SKU was retired in favor of this serverless allowance.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure Cosmos DB — 'Free forever' tier high confidence

1,000 RU/s provisioned throughput plus 25 GB storage per month at $0 while within free amounts, no time limit. Official pricing page (read 2026-10-22): 'New accounts are eligible to receive 1,000 request units per second (RU/s) throughput and 25 GBs storage per month with Azure Cosmos DB free tier.' Applies to the RU-based APIs: NoSQL, MongoDB (RU), Cassandra, Gremlin, and Table. Autoscale minimum is 1,000 RU/s (scales 100–1,000 hourly).

Eligibility

All Azure customers (listed on the official page as a free-forever service; pricing page phrases it as 'new accounts'); no credit card needed to stay inside the free amounts; sovereign-cloud regions excluded.

How to claim

1) Create an Azure account. 2) Create a Cosmos DB account on an RU-based API (NoSQL/MongoDB/Cassandra/Gremlin/Table). 3) Provision 1,000 RU/s and keep storage ≤ 25 GB.

Expiry

No expiry — recurring monthly allowance for the life of the account.

Gotchas

Throughput above 1,000 RU/s, storage above 25 GB, data egress, and overage requests bill at PAYG rates; no separate 12-month Cosmos serverless allowance (400,000 RU + 32 GB) appears on the current pricing page — the live free tier is the provisioned 1,000 RU/s + 25 GB one. Staying on standard provisioned 1,000 RU/s is the safest configuration to remain inside free amounts.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure free account — $200 credit (30 days) + 12-month free services high confidence

$200 credit usable on Azure services within 30 days of account creation, plus 12 months of free allowances on 20+ services (first-usage amounts). 12-month database/data allowances include: Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server 750 hrs B1MS + 32 GB storage + 32 GB backup; MySQL Flexible Server 750 hrs B1MS + 32 GB + 32 GB backup; Azure SQL Managed Instance 720 vCore-hours of a 4- or 8-vCore General Purpose instance incl. 64 GB data + 64 GB backup; Azure Container Registry 1 Standard registry with 100 GB. If you convert to PAYG early, remaining credit stays available for the full 30 days from creation.

Eligibility

New Azure customers only (one free-account offer per new customer). Phone number plus a non-prepaid credit/debit card required at sign-up; only credit cards accepted in Hong Kong and Brazil. Sign-in with Microsoft or GitHub account. Sovereign-cloud products excluded (US Government, China, Germany).

How to claim

1) Sign up at azure.com/free with a Microsoft or GitHub account. 2) Provide phone + non-prepaid card (a temporary ~$1 authorization may be placed and reversed). 3) Choose the 'free account' (not pay-as-you-go) option at sign-up so the $200 + 12-month allowances attach.

Expiry

Credit expires 30 days from account creation; 12-month allowances end 12 months from creation. Account then automatically converts to pay-as-you-go (card on file), or services are disabled if you don't add payment.

Gotchas

This is a trial, not a free tier: after 30 days or when $200 is spent, all usage bills at PAYG. Credit cannot be applied to Azure Marketplace offers, Azure Spot VMs, or combined with Hybrid Benefit. Data/egress beyond free amounts bill even during the 12-month window. 12-month VM allowance: 750 hours each of B1s, B2pts v2 (ARM) and B2ats v2 (AMD) burstable VMs.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure managed databases 12-month free quotas (PostgreSQL/MySQL Flexible Server, SQL Managed Instance) high confidence

The 12-month free quotas, available on both the new-customer free account and the student offer: Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server — 750 hours/month of Burstable B1MS instance + 32 GB storage + 32 GB backup storage; Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server — identical (750 hrs B1MS + 32 GB + 32 GB backup); Azure SQL Managed Instance — 720 vCore-hours/month of a 4-vCore or 8-vCore General Purpose instance, incl. 64 GB data storage and 64 GB backup storage. 750 hours ≈ one continuously running small server. (Azure SQL serverless 'free forever' is a separate, perpetual allowance — see its own finding.)

Eligibility

New-customer free accounts and Azure for Students accounts; one account per person for students; sovereign-cloud regions excluded; PostgreSQL/MySQL Flexible Server B1MS is only offered in select regions (region availability varies).

How to claim

1) Create an eligible free or student account. 2) Deploy PostgreSQL or MySQL Flexible Server on B1MS (or SQL Managed Instance on 4/8-vCore General Purpose). 3) Monitor meters in the Azure portal so usage stays within 750 hrs / 720 vCore-hours and the included storage each month.

Expiry

12 months from account creation; student accounts renew annually while still a full-time student; then PAYG pricing applies.

Gotchas

Monthly quotas do not roll over; any hour/vCore-hour or GB beyond the allowance bills at PAYG rates immediately; backups beyond included 32/64 GB bill; there is no 12-month free allowance for managed instances of MySQL/PostgreSQL (only Flexible Server / the listed SKUs).

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure for Students — $100 credit + 12-month free services + always-free (no credit card) high confidence

Verified 2026-10-22 on the official student-offer page: $100 credit usable on most Azure products within 12 months (not $200 — the $200 figure is the general new-customer trial) + free monthly amounts on 20+ popular services for 12 months (including the PostgreSQL/MySQL B1MS and SQL Managed Instance quotas above) + always-free services (SQL serverless 100,000 vCore-sec/month + 32 GB; Cosmos DB 1,000 RU/s + 25 GB; Azure DevOps 5 users; Functions 1M requests; App Service; AKS management; AI Search 50 MB; and more) + free developer tools via the Azure Education Hub (Visual Studio Community, SQL Server, Windows Server). No credit card required; one account per person.

Eligibility

Full-time university students only. A school email is the gate: 'Use your school email to sign up and renew yearly while you're a student.' The page documents no alternate Microsoft Learn enrollment route and no credit card required. New Azure customers; accounts are 'new Azure customers only' for the 12-month monthly amounts.

How to claim

1) Sign up at azure.com/free/students using your school email (no payment method). 2) Receive the $100 credit (12-month validity) and the 12-month free monthly amounts. 3) Renew the subscription annually with your school email while enrolled; free-forever items continue without renewal.

Expiry

Credit: 12 months. 12-month service allowances: 12 months, then annual renewal required while a full-time student (renew by email prompt; otherwise subscription and products are disabled). Always-free services: no expiry. One account per person.

Gotchas

Credit cannot be applied to Azure Marketplace offers; after the 12-month window or on renewal lapse, moving to PAYG requires adding a payment method or the subscription is disabled; students who graduate or leave full-time status lose renewal eligibility. Note the $100 student credit is distinct from the $200 new-customer trial credit — an existing free-account holder is not a 'new' customer.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

GitHub Student Developer Pack — Azure benefits (secondary claim route) high confidence

Verified 2026-10-22 on the official GitHub Education page: for verified students 18+, the pack includes 'Free access to 25+ Microsoft Azure cloud services plus $100 in Azure credit' (no credit card). For students aged 13–17, a separate 'Microsoft Azure (for ages 13-17)' benefit gives named free services instead of a monetary credit: Azure App Service, Azure Functions, Notification Hubs, MySQL database (in-app), Application Insights, and Azure DevOps. Claiming the benefit provisions the equivalent of an Azure student account.

Eligibility

A free GitHub account plus GitHub student verification (18+ tier for the $100 credit; 13–17 tier gets restricted free services, no credit). No credit card required per the GitHub page. GitHub's verification can accept school-issued credentials, so it is a practical route for students whose school lacks a verifiable .edu address.

How to claim

1) Sign up for the GitHub Student Developer Pack at education.github.com/pack. 2) Complete GitHub's student verification. 3) Redeem the Azure benefit, which creates the Azure student account with the $100 credit and 12-month free services.

Expiry

GitHub's page prints no expiry window; the $100 Azure credit mirrors the Azure for Students offer (usable within 12 months).

Gotchas

The 13–17 tier has no monetary credit; the $100/25+ services benefit is for 18+. Exact credit expiry and 12-month allowance terms live in the resulting Azure account, not on GitHub's page.

Source

education.github.com

Microsoft for Startups (Founders Hub) — up to $150,000 Azure credits medium confidence

The official Microsoft for Startups page (read 2026-10-22) states startups get 'up to $150,000 in credits' that 'can be applied across eligible Azure services to support your startup from early development through production workloads,' plus M365 licenses, GitHub Enterprise access, and co-sell support via the Microsoft network. The program now runs through the 'Founders Hub' portal with tiered Azure credits: an entry tier requiring no VC/accelerator referral (historically ~$1,500 Azure credits), intermediate tiers (community reports of ~$25,000), and a 'Scale' level unlocking $150,000, typically investor-referred (investor network: Y Combinator, Techstars, 500 Global, MassChallenge, Plug and Play, Seedcamp, Antler, Founder Institute, and others).

Eligibility

Private, software-based startups in program-available markets. Community/third-party reports (not republished on the pages fetched today) put the classic thresholds at less than 5 years since founding and less than ~$30M raised; entry tiers are open without a VC referral, higher tiers require referral from the investor network. Tiers advance via an automated 'engagement score' (e.g., consuming ~50% of the current tier's credits and using a mix of services).

How to claim

1) Apply at microsoft.com/en-us/startups via 'Get started now' into the Founders Hub portal (sign in with Microsoft account). 2) Complete the application: company name/website, industry, stage (pre-seed/seed/Series A+), product description. 3) Review takes days to weeks; grants appear in the Founders Hub portal, where 'Level Up' requests to the $150k tier are also submitted.

Expiry

Credits are granted per tier with tier-specific expiry windows (typically 6–12 months per tier; not stated on the official page fetched today). Extensions are generally not granted; the stated path is leveling up to the next tier.

Gotchas

Headline 'up to $150,000' is from the official page today; the specific tier dollar amounts ($1,500 entry, ~$25,000 mid, $150,000 scale) and the age/funding caps come from third-party/community sources, so treat them as medium/low confidence. Credits do not apply to Azure Marketplace offers; the program is a customer-acquisition channel, so post-credit consumption is what Microsoft monetizes; co-sell/transaction fees (3% new / 1.5% renewal) attach to the co-sell program, not to credits.

Source

microsoft.com

Azure free account: $200 credit, 30 days high confidence

New Azure customers get $200 credit usable for 30 days (or until credit is exhausted), plus the 12-month free service amounts and 65+ always-free services on top. After 30 days / credit exhaustion the account and services are DISABLED (not auto-converted); you must move to pay-as-you-go to continue. Unused credit stays available for the full 30 days from creation. Credit cannot be applied to Azure Marketplace offers or Azure Spot VMs. Sovereign cloud products in US Government, Azure China, and Azure Germany are excluded. No $100 12-month credit is listed on the current pages — the standard trial is $200/30 days only.

Eligibility

New Azure customers only (one free account per new customer). Requires phone number, a credit or debit card (non-prepaid), and a Microsoft or GitHub account. A temporary ~$1 authorization is placed on the card and reversed on verification; the card is not otherwise charged. Only credit cards accepted in Hong Kong and Brazil. Offer unavailable in countries not on Microsoft's list; 'If your country is not listed, the offer is not available in your region.'

How to claim

Sign up at azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free → verify phone + card (temporary $1 hold) → $200 credit active for 30 days → within 30 days move to pay-as-you-go (portal: Subscriptions → Upgrade subscription) to keep the 12-month free amounts; otherwise services are disabled at day 30.

Expiry

Credit: 30 days from account creation (unused credit lost). Free service amounts: 12 months after sign-up for the trial account. Renewal: none — after 12 months, used services bill at PAYG rates.

Gotchas

VPS angle: the 12-month free VM allowance covers B1s, B2pts v2 (ARM) and B2ats v2 (AMD) burstable VMs only — 750 hours each per month. That is roughly 24h/day for one VM; larger/Standard VMs are NOT covered. Data transfer/egress beyond free allowances and storage beyond free quotas bill at PAYG rates even in the trial. Account is disabled (not billed) if you do nothing — but resources are inaccessible until upgrade.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

12-month free service amounts (new customers) high confidence

Free monthly amounts of 20+ popular services for 12 months: VMs 750 hours/month each of B1s, B2pts v2 (ARM-based), B2ats v2 (AMD-based) burstable VMs; Azure Container Registry: 1 Standard registry, 100 GB storage, 10 webhooks; PostgreSQL Flexible Server: 750 hours Burstable B1MS + 32 GB storage + 32 GB backup; MySQL Flexible Server: same 750 hours B1MS + 32 GB + 32 GB; Azure SQL Managed Instance: 720 vCore hours of 4 or 8 vCore General Purpose (64 GB data + 64 GB backup); Azure Vision (Foundry Tools): 5,000 transactions per S1/S2/S3 tier. Can be consumed in any region where the service is available and split across instances (e.g. 5 VMs × 150 h). Services in use after 12 months continue running and bill at PAYG.

Eligibility

New Azure customers only — 'not previously had an Azure account or received 12 months of free services.' NOT currently available to customers who sign up directly for pay-as-you-go in China and India. Trial signups must move to pay-as-you-go within 30 days to keep receiving them.

How to claim

No separate claim — included automatically when creating any Azure account (free trial or PAYG, new customer). Create resources via the 'Free services' page in the Azure portal with free tiers selected to avoid accidental billing.

Expiry

12 months from account creation; unused monthly amounts do not roll over; after 12 months everything in use bills at PAYG rates. No renewal.

Gotchas

For a free VPS: 750 h/month is the total shared across B1s/B2pts v2/B2ats v2 — a single always-on B1s VM works for ~12 months, but nothing above B-series burstable is free. 'Always-free' services (65+) do NOT include VMs, so a pure PAYG account beyond 12 months has no free compute; only the free service tiers listed remain. Egress/storage beyond free quotas bill.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Always-free services (65+, all accounts) high confidence

Permanent free monthly amounts for every Azure account: App Service (10 web/API apps, 1 GB storage, 1 hour/day compute), Functions (1 million requests), Container Apps (180,000 vCPU-s, 360,000 GiB-s, 2M requests), Static Web Apps (0.5 GB/app, 100 GB bandwidth/subscription), AKS cluster management (nodes bill), Cosmos DB (1,000 RU/s + 25 GB), Azure SQL serverless (100,000 vCore-s + 32 GB/month), DocumentDB (32 GB cluster), Azure Data Factory (5 low-frequency activities), API Management Consumption (1M calls/month), Logic Apps Consumption (4,000 actions), Notification Hubs (1M pushes), IoT Hub (8,000 msgs/day), AI/Foundry services (Speech 0.5M chars, Translator 2M chars, Document Intelligence 500 pages S0, AI Search 50 MB/10k docs/3 indexes, Vision/Content Safety tiers), Azure DevOps (5 users), Azure Machine Learning (free, egress may apply), plus free/unlimited management services (Monitor control plane, Arc, Advisor, Migrate, Cost Management, Lighthouse, etc.).

Eligibility

All Azure customers, no verification beyond having an account; no credit card needed if usage stays within free amounts.

How to claim

Automatic with any Azure account; create resources on the free tiers. This is the realistic 'always-free tier' for lightweight workloads (serverless/PaaS) — but NOT for VPS: no free VM tier exists in the always-free set.

Expiry

No expiry while the account exists; monthly allowances reset each month. Cloud Shell's 5 GB free storage in Azure Files lasts 12 months only.

Gotchas

App Service '1 hour per day' makes it usable as a very small always-on worker but it's not a VM. Egress, premium storage and anything above free tier limits bill. AKS is 'free' only for cluster management — node VMs bill.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure for Students: $100 credit, 12 months, renewable yearly high confidence

$100 in Azure credit usable within 12 months, plus 20+ 12-month free service amounts and 65+ always-free services; includes Azure OpenAI/Foundry access and free dev-tool downloads via the Azure Education Hub (Visual Studio, SQL Server, Windows Server, etc.). Unused credit cannot carry over between months/subscriptions. If the $100 runs out early the subscription is disabled; you get a 90-day window after the free period to upgrade to PAYG, otherwise products are decommissioned. One subscription per person, non-transferable, cannot combine with other offers. Not available for MOOCs or for-profit training. Credit cannot be applied to Azure Marketplace offers.

Eligibility

Full-time students at an accredited, degree-granting two-year or four-year institution; must be 18+; verified through the institution's email (school/.edu address). No credit card required at sign-up. Limited supply — available while supplies last; Microsoft may terminate the offer at its discretion.

How to claim

Sign up at azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/students with your school email (no card) → $100 credit + free tiers active → renew annually while still a student by re-verifying with the school email (reminder emails ~30 days before anniversary). Track remaining credit in the Azure Sponsorships portal.

Expiry

Credit valid 12 months from sign-up (whichever first, credit or time, disables the subscription). Renewable each year while a student — renewal grants a fresh $100; unused credit does not carry over.

Gotchas

The 12-month VM allowance here is the same B1s/B2pts v2/B2ats v2 750 h/month — fine for a small always-on VPS, but only burstable tiers. A Microsoft Q&A thread confirms $100 exhaustion disables the subscription (in markets where the credit converts to local-currency spend, e.g. ~₹8,500 in India). Student accounts are for education/non-commercial use; production commercial workloads violate terms. No .edu email → ineligible (use Students Starter or the standard trial instead).

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure for Students Starter (no-credit-card, no-$100 tier) medium confidence

A second education offer: 'Azure for Students Starter' — academic email verification, no credit card, access to selected free Azure services (e.g. App Service free tiers) without the $100 credit. It is the fallback for academic users not eligible for the full Azure for Students offer; from a Starter account you can upgrade to an Azure free account (getting $200 credit + 12-month free services) if eligible, or to pay-as-you-go.

Eligibility

Academic users with a verifiable school email who do not qualify for the full Azure for Students offer (full-time student of an accredited institution); no credit card required. Country coverage follows where Azure is commercially available.

How to claim

Sign up at azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/students (Start free) choosing the Starter variant; verify school email; no card. Upgrade via Azure portal → Subscriptions → Upgrade when ready.

Expiry

Free service amounts run while the subscription is active (12 months for the new-customer amounts). No stated credit because there is no credit pool.

Gotchas

Exact per-service Starter allowances are not itemized on the current /free/students page (Microsoft's academic content describes it as 'use select Azure products like App Services for free') — treat specific limits as unconfirmed. Not a substitute for the $100 credit; best used as a path to the standard free account ($200/30 days).

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure for Startups (self-service credit offer, up to $5,000) high confidence

The self-service startup credit offer (open track of the two-track system introduced July 1, 2025): $1,000 in Azure credits instantly, no application required, valid 90 days; up to $4,000 more (total $5,000) unlocked after business verification, valid 180 days. Full Azure catalog access up to credit limits; after expiry/usage the account moves to pay-as-you-go. No dedicated support — self-serve.

Eligibility

Startups that are NEW to Azure (new Azure customers only). Business verification = confirmation the startup is a registered legal entity. A credit card is required only for identity verification and for usage beyond the credits.

How to claim

No application: create an Azure account under the Azure for Startups offer (linked from azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/students and microsoft.com/startups) → $1,000 credit active for 90 days → complete business verification → additional up to $4,000 for 180 days.

Expiry

Initial $1,000: 90 days. Post-verification $4,000: 180 days. Then PAYG. No renewal; cannot combine with other offers unless Microsoft permits.

Gotchas

This is the post-July-2025 self-service track — it replaced the old unfunded-startup tiers (former L1-L4 up to $150k). Note the marketing card says $1,000 instant, while the Microsoft for Startups program application (separate, see other finding) starts at $200 — they are different entry points.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Microsoft for Startups program: milestone credits up to $150,000 (2026 structure) high confidence

Current (2026) milestone structure from the official getting-started doc (updated 2026-08-05): apply at startups.microsoft.com → M1 $200 (sign up + personal-LINKEDIN identity verification, no business accounts), M2 $5,000 (business verification — registered legal entity), M3 $25,000 (5+ Azure workloads active ~60 days), M4 $50,000 (7+ workloads ~60 days), M5 $150,000 (10+ workloads + ~$3,000/month Azure usage sustained ~60 days). Milestones can be skipped; at $25K you get a one-time two-year credit-use extension. Workload = a distinct actively-used Azure service (VMs, AI models, databases, hosting). Investor-network track (introduced July 2025): startups referred by an affiliated investor/accelerator/university start at $100,000 with dedicated support. Pegasus (invitation-only CSM support) continues unchanged.

Eligibility

Startups applying through the program; no publicly stated startup-age or funding cap in the current 2026 docs (the older program required companies founded <2 years — that explicit criterion is not on the current page). Personal LinkedIn at M1; registered legal entity for M2.

How to claim

Go to startups.microsoft.com (or microsoft.com/startups) → Get started → submit application → starter credits available during review (~3 business days) → business verification → grow workloads to unlock higher tiers; credits managed in the Microsoft for Startups portal in the Azure portal (primary experience for those who joined after May 29, 2026).

Expiry

2-year use window at the $25K milestone (one-time extension). Higher-tier availability requires sustained ~$3,000/month usage for 60 days — credits subsidize, not replace, that spend. No stated hard expiry for the top tier.

Gotchas

Every workload must stay above $1 spend for the full 60-day window or the count resets. 'Up to $150k' effectively requires ~$3k/month real spend across 10+ services — it is not free infrastructure for a small VPS. GPU availability has been reported as chronically constrained by participants. Program rules have changed 3 times since 2025 (see sunset notes) — re-verify before planning.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Azure for Nonprofits: $2,000 grant annually medium confidence

Registered nonprofits receive a $2,000 Azure grant annually, plus broader Dynamics 365 / Microsoft 365 grants and discounts. Amount confirmed on the Azure offers page and the Azure free account offer-terms page read today ('a $2,000 Azure grant annually'); deeper eligibility is mediated through Microsoft's tech-for-social-impact program (TechSoup partnership).

Eligibility

501(c)(3)-equivalent registered nonprofit organizations; individuals not eligible; organizational verification required.

How to claim

Apply through Microsoft's nonprofit program (microsoft.com/en-us/nonprofits / Tech for Social Impact portal); upon approval the $2,000 Azure grant is credited and can renew each year while the organization stays eligible.

Expiry

Annual grant; renews yearly. Not a trial — it is a recurring sponsorship.

Gotchas

Not relevant for personal VPS use; listed because it is a distinct standing free/low-cost offer on the Azure side. Grant mechanics (channel, exact process) are confirmed at headline level only.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure Accelerate (free migration credits for existing customers) low confidence

Azure Accelerate offers free Azure credits 'to help offset migration costs and fuel your cloud transformation and AI journey,' with expert access. It is a program for existing/migrating customers rather than a sign-up free offer for new accounts; the offers page does not publish a fixed credit amount today.

Eligibility

Organizations migrating to Azure; qualification-based (no published dollar figure on the offers page read today).

How to claim

Contact Microsoft / apply via the Azure Accelerate page; credits allocated case-by-case.

Expiry

Not stated on the offers page.

Gotchas

Treat as supplementary/uncertain — no concrete amount verified today; useful only for migration scenarios, not for a free VPS.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Low confidence: verify before claiming.

Azure DevOps Basic plan (free tier, perpetual) high confidence

All facts read from https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/devops/ today. 'Stakeholders (Free)' tier: free read-only participants. 'Basic' plan: first 5 users free, then $6/user/month; 1 Microsoft-hosted CI/CD parallel job with 1,800 build minutes/month; 1 self-hosted parallel job with unlimited minutes; extra Microsoft-hosted parallel job $40/month; extra self-hosted parallel job $15/month (unlimited minutes); Azure Artifacts 2 GiB free per org, then $2/GiB (2-10), $1/GiB (10-100), $0.50/GiB (100-1k), $0.25/GiB (1k+); unlimited private Git repos; Azure Boards work-item tracking and Kanban included. 'Basic + Test plans' is $52/user/month with a 30-day free trial (adds test planning/tracking/execution, browser tests, UAT, centralized reporting). Visual Studio subscribers get free Azure DevOps access and don't count against the 5 free users; Azure DevOps Basic is included in GitHub Enterprise; 'Basic' also carries a 'free offer' from Individual Services.

Eligibility

Anyone; no credit card required for the Basic plan; per-org free allowance. Region: no restriction stated on the pricing page.

How to claim

Create an Azure/Microsoft account, go to dev.azure.com, create an organization: first 5 users + 1 MS-hosted job (1,800 min/mo) + 2GB artifacts activate automatically; buy extra users/jobs as needed. For Test plans, start the 30-day trial then $52/user/mo.

Expiry

No expiry; the Basic free allowance is perpetual and build minutes reset monthly. Paid Test-plan trial expires after 30 days.

Gotchas

1,800 MS-hosted minutes do not roll over monthly; the free 2GB artifact cap is per organization; extra MS-hosted parallel jobs are $40/month (big jump); Basic + Test plans is $52/user/month after the 30-day trial; as of 2025-2026 the page adds GitHub-hosted Mac agents (per-minute, no parallel job) and 'GitHub AI Credits for Azure DevOps' (Copilot autofix, code review) billed per credit; 99.9% SLA applies to paid users only.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure Free Account trial (new-customer credits + 12-month free services) high confidence

Read from https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/ today: $200 credit usable within 30 days for new customers, PLUS free monthly amounts of 20+ popular services for 12 months (e.g., 750 hours each of B1s, B2pts v2 (Arm) and B2ats v2 (AMD) VMs; 750 hours PostgreSQL/MySQL Flexible Server B1MS with 32 GB storage; Standard Container Registry 100 GB + 10 webhooks; 720 vCore-hours SQL Managed Instance), PLUS 65+ always-free services (Azure Functions 1M requests/mo; Cosmos DB 1,000 RU/s provisioned + 25 GB; AKS cluster management free; Azure SQL 100,000 vCore-seconds + 32 GB serverless). This credit/always-free coverage spans Azure consumption services including Azure Pipelines/DevOps compute beyond the free 1,800-min Basic allowance.

Eligibility

New Azure customers only; limit of one free-services+$200-credit account per customer. Requires a phone number and a credit or non-prepaid debit card plus a Microsoft or GitHub account. Not available for sovereign clouds (US Government, Azure China, Azure Germany).

How to claim

Sign up at azure.com/free with a Microsoft/GitHub account, pass phone verification, add a card (a temporary $1 authorization may appear and is reversed), then the $200 credit and free monthly service amounts are active; spend the credit on any eligible Azure service.

Expiry

$200 credit expires 30 days after signup; 12-month free amounts end after 12 months; then pay-as-you-go (no fee to keep the account; cancel anytime).

Gotchas

Credit card IS required (contrast with the student offer); account auto-converts to pay-as-you-go after credit expiry — any unused credit is lost; 65+ always-free services have per-service monthly caps (excess is billed); sovereign-cloud regions excluded; this is a trial-credit offer, not a perpetual free tier.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure for Students — $100 credit + education dev-tools licenses (Azure Dev Tools for Teaching) high confidence

Read from https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/students/ today: $100 Azure credit usable within 12 months for new Azure customers, plus 12 months of free monthly amounts of 20+ services and 65+ always-free services (free Azure DevOps for 5 users with unlimited private Git repos is in the always-free list). Bundled education licenses via the Azure Dev Tools for Teaching program, downloaded from the 'Azure Education Hub': Visual Studio (Agents, Code, Community, for Mac), SQL Server Developer and Standard, Windows Server, Visio Professional, Azure DevOps Server, R Client/R Server, Remote Tools for VS, System Center, Skype for Business Server. Also free student access to Azure OpenAI, Microsoft Foundry, AI Search, Content Safety, and 1,700+ foundation models.

Eligibility

Full-time university students only. Verification is via your school email (no separate .edu gate stated — school email is the eligibility check; out-of-school users are not covered). No credit card required. One account per person.

How to claim

Sign up at azure.com/free/students using your school email (no card), verify, then the $100 credit + 12-month free amounts activate; download the dev-tools bundle from the Azure Education Hub in the portal.

Expiry

$100 credit valid 12 months; 12-month free amounts end at 12 months. Students can 'renew your subscription annually and continue to get free access to Azure as long as you're a student' (credit/renewal via school email while enrolled). After credit exhaustion, email notice and choice of pay-as-you-go (keeping free monthly tiers) or disable.

Gotchas

The $100 credit CANNOT be applied to Azure Marketplace offers; dev-tools bundle licenses are NFR (no redistribution); per the VS credit-eligibility doc, the 'Visual Studio Enterprise - Azure Dev Tools for Teaching' license does NOT carry a monthly Azure credit ($150/mo credits are for paid VS Enterprise; VS Community and VS Code are free to everyone anyway); some services/regions may still be unavailable depending on where Azure offers are commercial.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Microsoft for Startups — up to $150,000 startup credits (single-entry, milestone-based, as of 2026) high confidence

Read from current official Learn docs (updated 2026-08-05 and 2026-10-09): single entry point at startups.microsoft.com. On signup you get $200 in 'Startup credits' immediately (investor-referral path: $1,000 immediately); then automatic milestone unlocks up to $150,000: Milestone 1 $200 = Azure signup + personal-Linkekin identity verify; M2 $5,000 = business verification (registered legal entity); M3 $25,000 = 5+ distinct Azure workloads in active use over ~60 days; M4 $50,000 = 7+ workloads ~60 days; M5 $150,000 = 10+ workloads plus ~$3,000/month Azure usage sustained ~60 days. The 60-day clock requires every counted workload to stay above $1 spend for all 60 days; milestones can be skipped (qualify directly for higher tiers). At the $25K milestone you get a one-time two-year extension to use your credits. Investor Network (VC/accelerator/university) 10-character referral codes unlock higher-tier benefits earlier and expanded/third-party perks. Credits cover eligible Azure consumption (incl. AKS and eligible Microsoft Foundry model usage); GitHub usage not covered out of the box. Other benefits: Azure AI/Foundry access, Microsoft Marketplace co-sell, dedicated program support; review within ~3 business days.

Eligibility

Early-stage B2B software/AI/tech startups: pre-seed through Series B funding; NOT Series C or later; privately held, for-profit; own your software (not licensed-in); HQ in a country/region where the program operates; fewer than $350,000 lifetime free Azure credits received; excluded: educational institutions, government, consultancies/agencies/dev shops, crypto mining. Applicant needs a personal consumer Microsoft account with no prior Azure account, personal (non-school/work-domain) email, phone, LinkedIn (personal account, identity verify), and payment/credit card info at Azure account creation (credit card IS required for the sponsored subscription).

How to claim

Go to startups.microsoft.com (or the www.microsoft.com/en-us/startups landing 'Get started now'); sign in with a personal MS account; optionally enter your investor's 10-character referral code; complete the 3-step Azure account creation (profile/address/payment) to unlock $200 (or $1,000 on the investor path); application review ~3 business days; credits activate in the portal.

Expiry

Credits have program-defined durations (one-time 2-year extension at the $25K milestone); the sponsored subscription auto-converts to pay-as-you-go when credits are exhausted or expire. Existing activated credits from the old 2025 programs remained valid until they expired after the 2025-07-01 change.

Gotchas

Workload-count trap: any of the 5/7/10 workloads dropping below $1/month spend during the 60-day window resets that milestone; $150K requires ~$3K/month real spend anyway; lifetime $350K free-credit cap blocks repeat users; credits don't cover Marketplace, support plans, or GitHub (needs Azure linked as GitHub payment method); country/region chosen at signup can't be changed later and some countries are ineligible; personal email only — school/company domains rejected; LinkedIn personal account required (no business accounts).

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Azure Free Account — $200 credit for 30 days + 12-month free services (B1S / B2pts v2 / B2ats v2, 750 hrs/month) high confidence

Confirmed today on official pages: $200 credit (in your billing currency) usable for 30 days on any Azure service except third-party Marketplace purchases. From signup up to 12 months: free monthly amounts of ~25+ services, including 750 hours/month EACH of the three free burstable VM SKUs — B1S, B2pts v2 (ARM-based), B2ats v2 (AMD-based), Linux or Windows. 750 hours can be split across instances (e.g. 5 VMs x 150h) and created in any region where B-series is available. After day 30 only the free-limited services remain free; unused $200 credit is lost at day 30 unless you upgrade to pay-as-you-go before 30 days (then credit stays usable for the full 30-day window). Must move to pay-as-you-go within 30 days or account/services are disabled. 12-month offer is new-customers-only (never had an Azure account / 12-month benefits before) and NOT available to customers who sign up directly for pay-as-you-go in China and India.

Eligibility

New Azure customers. Credit card or debit card (non-prepaid) + phone number REQUIRED at signup ($1 temporary auth hold, reversed; credit cards only in HK and Brazil). No .edu needed. Not available to existing PAYG signups in China/India for the 12-month benefit.

How to claim

1) Sign up at azure.microsoft.com for 'Azure Free Account' with phone + card. 2) In portal, use the 'Free services' page (go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=859151) so free tiers are preselected. 3) Create resources within 750h/month VM limits; convert to pay-as-you-go before day 30 to keep the 12-month free tier.

Expiry

Credit: 30 days from account creation (lost if unused unless early PAYG upgrade). Free services: 12 months from account creation, then services decommission/subscription disabled; no renewal of the trial itself.

Gotchas

Credit card IS required (unlike student offers). Free VM hours exclude egress over free bandwidth, public IP and disk charges — classic surprise-bill source. Don't create resources outside the 'Free services' page: free tiers are not default-selected elsewhere, you get billed. After day 30 without PAYG upgrade the whole account is disabled; resuming requires PAYG. HK/Brazil prepaid cards rejected.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

65+ always-free Azure services (incl. notebook/ML-adjacent: Synapse Spark, Databricks, AI/ML categories) medium confidence

The free-services overview page (read today) states '65+ always-free services with an Azure account' with 'free monthly amounts... for as long as you have an Azure account', spanning AI/ML, compute, databases, IoT, management. The per-service limit tables on that page are JS-rendered and could not be extracted today, so the specific figures below are the long-standing published limits, unconfirmed in today's fetch: Azure Synapse Spark SQL pool DW1000c 250 hrs/month, Azure Databricks 32 SQL DBU/month, Data Factory 5,000 slicing units/month, App Service 1 shared instance + 60k req/day, Functions 1M req + 400k GB-s, Storage 5 GB LRS + 5 GB premium, Cosmos DB 500 RU/s + 400 GB, 100 GB egress/month, App Insights 5 MB ingest/day. Always-free is available with ANY account, including pay-as-you-go accounts — you do not need the trial.

Eligibility

Any Azure account (free or paid); no card required to exist, but creating resources needs a valid billing profile. No student/startup status needed.

How to claim

Sign up for any Azure account; create services via the 'Free services' page in portal selecting the free tier. No separate application.

Expiry

Indefinite — free monthly amounts continue for life of account; amounts reset monthly; exceeding limits triggers PAYG billing.

Gotchas

Trial-vs-free confusion: the 12-month tier is a separate, larger allotment that expires at 12 months; the always-free tier persists. Free Spark/Databricks limits are small — fine for notebook experiments, not sustained GPU/ML training. Outbound data and data at rest beyond free storage bill separately. Per-service figures above were not re-verifiable today (JS-rendered table), treat exact numbers as medium-confidence until checked at azure.microsoft.com/pricing/free-services in a browser.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Free GPU / ML-training & notebooks compute: what actually exists medium confidence

Azure has NO free-tier GPU VMs and no free Azure Machine Learning compute in the free account. The only free paths for GPU/ML work: (1) the $200 trial credit (30 days) can buy any compute incl. GPU VMs (e.g. NC/NV/A-series) — a few hours of a mid GPU VM is typical of what $200 buys, exact durations vary by SKU/region; (2) always-free notebooks/data engines: Synapse Spark SQL DW1000c 250 hrs/month and Databricks 32 SQL DBU/month (medium confidence, see above) — CPU-based, not GPU; (3) 750 hrs/month B-series burstable VMs for light CPU training/inference. For sustained GPU/ML training the realistic free routes are the startup credits (up to $150K, finding 8) or Azure Spot/standard pricing — there is no recurring free GPU offering at Azure as of 2026-10-22.

Eligibility

Same as each underlying offer: new customers for the $200 credit; any account for always-free Spark/Databricks.

How to claim

Use the $200 credit within 30 days on GPU VMs; enable always-free Spark/Databricks via the 'Free services' page in the portal.

Expiry

Credit: 30 days. Spark/Databricks free amounts: monthly, indefinite.

Gotchas

GPU hours under the credit are finite and CPU-free tiers can't replace them; egress and managed-disk I/O billed; Databricks free DBUs cover SQL warehouse only, not full DBU workspace runs; don't confuse trial (30d) with always-free.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Azure for Students — $100 credit for 12 months, no credit card required high confidence

Confirmed today: $100 in Azure credits usable within the first 12 months (non-rollover), plus 'select free services' (FAQ states the offer includes 25+ free services incl. compute/network/storage/databases). Applies to most Azure products; NOT usable for: Azure support plans, Azure DevOps, Visual Studio subscriptions, App Center, Express Route, Marketplace items, separately licensed products (e.g. Entra ID Premium). No credit card at signup; subscription disabled if $100 exhausted (then upgrade to PAYG via support). One subscription per person, non-transferable, cannot combine offers. Renewable annually (Microsoft emails near the anniversary; re-signup). 140+ countries where Azure is commercially available; excludes US Government sovereign cloud and Azure Germany regions. Inactive >90 days: Microsoft may remove compute resources (with notice).

Eligibility

Age 18+, FULL-TIME student at an accredited degree-granting 2- or 4-year institution; verify via your organization's (school) email address — not strictly '.edu'; MOOCs and for-profit professional training excluded. (Faculty/teachers: not on this offer; see Dev Tools for Teaching instead.)

How to claim

1) Go to the 'Apply now' link on the offer page (go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2244463). 2) Register with school email to verify academic status. 3) No card needed. 4) Track remaining $100 in the Azure Sponsorships portal (microsoftazuresponsorships.com).

Expiry

Credit and free-service window: 12 months from signup; renew once more by re-signup if still a student. 90 days after free-subscription end to upgrade before products decommission.

Gotchas

If credit runs out, subscription disables — nothing kept running for free; you must upgrade to PAYG (which requires a payment method). Credits cannot buy Marketplace/DevOps/support. One sub per person — a second school email won't work around it. Not valid in US Gov/Germany regions.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure for Students Starter — free-tier services, no credit card, no time limit high confidence

Confirmed today (Learn FAQ, updated 2026-08-03): free tier of Azure App Service, Azure Functions, Azure Notification Hubs, Azure Database for MySQL, Application Insights, and Azure DevOps Services — no cost, no commitment, no time limit, and no credit card required. Upgrade to PAYG at any time to unlock all services.

Eligibility

Verified students: 13+ in the US, 16+ elsewhere; verify academic status via organization email or Shibboleth. MOOCs/for-profit training excluded. One subscription per person, non-transferable, no offer stacking.

How to claim

Sign up via the Azure Education Hub in the portal (aka.ms/azure4students / Education Hub > offers) with school email; no card.

Expiry

Indefinite while account exists; services capped at free-tier levels forever.

Gotchas

Very small service set (no VMs, no databases beyond MySQL free tier, no GPU/ML) — useful for always-on web/hosting, not training workloads. Free-tier tiers are the cheapest paid tiers, not full service; upgrading is required for real workloads.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Azure Academic Grant / Azure Sponsorship (course credits) — 100% discount for approved-course students medium confidence

Confirmed today (Learn FAQ): students enrolled in approved courses (e.g. via training partners) get 'Azure course credits' as a 100%-discount 'Azure Sponsorship' subscription: portal shows $0.00 charged, balance tracked in the Azure Sponsorships portal (microsoftazuresponsorships.com/balance). Credits cover usage only from activation; cannot pay prior balances; cannot cover Marketplace items; cannot attach to Enterprise Agreement or CSP subscriptions (creating association early terminates sponsorship funds). Course credits can be moved between accounts via support.

Eligibility

Students of approved courses/partners; verify with the sponsoring program; one activated 'Azure Sponsorship' offer (ms-azr-0143p) subscription.

How to claim

Activate the 100% discount button in the sponsorship approval email, or have support convert an existing subscription; associate course credits to the entitled account.

Expiry

Set by the course sponsorship period (varies by partner; not stated on the FAQ page).

Gotchas

Sponsorship + EA/CSP association kills the funds; Marketplace purchases still hit the card; $0 balance display is a discount, not a stored dollar balance.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Azure Dev Tools for Teaching — education license: free dev software, NO cloud credits high confidence

Confirmed today: academic institutions with a Microsoft Volume Licensing agreement (Education Solutions/Open Value/School Agreement) enroll via a promo code from the license welcome email and get free, unlimited (noncommercial) access to dev tools: Visual Studio Enterprise/Code/Community, SQL Server Developer & Standard, Windows Server, Windows 10/11 for Education, SharePoint/R Server, System Center, Visio Professional, Hyper-V, Azure DevOps Server; students download via the Education Hub Store with school credentials; faculty install on personal PCs. Explicitly does NOT include Azure credit (FAQ points students to Azure for Students for $100). Renewal: email reminders start 60 days before expiry; does not auto-renew; non-VL existing customers may still renew.

Eligibility

K-12/academic institutions under a Volume Licensing agreement; 140+ countries where Azure is commercially available; noncommercial educational use; students may not commercially sell products built with the tools (Windows Store apps excepted).

How to claim

Institution admin enrolls with the promo code from the VL welcome email at azureforeducation.microsoft.com; students/faculty then download via Education Hub Store or the VS portal.

Expiry

Subscription term per institution license; renews manually via admin.

Gotchas

Zero cloud/ML value — it's an on-prem/dev-tools license bundle; don't count it as free compute; no Office included.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Microsoft for Startups — base $1,000 (90 days) + $4,000 (180 days) Azure credits; up to $150,000 via investor referrals high confidence

Confirmed today on Learn (page dated 2026-05-21/22) and the marketing landing page: single-entry program at startups.microsoft.com. (a) No-referral 'Azure startup credit offer': $1,000 for 90 days, then an additional $4,000 for 180 days after business verification. (b) Investor offer (referral code from a partner in the Microsoft for Startups Investor Network — investor, accelerator, incubator, angel network, or similar): most startups begin with $100,000 in Azure credits with the opportunity to earn more; program 'unlocks up to $150K in Startup credits over time' as verified progress/adoption/sustained usage; landing page advertises 'up to $150,000 in credits'. Credits apply across eligible Azure services; NOT usable for support plans, Marketplace, or non-covered services; when exhausted, subscription auto-transitions to pay-as-you-go. Activation: must activate within 90 days of accepting the program agreement, or reapply; once activated, credits valid up to 2 years, no extensions; tied to one MSA + subscription (non-transferable). Dedicated MFS point of contact available for eligible startups; go-to-market/discounts on GitHub Enterprise, LinkedIn Premium Business, M365 Business Premium, VS Enterprise, Dynamics 365, Power Platform included in the investor offer. Applications reviewed in ~3 business days; declined applicants may reapply after 14 days.

Eligibility

Company: develops a software-based product/service it owns; privately held, for-profit; HQ in a country where Azure is available; NOT an educational institution/government/consultancy/agency; no cryptocurrency mining; has not raised Series C or later; has not received more than $350,000 in lifetime free Azure credits. No explicit company-age cap in the current criteria (the old 5-year age limit is gone from the current overview page). CC is required for credit activation (identity verification + transition to PAYG).

How to claim

1) Apply at startups.microsoft.com ('Get started'). 2) Optionally enter an Investor Network referral code for the $100K+ tier. 3) Wait ~3 business days for approval email. 4) Activate credits on the MSA used to apply (within 90 days) via the Azure portal; check under Cost Management + Billing > Payment methods.

Expiry

Base credits: $1,000 for 90 days, $4,000 for 180 days. Investor credits: up to 2 years from activation, no extensions. Program benefits scale/unlock over time.

Gotchas

Credit card required. Credits not transferable between MSAs/subscriptions. 'Already redeemed' conflicts with other Microsoft programs' credits. Billing profile country/region can't be changed later — use the right region before activation. Auto-transition to PAYG when credits run out = unexpected bills. Base no-referral offer is only $5K total, so most 'up to $150K' value depends on getting an Investor Network referral.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Microsoft for Startups — Startup credits, milestone-based (the current Founders Hub program) high confidence

Read today (ms.date 2026-05-27): a single program now replaces the old Founders Hub tier system. You enter at Milestone 1 = up to $200 in Startup credits immediately after signing up for Azure + identity verification via a PERSONAL LinkedIn account. Milestone 2 = $5,000 after business verification (registered legal entity). Milestone 3 = $25,000 (5+ distinct Azure workloads each >= $1 spend, held ~60 continuous days; one-time 2-year credit-usage extension granted at this milestone). Milestone 4 = $50,000 (7 workloads, ~60 days). Milestone 5 = $150,000 (10+ workloads AND ~$3,000/month Azure spend sustained ~60 days). Upgrades are automatic — no separate applications; you can skip tiers if you meet higher requirements directly. The marketing page still advertises 'up to $150,000 in credits'.

Eligibility

Privately held, for-profit; software-based product owned by the company; HQ in a country where Azure is available; no more than $350,000 lifetime free Azure credits; NOT Series C funding or later (tightened from Series D in 2025); not an educational institution, government org, consultancy or agency; no crypto mining. A company that already burned >$350k in free Azure credits (or reached Series C) is ineligible. No .edu requirement; 'open to anyone with an idea' per the signup page.

How to claim

1) Go to startups.microsoft.com (Founders Hub) > Get started. 2) Submit application (personal LinkedIn at identity step). 3) Decision ~3 business days by email; reapply allowed 14 days after a rejection. 4) In the Azure Portal, activate credits (cost management > payment methods). 5) Credits accrue automatically as your workloads/usage hit each milestone — no separate applications.

Expiry

Activated credits are valid for up to 2 years from activation (per FAQ); no extensions except the one-time 2-year extension at the $25K milestone. You must activate within 90 days of accepting the program agreement or the offer lapses.

Gotchas

Credit card IS required to activate credits (identity verification + pay-as-you-go fallback). Credits are permanently tied to one MSA/subscription — no transfer between accounts. Pay-as-you-go kicks in automatically when credits run out. The $150K is not guaranteed: it requires ~$3k/month sustained Azure spend on 10+ services for 60 days. Discrepancy: this page says Milestone 1 is '$200', while the FAQ and Azure's own page say self-serve starts at $1,000 (see separate finding) — Microsoft's pages are out of sync. Existing participants from the 2025 two-track system keep old credits until expiry, then convert to pay-as-you-go.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Azure for Startups self-serve credits ($1,000 instant, up to $5,000) — no application high confidence

Confirmed on two pages read today: 'Up to $5,000 in Azure credits: $1,000 available immediately, plus up to $4,000 more after verification'. Initial $1,000 is valid 90 days; the post-verification $4,000 is valid 180 days. No application required — just signup. This matches the pre-known 'self-serve Azure for Startups' offer. If you later get an investor/accelerator/university referral code you can switch to the investor offer instead.

Eligibility

New Azure customers only. .edu not required. The FAQ says 'open' to teams without investor backing; it coexists with the milestone program — same signup flow.

How to claim

1) Sign up at startups.microsoft.com or Azure's 'Azure for Startups' offer (link from azure.microsoft.com/free/students or the MFS portal). 2) $1,000 credits apply instantly to your new Azure subscription. 3) Complete business verification to unlock the additional $4,000. No application, no review queue for the self-serve tier.

Expiry

$1,000 valid 90 days from activation; $4,000 valid 180 days from business verification. After expiry: automatic conversion to pay-as-you-go.

Gotchas

Credit card required for identity verification and for spend beyond credits ('spending protection' only covers the card from unauthorized billing). Directly contradicts the Learn milestone page's '$200 immediate' Milestone 1 — treat $1,000/90d as the self-serve floor and $200 as possibly the current live figure; verify in-portal at claim time. One startup account per person effectively; existing enterprise accounts can't redeem.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Microsoft for Startups Investor Network track (~$100,000+ Azure credits, referral-gated) high confidence

From the MFS FAQ read today: investor-backed startups enter with 'most startups begin with $100,000 [in Azure credits], with the opportunity to earn more' plus Azure Standard Support, technical experts, go-to-market support, and free/discounted third-party benefits: GitHub Enterprise, LinkedIn Premium Business, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Visual Studio Enterprise, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform. Referral codes come from affiliated investors, accelerators, incubators, angel networks, or universities in the Investor Network. This track started at $100,000 when the 2025 two-track system launched; amounts can vary by referral source and engagement.

Eligibility

Startup must be affiliated with a Microsoft for Startups Investor Network partner AND hold that partner's referral code. Company must otherwise meet MFS eligibility (for-profit, privately held, not Series C or later, < $350k lifetime free Azure credits). Universities now also count as referral sources, so a university-backed startup can use this path.

How to claim

1) Get a referral code from your affiliated investor/accelator/incubator/university. 2) Enter the code during the startups.microsoft.com application. 3) Upon approval, activate credits and redeem third-party benefits in the MFS portal (Azure Portal > Get started/benefits).

Expiry

Same rules as Startup credits: activate within 90 days of agreement; valid up to 2 years once activated. Third-party benefits (GitHub Enterprise etc.) have their own redemption windows.

Gotchas

Without a referral code you cap out at the self-serve/milestone path. Benefits can't be redeemed on accounts that already redeemed the same benefit or on existing enterprise accounts. Pegasus (dedicated architect/sales program) continued after the 2025 changes but is invitation-only and no longer referenced in current FAQ — do not plan around it.

Source

learn.microsoft.com

Azure Free Account (open to everyone, incl. students) — $200 trial + 12-month free services high confidence

Read today at azure.microsoft.com/free: $200 credit usable within 30 days; free monthly amounts of 20+ popular services for 12 months (e.g., 750 hrs each of B1s/B2pts v2/B2ats v2 VMs, 32 GB PostgreSQL/MySQL storage, 720 vCore-hrs SQL Managed Instance, 100 GB Container Registry, 5 GB Cloud Shell/Storage); plus 65+ always-free services (e.g., 0.5M Speech chars/mo, 500 pages/mo Document Intelligence, 50 MB AI Search, 5,000 Vision transactions/mo). One free account per person. Spending protection: card won't be billed while covered; $1 temporary authorization possible.

Eligibility

New Azure customers, worldwide (card policy varies: HK and Brazil accept only credit cards). Students can claim this too, but if you're a student the Azure for Students offer below is better (no card, annual renewal). Not for people who already have a paid Azure account.

How to claim

1) Sign up at azure.microsoft.com/free with Microsoft account. 2) Add a phone number and a credit/debit card (non-prepaid). 3) $200 credit applies immediately; free monthly amounts auto-attach. 4) After 30 days you're notified to convert to pay-as-you-go or the account is disabled.

Expiry

$200 credit: 30 days (unused credit does not extend, even if you convert early). Free monthly service amounts: 12 months, then pay-as-you-go rates apply. Always-free tiers have no time limit but usage is capped.

Gotchas

Trial, not free: card required, and pay-as-you-go starts the moment the credit or the 12-month window ends. Free credit cannot be applied to Azure Marketplace offers, Spot VMs, or Hybrid Benefit. 6-month AI-services window previously advertised is no longer on the page — only the 12-month/always-free tiers are.

Source

azure.microsoft.com

Azure for Students — $100 credit for 12 months, no credit card (school email required) high confidence

Read today at azure.microsoft.com/free/students: $100 in Azure credit usable within 12 months, NO credit card required; free monthly amounts of 20+ popular services for 12 months plus 65+ always-free services; full service catalog up to free amounts; 'renew your subscription annually and continue to get free access to Azure as long as you're a student'. A 'Starter' tier for younger users gives free service access only (no credit). The GitHub Student Developer Pack also routes 18+ students to this $100 offer (ages 13–17 get a reduced service set instead: App Service, Functions, Notification Hubs, MySQL for apps, App Insights, DevOps).

Eligibility

Full-time university students; sign up with a school (.edu/institutional) email for verification. No card needed. One account per person. Age: the pack routes 13–17 to Starter; the $100 credit is for 18+. Third-party trackers (checked Oct 2026) list country restrictions — some regions only allow Starter; check the signup flow.

How to claim

1) Sign up at azure.microsoft.com/free/students using your school email (or via the 'Microsoft Azure' offer in the GitHub Student Developer Pack after verification). 2) Confirm student status. 3) $100 credit activates immediately; free service amounts attach. 4) Renew annually while enrolled.

Expiry

$100 credit valid 12 months from signup; annual renewal keeps the free services going while you remain a full-time student. 12-month free-service amounts reset with the renewal.

Gotchas

The $100 credit is the same offer the GitHub Pack grants — don't claim it twice (one Azure account per person; a second claim fails or voids the benefit). No card = no pay-as-you-go fallback: when the credit or free amounts run out, resources stop rather than bill you. Students who need more than free amounts should use the MFS self-serve $1,000 offer instead (which does need a card).

Source

azure.microsoft.com

GitHub Student Developer Pack — free Microsoft/educator stack (GitHub + M365 + Azure + tools) high confidence

Verified today on education.github.com/pack: while verified as a student you get free GitHub Pro, free GitHub Copilot 'Student' plan (unlimited completions + monthly GitHub AI credits, limited chat/agent on auto-selected models), 3-month Microsoft 365 Education (Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Teams/1TB OneDrive — duration on the current page says 'free or discounted', historically 3 months), $100 Azure credit (18+), Namecheap free .me domain (1 year) + free SSL, Heroku $13/month for 24 months, free annual-renewable JetBrains licenses, and a GitHub Foundations/Copilot certification voucher via Microsoft Learn (resumed Sept 2025). Enrollment requires being 13+, in a degree/diploma program; under-18s get a reduced offer set.

Eligibility

Enrolled students: verify via school (.edu) email OR student ID + one proof-of-enrollment document (or a .edu email alone in some regions); 13+; some individual offers (Azure $100, Heroku) require 18+. No country limit stated for the pack itself.

How to claim

1) Apply at education.github.com/pack (or github.com/education) with school email or student ID. 2) Approval unlocks the pack page at github.com/features/benefits/students. 3) Redeem each partner offer individually (Azure, M365, Heroku, domain, etc.).

Expiry

Benefits last while you remain a verified student (GitHub Pro, M365, JetBrains renew annually/on graduation). Heroku credit: fixed 24 months. Domain/SSL: 1 year. Once you graduate, the pack stops renewing.

Gotchas

Partners churn: DigitalOcean ($200 credit) and Canva left the pack (DigitalOcean credits expire 2026-08-01), Bump.sh ended Dec 2025, Appwrite offer restructured to 6 months in Oct 2026. The Azure $100 in the pack IS the Azure for Students offer — one per person. 13–17-year-olds get no $100 credit, only a reduced service list.

Source

education.github.com

Microsoft 365 Education trial (30 days, schools) + free M365A license for institutions medium confidence

Microsoft offers schools a free 30-day Microsoft 365 Education trial (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, OneDrive, Class Notebook/whiteboard, Copilot in education apps, no credit card) claimable by an institution admin, and a free Microsoft 365 A1 (M365A) license for eligible K-12 schools and universities — through which most university students already get M365A at no personal cost via their school. Individual students at non-licensed institutions can use the free Office web apps/Word/Excel at no charge. (Official Microsoft page served localized/JS content and timed out, so the trial details are from the well-known program terms rather than a page read today — hence medium confidence.)

Eligibility

Trial: K-12 and higher-ed institutions (admin-managed). Free M365A: eligible institutions (K-12 schools and universities in supported countries); individual students get it only through an institutional license. No .edu email needed to sign the school up for the trial.

How to claim

1) School: admin claims the 30-day trial from the M365 Education 'try it free' link on microsoft.com/en-us/education. 2) K-12: apply for the free M365A K-12 license via the Microsoft Education Store/partner flow. 3) Students: ask IT for the school's M365A license, or use free Office web apps with any email.

Gotchas

The trial is school-scoped, not individual: a 'free M365 for me' student offer does not exist standalone — students ride on institutional licenses or free web apps. Teams Education and Power Platform for Education trial similarly (30 days, institution-scoped).

Source

microsoft.com

Azure AI / Microsoft Foundry always-free tiers (available to students and startups alike) high confidence

From the Azure Free and Azure for Students pages read today: monthly always-free AI service amounts included with any free/12-month account: Azure Speech in Foundry Tools 0.5M neural characters/month; Document Intelligence 500 pages/month (S0); AI Search 50 MB storage (10k docs, 3 indexes); Vision in Foundry Tools 5,000 transactions/month per S1-S3 tier; Content Safety 5,000 text records or images/month; Azure DevOps free for 5 users; PostgreSQL/MySQL serverless free tiers. These stack on top of credit programs — useful for AI workloads while credits burn out.

Eligibility

Any Azure account; free monthly amounts are new-customer 12 months (VMs/databases) or perpetual (always-free services). Students with no card still get these via Azure for Students.

How to claim

No separate claim — free amounts auto-attach to eligible Azure services; monitor usage in Cost Management to stay under caps.

Expiry

Always-free: perpetual. 12-month amounts: until 12 months from account creation, then standard pricing.

Gotchas

Usage above the free amounts bills at normal rates (with no card, it just throttles/stops). Large AI inference (e.g., LLM tokens) is NOT in the always-free list — paid per token even in Foundry; budget accordingly.

Source

azure.microsoft.com