Try Windows Server in the cloud with an Azure free account

Run your Windows Server workloads on Azure and extend your existing Windows Server datacenter.

Easily migrate Windows Server and use your existing skills in Azure

Spend less time running your infrastructure with the cloud that knows Windows Server best.
Build and deploy new Windows virtual machines in Azure.
Add hybrid capabilities by extending your on-premises Windows Server datacenter to Azure or running your workloads on Azure.

Use existing licenses to save on Azure

Azure is the most cost-effective cloud for your Windows Server workloads—saving up to 80 percent on Windows Server virtual machines—with Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server and Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instances.

Get 2008 extended security updates in Azure

Get access to three additional years of security updates for 2008 or 2008 R2 workloads in Azure—at no additional charge.

What do I get?

With your Azure free account, you get all of this—and you won’t be charged until you choose to upgrade.

12 months

of popular free services

$200 credit

to explore Azure for 30 days

$200 credit

to explore Azure for 30 days

Always free

25+ services

Five more Azure services, now free for 12 months

Plus, now get 25 GB of storage free with Azure Cosmos DB.

See free services

Azure Load Balancer

Azure Container Registry

Azure Service Bus

Azure Archive Storage

Azure VPN Gateway

Which products are free for 12 months?

These products are free for 12 months, up to the monthly limits. Availability is based on resource and region.

Linux Virtual Machines

COMPUTE

750 hours

B1S Standard tier

Create Linux virtual machines with on-demand capacity in seconds.

Windows Virtual Machines

COMPUTE

750 hours

B1S Standard tier

Create Windows virtual machines with on-demand capacity in seconds.

Managed Disks

STORAGE

64 GB x 2

P6 solid state drives (SSD)

Get high performance, durable block storage for Azure Virtual Machines with simplified management.

Blob Storage

STORAGE

5 GB

locally redundant storage (LRS) hot block

Use massively scalable object storage for any type of unstructured data.

File Storage

STORAGE

5 GB

LRS file storage

Migrate to simple, distributed, cross-platform file storage without changing code.

SQL Database

DATABASES

250 GB

Create a SQL Database that delivers intelligence built-in.

VPN Gateway ^NEW

NETWORKING

750 hours

VpnGw1 Gateway Type

Establish secure, cross-premises connectivity.

Load Balancer ^NEW

NETWORKING

750 hours, 15 GB data processing, 5 rules

Standard Load Balancer

Deliver high availability and network performance to your applications.

Azure Cosmos DB ^NEW

DATABASES

400 RU/s provisioned throughput

With 25 GB of storage

Get a fast NoSQL database with open APIs for any scale.

Service Bus ^NEW

INTEGRATION

750 hours, 13 million operations

Standard tier base unit

Get reliable cloud messaging as a service with simple hybrid integration.

Container Registry ^NEW

CONTAINERS

1 Standard tier registry

With 100 GB storage and 10 webhooks

Store and manage container images across all types of Azure deployments.

Archive Storage ^NEW

STORAGE

10 GB LRS storage

10 GB LRS/GRS write and retrieval plus 100 reads

Store and manage rarely accessed data with locally redundant storage (LRS) or geo-redundant storage (GRS).

Bandwidth (Data Transfer)

NETWORKING

15 GB

outbound

Transfer data inbound and outbound through our robust network of global data centers.

Computer Vision

AI + MACHINE LEARNING

5,000 transactions

S1 tier

Extract rich information from images to categorize and process visual data.

Personalizer

AI + MACHINE LEARNING

50,000 transactions

S0 tier

Deliver rich, personalized experiences for every user.

Translator

AI + MACHINE LEARNING

2,000,000 characters

S0 tier

Add real-time, multi-language text translation to your apps, website, and tools.

Anomaly Detector

AI + MACHINE LEARNING

20,000 transactions

S0 tier

Detect anomalies in data to quickly identify and troubleshoot issues.

Form Recognizer

AI + MACHINE LEARNING

500 pages

S0 tier

Automate the extraction of text, key/value pairs, and tables from your documents.

Content Moderator

AI + MACHINE LEARNING

10,000 transactions

S0 tier

Moderate text and images to provide a safer, more positive user experience.

Custom Vision

AI + MACHINE LEARNING

10,000 predictions

S0 tier

Easily customize computer vision models for your unique use case.

Face

AI + MACHINE LEARNING

30,000 transactions

S0 tier

Detect and identify people and emotions in images.

Language Understanding

AI + MACHINE LEARNING

10,000 text request transactions

S0 tier

Build natural language understanding into apps, bots, and IoT devices.

QnA Maker

AI + MACHINE LEARNING

3 days

S0 tier

Create a conversational question-and-answer bot from your existing content.

Text Analytics

AI + MACHINE LEARNING

5,000 transactions

S tier

Extract information such as sentiment, key phrases, named entities, and language from your text.

Which products are always free?

These products are always free, up to the specified amounts. Availability is based on resource and region.

Azure Cosmos DB

DATABASES

400 request units per second

provisioned throughput

Build modern apps with a fast NoSQL database service with open APIs at any scale.

App Service

COMPUTE

web, mobile, or API apps

Quickly create powerful apps for any platform or device using your choice of tools including Node.js and PHP.

Functions

COMPUTE

1,000,000

requests per month

Process events with a serverless code architecture.

Event Grid

INTEGRATION

100,000

operations per month

Get reliable event delivery at massive scale.

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

COMPUTE

Free

Deploy and manage containers using the tools you choose.

DevTest Labs

DEVELOPER TOOLS

Free

Enable fast, easy, and lean dev-test environments.

Service Fabric

CONTAINERS

Free

Build and operate always-on, scalable, distributed apps.

Azure DevOps

DEVELOPER TOOLS

5 users

with unlimited private Git repos

Build apps in any language using Git repos, CI/CD, and build and release automation.

Security Center

SECURITY

Free

policy assessment and recommendations

Prevent, detect, and respond to threats with increased visibility and control over the security of your Azure resources.

Advisor

MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE

Unlimited

Get personalized recommendations to Azure best practices.

Load Balancer

NETWORKING

Free

public load-balanced virtual IP

Add scale, availability, and network performance to your applications instantly.

Data Factory

DATABASES

low-frequency activities

Compose and manage data services at scale.

Cognitive Search

AI + MACHINE LEARNING

10,000

documents

Include a cloud search service in your web and mobile application.

Notification Hubs

CONTAINERS

1,000,000

push notifications

Send push notifications to any platform from any back end.

Batch

COMPUTE

Free

Scale your application in the cloud with job orchestration and scheduling for HPC applications.

Automation

MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE

500 minutes

of job runtime

Simplify cloud management with process automation.

Data Catalog

ANALYTICS

Unlimited users

Get more value from your enterprise data assets.

Virtual Network

NETWORKING

virtual networks

Provision private networks and connect to on-premises datacenters.

Inter-VNET data transfer

NETWORKING

Inbound only

Bandwidth (Data Transfer)

NETWORKING

5 GB

outbound

Transfer data inbound and outbound through our robust network of global data centers.

Visual Studio Code

DEVELOPER TOOLS

Free

Boost your productivity with a powerful, lightweight code editor for cloud development.

Machine Learning

AI + MACHINE LEARNING

Free

Develop and run R and Python models on your platform of choice.

SQL Server 2019 Developer Edition

DEVELOPER TOOLS

Free

Build, test, and demostrate applications in a non-production environment.

What else do I need to know?

Do I pay anything to start with the Azure free account?

No. Starting is free, plus you get a $200 credit you can spend during the first 30 days.

What happens once I use my $200 free credit or I’m at the end of 30 days?

We’ll notify you so you can decide if you want to upgrade to pay-as-you-go pricing and remove the spending limit. If you do, you’ll have access to free products.* If you don’t, your account and products will be disabled, and you'll need to upgrade to resume usage.
* Based on resource and region availability.

What happens at the end of the 12 months of free products?

For 12 months after you upgrade your account, certain amounts of a number of products are free.* After 12 months, you’ll be billed at the standard pay-as-you-go rates.
* Based on resource and region availability.

What do I need to sign up for a free account?

All you need is a phone number, a credit card, and a GitHub account or Microsoft account username (formerly Windows Live ID).

Learn more about the Azure free account. Read the FAQ

Pay less with Azure

AWS is 5 times more expensive than Azure for Windows Server and SQL Server. Why run them anywhere else?

Learn more

Who can I talk to if I have questions?

Get personalized guidance and answers to questions you might have whether you’re evaluating the cloud, starting your first project, or migrating to Azure.

Contact Azure Sales

Ready when you are—let’s set up your free account

Start free