Three Ways to Get Your Azure Subscription
Published on 15 April 2026
Before You Begin
Before you start working with Azure, you need access. That sounds obvious — but many people don't know that there are several ways to get an Azure budget, and that one of them is completely free.
In this post, I'll walk you through the three most realistic options. I'll also share one rule that will help you keep your Azure budget under control at all times.
Option 1 — Azure Free Account
The easiest route, open to anyone signing up with Azure for the first time.
After signing up, you get $200 in credits for the first 30 days, which you can use for almost all Azure services. After that, you automatically switch to the Pay-As-You-Go model — you only pay for what you actually use.
In addition, selected services are available free for 12 months, including certain VM sizes, Blob Storage, and SQL Database within limited quotas.
To sign up, you'll need a Microsoft account and a credit card for identity verification. The card won't be charged as long as you stay within the Free Tier limits.
Recommendation: Set up a Budget Alert in Azure Cost Management right after signing up — that way you'll receive an email before any unexpected charges occur. This is a step many beginners skip, and later regret.
Option 2 — Microsoft Partner Network Benefits
If your company has a Microsoft partnership, you may be able to access monthly Azure credits as an employee — without a personal credit card and without a separate account.
The amount of credits depends on the partnership tier. Microsoft distinguishes between the Action Pack for smaller partners and Solutions Partner Designations for larger organizations. In both cases, Azure credits are part of the benefits package.
To find out whether your company qualifies and how to activate the credits, go to partner.microsoft.com → Partner benefits packages .
Important: credits don't appear automatically. They need to be activated manually. If you're unsure, check with your internal IT team or the person responsible for cloud — in many companies these credits exist but go unused.
Option 3 — Visual Studio Subscription
This option is overlooked by many developers, even though it's particularly attractive.
Visual Studio Subscriptions — formerly known as MSDN Subscriptions — include monthly Azure credits:
Visual Studio Professional: $50 per month
Visual Studio Enterprise: $150 per month
Credits are automatically renewed each month. They are separate from your regular Azure account and cannot be combined with other subscriptions. Important: credits expire at the end of the month — they do not roll over. So make sure you actually use them.
Visual Studio Subscriptions are often provided by employers. It's worth asking whether you already have one, or whether your company can get one for you.
To check whether you already have one: my.visualstudio.com → Benefits → Azure
Which Option Is Right for You?
| Free Account | Partner (MPN) | Visual Studio | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who is it for? | Everyone | Company employees | Developers |
| Budget | $200 one-time | Varies by tier | $50–$150 / month |
| Requirement | Microsoft account | Company is MPN partner | VS Subscription |
| Monthly renewable? | No | Yes | Yes |
Naming Conventions — Get It Right From the Start
Before you start creating resources, a quick note that will save you a lot of hassle down the road.
Naming Azure resources sounds trivial. But it quickly becomes messy when environments grow and multiple people are working in the same account. Microsoft has published recommendations for consistent abbreviations and naming patterns in the Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF), which have become well-established in practice.
| Resource Type | Recommended Prefix |
|---|---|
| Resource Group | rg- |
| Function App | func- |
| Storage Account | st |
| Key Vault | kv- |
| Virtual Network | vnet- |
The recommended pattern is:
{resourcetype}-{projectname}-{environment}-{region}
For example: rg-myproject-dev-westeurope or
func-dataimport-prod-westeurope.
You don't need to follow these conventions religiously. But those who adopt them from the start will spend less time cleaning things up later — and make it significantly easier for new team members to get up to speed.
The Most Important Rule: Use Resource Groups — and Clean Them Up
This is the most important practical tip in this post — and it's simpler than it sounds.
Every resource in Azure belongs to a Resource Group — that's not a recommendation, it's a technical requirement. What you should get into the habit of doing: one Resource Group per topic, project, or test, with a clear name.
Here's why this matters: when you're done testing and want to clean up, you don't delete individual resources — you delete the entire Resource Group. All resources inside it are automatically deleted along with it. Nothing gets forgotten. Your credits go toward what you're actually testing — not toward resources quietly running in the background.
This sounds obvious. But it isn't — forgotten resources are the most common cause of unexpected Azure costs for beginners.
Name your Resource Groups by purpose:
rg-vm-test —
for experiments from the next post
rg-functions-demo —
for an Azure Function you're trying out
rg-storage-test —
for storage experiments
When you're done testing: open the Resource Group in the Azure Portal → click "Delete resource group" → type the name to confirm → done.
Conclusion
You now know how to get access to Azure — whether through the Free Account, through your employer, or through a Visual Studio Subscription. And you know how to experiment safely without any surprises at the end of the month.
The next post goes a step further: What is Azure Entra ID? — the identity and access system behind Azure, and the mental model you need to truly understand it.
