When developers hear “cloud” and “AI,” their first thought is often about cost. “How much will this cost me to learn? Can I build something meaningful without racking up a surprise bill?”
Budget Bytes is a new series is designed to inspire developers to build affordable, production-quality AI applications on Azure with a budget of $25 or less. Yes, you read that right, twenty-five dollars!
What is Budget Bytes?
Budget Bytes is an episodic video series featuring developers building end-to-end scenarios from scratch. But here’s what makes it different:
- Real costs, tallied live – At the end of each episode, we show you exactly what it cost to build and run.
- Authentic development – Speakers show their actual process, including mistakes and debugging (because that’s real life).
- Practical patterns – Learn new tools, APIs, design patterns, and processes you can apply immediately.
- Replicable solutions – Every demo, you can look at the GitHub repository so you can deploy it yourself!
This season centers around the Azure SQL Database Free Offer, demonstrating how you can leverage enterprise-grade database capabilities without the enterprise price tag.
What You’ll Learn
Each episode is packed with practical takeaways:
- New tools and technologies – From Microsoft Foundry to Copilot Studio to Model Context Protocol
- Real-world design patterns – See how experienced developers architect cost-effective solutions
- Hands-on deployment – Every solution can be deployed to your own Azure subscription
- Continuous learning – Each episode links to Microsoft Learn modules for deeper dives
- New to Azure SQL? – Get started by learning through real use cases in each episode, and get inspired to apply them to your own ideas!
The Season Lineup
| Episode | Date | Topic | Speaker(s) | What You’ll Build |
| 1 | January 29th, 2026 | Microsoft Foundry | Jasmine Greenaway | AI Inventory Manager for free |
| 2 | February 12th, 2026 | AI-driven insurance scenarios | Arvind Shyamsundar & Amar Patil | Insurance AI Application |
| 3 | February 26th, 2026 | Agentic RAG for everyone | Davide Mauri | Model Context Protocol with .NET |
| 4 | March 12th, 2026 | Copilot Studio Integration | Bob Ward | AI Agents with your data using Copilot Studio for $10/month |
| 5 | March 29th, 2026 | Fireside Chat Wrap-Up | Priya Sathy & Guests | Series recap and key insights |
Tune in
Watch the trailer here: Build Powerful AI Apps for under $25!
New episodes release regularly, each with:
- A full video walkthrough
- Companion blog post with additional context
- Complete source code on GitHub
Explore the samples: Check out the Budget Bytes Samples Repository on GitHub (repositories go public with each episode release)
Try the free tier: Azure SQL Database Free Offer Documentation
Ready to build on a budget? Subscribe to the Microsoft Developer YouTube channel and follow the samples repo to get notified when new episodes drop.
Budget Bytes: Real developers. Real apps. Real affordable.
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