We’re excited to share an early look at upcoming changes to the Microsoft 365 Developer Program – changes that are directly shaped by the valuable feedback we’ve received from our developer community. Our roadmap focuses on making the program more robust, secure, and accessible, and we have been listening closely to what you have told us you need.
The Microsoft 365 Developer Program has long been a great resource for developers building solutions on the Microsoft 365 platform. However, we also recognize that the current experience has some limitations, especially when it comes to serving the diverse needs of our global audience.
Over the next few months, we will be rolling out a series of updates designed to significantly improve the developer experience. Here is a preview of what is coming.
Enhancements to subscription and tenant management
- Streamlined Tenant Provisioning: A new and improved tenant provisioning flow is introduced as the default for all new Microsoft 365 Developer Program qualified members. These tenants are commercially enabled with add-on option. Once the initial rollout is complete, existing members will also have the option to transition to the new experience by expiring their current tenant and provisioning a new tenant for their usage.
- Support for Commercial Add-ons: Members will be able to purchase additional subscriptions on their development tenant provisioned through the new experience – including Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses – later this year.
- Improved Tenant Ownership and Management: We are enabling clearer identification of tenant owners, making it easier for developers to manage and secure their environments.
- Option to Transition to Paid Subscriptions: If you decide to move beyond the Developer Program, you will have the ability to convert your development tenant into a standard paid Microsoft 365 subscription.
More improvements on the horizon
We are also exploring additional ways to make the Microsoft 365 Developer Program more inclusive, flexible, and valuable for a broader global developer base. These improvements are currently in planning, and we will share more details as the roadmap is finalized.
What’s next
We will provide a comprehensive update by September 2025, outlining the next wave of changes. Please note that aside from what’s mentioned above, no other changes are currently planned for existing Developer Program members.
Thank you for your continued engagement and feedback. It is helping us shape a better future for the Microsoft 365 Developer Program—and we are just getting started.
Dear Microsoft 365 Developer Program Team,
I recently signed up for the Developer Program but received a notice that I do not currently qualify for a sandbox subscription.
I am actively working on building internal documentation tools, exploring Microsoft Graph integrations, testing Azure, Intune and autopilot solutions and would greatly benefit from access to the sandbox environment.
Could you please review my profile and advise if there’s anything I should adjust to qualify?
Kind regards,
I also encountered the same problem and am looking forward to the official reply.
Currently Microsoft requires a Visual Studio Professional or Enterprise subscription as one of the requirements for being eligible for a sandbox subscription (tenant).
Is there a way to provide educational institutions eligibility to the Developer program? I’m a faculty member, who really needs students to create their own tenants to explore and learn the technology. I tried to reach out to Kelly, only to find that she’s no longer with Microsoft. Is there someone else who can assist?
So when will copilot for m365 apps be available for E5 users?
Please add a function so that the linked Microsoft Account can control the tenant as Global administrator. Currently I am facing the MFA authentication and as the only global administrator of the tenant, I cannot sign in and reset it. Microsoft Data Protection team refuses to support because my government id name is different from the test admin account.
yeah, spaming in discussion solve your problem :/
When will this feature be released? “Improved Tenant Ownership and Management”. I am looking for a way to reset the MFA for my tenant because Microsoft Data Protection team cannot handle anything.
Does this mean that access to the program will be restored or not?
Same. Hmmm. Microsoft Data Protection team is so du*mp
Dear MS team,
For more than a year, we've lost access to the devloper program. For many, this means a loss of knowledge and expertise for professional projects, or for personal learning to change career paths.
Implementing these restrictions is an uphill battle to regain access for educational purposes.
On learn's website (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/developer-program/microsoft-365-developer-program-faq#who-qualifies-for-a-microsoft-365-e5-developer-subscription-) it says that you have to be part of the "Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program", which is only available with a professional account, and then be added by a Microsoft partner to the "allow list". I contacted several large partners in Switzerland, and none of them were able to help...
I agree! sandbox not only for developers is very important. sometime I must buy licenses because I need verify in real environment and I cannot try/play in real production environment.
It's unbelievable that in 2025 they think it's a good idea to gatekeep the developer program. I genuinely don't understand the logic of it. I am a freelancer, not part of a company, but even if I was, giving developers their own sandbox to LEARN and work on potential solutions for 365 businesses is how you maintain a rich ecosystem of integrations and applications. I think the 30 day of activity is way too low, but even so, that's not an option anymore. I have had my E5 developer subscription for over 3 years. What changed that said they, "hey...
It's incomprehensible that devlopers (coders) can have access when they don't even know what M365 is (for most of them).
I understand that there have been abuses in the past, but for 0.1% of abusers, it penalizes 99.9% of people who have the interest to develop their infrastructure and reinforce their knowledge.
I've got plenty of Microsoft certifications, and the essential point of these is that you need to practice on the different products available from M365. When you have expertise on Exchange and want to improve your knowledge of teams or test for a project to implement S/MIME certificates on EXO,...
How about adding some extra subscriptions? #intunesuite
I have been unable to create a Developer account for months now.
Unfortunately, I was unable to work for ~2 months last year and that caused my developer account to expire; one which I have had for years.
I have an enterprise management application that I think offering Microsoft 365 integration (into apps and the cloud) would be a great value add, but I cannot work on it anymore since my developer account subscription has been terminated.
I have waited 60 days after deleting the subscription, and even after "all users and data were deleted" but still, I am not provided...