Maybe you’d deploy that .NET application you’ve been working on. Try a serverless architecture. Experiment with containers. Build a proof of concept. Or spend some time exploring an Azure service you haven’t used yet.
If you’re an eligible Visual Studio subscriber, you may already have a personal Azure sandbox waiting for you.
Many Visual Studio Subscriptions include Azure credits, giving developers a simple way to explore Azure, build skills, develop applications, and experiment with cloud services without first needing a separate Azure budget.
If you haven’t activated yours yet, it’s a Visual Studio Subscription benefit worth taking a closer look at.
Eligible Visual Studio subscribers can receive 50-150 dollars in Azure credits each month. Eligibility and amount vary by Subscription type, so check your benefits to see what is included with your Subscription.
Your own Azure sandbox
There’s no substitute for actually building something yourself. Your Azure credit gives you room to move from “How does this work?” to “Let me try it.”
That hands-on experience matters. You get to configure services, deploy code, make mistakes, troubleshoot problems, and understand how the pieces fit together.
A place to experiment with what’s next
Developers are being introduced to new tools, services, architectures, and AI capabilities faster than ever. It’s easy to see something new and think, “I should spend some time figuring that out.”
Your individual Azure credit gives you a place to do it.
Maybe you want to understand a certain cloud architecture before recommending it to your team. Maybe you have an idea for a proof of concept that isn’t ready for a project budget. Or maybe you simply want to explore a new Azure service and build skills outside your normal day-to-day work. Using Azure credits, you can experiment and learn what works best.
Experiment without worrying about an unexpected Azure bill
There’s another part of this benefit that I think developers will appreciate: you don’t need to provide a payment method to activate your individual Azure credit.
If you haven’t added a payment method and you consume your full monthly credit, Azure usage stops until your credit resets for the next month. You don’t automatically receive a bill for additional usage. If you decide you need to go beyond the included credit, you can choose to remove the spending limit and move to paid usage.
That makes the credit particularly useful for learning, prototypes, experimentation, and personal development environments.
A few things to keep in mind
The individual Azure credit is designed for personal development and testing, not production workloads.
It also isn’t an annual pool of Azure credits. Your credit renews monthly while you remain eligible, and unused credit doesn’t accumulate into a larger annual balance.
Some services and purchases aren’t covered by the monthly credit, and availability, quotas, and geographic restrictions can differ from a paid Azure subscription.
Think of this benefit as your personal place to learn, build, test, and experiment.
Put your Azure credit to work
Visual Studio Subscriptions include much more than the Visual Studio IDE, and this is one benefit that’s easy to overlook. But $50, $100, or $150 of Azure credit every month can create a lot of opportunities to learn and experiment.
Try a service you’ve been curious about. Build the proof of concept. Deploy the application. Test the architecture. Be creative with something new.
You don’t need to have the next big application planned before you start. Sometimes the best way to understand what’s possible is simply to start building.
If you’re a Visual Studio subscriber, visit my.visualstudio.com, check whether your Subscription includes Azure credits, and activate your benefit today.
Then there’s really only one question left:
What are you going to build?
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