Experience the preview of Azure SQL Managed Instance for free.

The free SQL Managed Instance offer is intended for both new Azure users who want to get started with Azure SQL Managed Instance and existing customers who may require a development database, such as for a proof of concept.

To begin, while attempting to establish a new Azure SQL Managed Instance, pick Apply free offer from the banner:

Free monthly limitations

The free Azure SQL Managed Instance option is the same fully managed platform-as-a-service (PaaS) instance as the commercial version, and it includes handling all of the same database administration functions (such as updating, patching, backups, and monitoring) without user interaction. The promotion is limited to one instance per Azure subscription.

The monthly free restrictions include 720 vCore hours of computation and a maximum data capacity of 64 GB (however, because system files might consume up to 32 GB of storage, user data storage may be less than 64 GB). Your free month of credits begins when you create your instance and ends on the same day of the next month.

Prerequisites

To try Azure SQL Managed Instance for free, you need:

An Azure account with one of the following Azure subscriptions:
- Pay-as-you-go (003P)
- Azure in CSP (0145P)

Offer limitations

The free SQL Managed Instance offer has the following limitations:

vCore hours: 720
Storage: 64 GB, but system files might require up to 32 GB so space for user data can be less than 64 GB
Instances per subscription: 1
Compute: 4 and 8 vCore instances only
Service tier: General purpose only
Hardware: Standard only
Zone redundancy: Not available
Failover groups: Not available
Scaling: Scale up or down within the compute limits
Backups: 0-7 days for short term retention, long-term retention (LTR) is unavailable
Charge for SQL Server license: None
The free offer is currently available in the following region (which are subject to change): Australia East, East US, East US 2, North Europe, Sweden Central, Southeast Asia, South Central US, UK South, West Europe, West US 2, West US 3
No guaranteed SLA
It’s not currently possible to upgrade your free instance to the paid version. Create a new instance and restore your database to it to continue your business without the limits imposed by the free offer.