Amazon Web Services has updated its AWS Free Tier program, allowing new customers to receive up to $200 in AWS credit that can be spent on various AWS services.
Upon registration, users receive $100 in credit immediately. By using five specific services, they can earn an additional $100.
The updated program offers a choice between a free account plan and a paid account plan during registration. With the free plan, no charges will be incurred as long as no upgrade is made. This option expires after six months or when the credit has been fully used. Certain services that are typically used by large enterprises are not available in this plan. Users can switch to the paid plan at any time. Unused credits remain valid for up to twelve months after the original sign-up when used on eligible services.
Those who choose the paid account plan from the start will also automatically receive the credit and can apply it to their AWS service invoices. Once usage exceeds the credit limit, standard on-demand rates will apply.
Earn extra money
Users receive $100 credit upon sign-up and can earn an additional $20 for each of the following five AWS activities: Amazon EC2, Amazon RDS, AWS Lambda, Amazon Bedrock, and AWS Budgets. Progress and credit status are visible through the Explore AWS widget in the AWS Management Console.
The service activities are designed to familiarize customers with essential building blocks within AWS. They display costs and usage in the AWS Billing Console and assist new users in learning how to manage costs by selecting the appropriate instance sizes.
AWS sends notifications when 50 percent, 25 percent, or 10 percent of the credit remains. Users also receive warnings via email and console notifications when their free period has 15, 7, or 2 days remaining. At the end of the trial period, they receive instructions on how to upgrade to a paid plan. There is a 90-day period to reopen the account by upgrading it.
The free account provides access to parts of AWS services, including more than 30 services with a permanent free usage tier. The paid account provides access to the full AWS portfolio. Accounts created before July 15, 2025, will remain part of the old Free Tier program, which allows users to use short-term trials, a 12-month trial period, and permanent free tiers.
The updated AWS Free Tier is now available in all AWS regions, except for the AWS GovCloud regions in the US and the regions in China.