Azure SQL Database is a fully managed cloud database service used by organizations of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises. It provides high availability, scalability, and security out of the box while supporting the familiar SQL Server engine. Because it runs entirely in the cloud, you can build data-driven applications without managing hardware or dealing with routine maintenance.
Even though it’s built mainly for enterprise-grade workloads, Azure SQL can also be a great choice if you’re a developer or student who wants to learn SQL, build prototypes, experiment with cloud-based apps, etc.
And Microsoft offers us a free option, so you can do it all at no cost.
About The Free Option
When we create a SQL database in Azure, we have the option of applying a free offer. This free offer allows us to deploy up to 10 General Purpose databases per Azure subscription at no cost.
And the best part is that Microsoft has stated that it’s free forever:
The database is free forever, with monthly limits. There’s no time limit.
Monthly usage limits are: 100,000 vCore seconds, 32 GB of data storage, and 32 GB of backup storage per free offer database. Each subscription can include up to 10 databases, and the same limits apply to each database individually.
So we can create up to 10 databases, each with its own set of limits. In other words, we could get 1 million vCore seconds if we used all 10 databases. These numbers are true at the time of writing. If Microsoft changes them in the future, then I guess your plan will use the new numbers.
No Azure Account?
If you don’t already have an Azure account, go to Microsoft’s page that allows you to choose an Azure account:
Click “Try Azure for free”.
You’ll be prompted to sign in with your Microsoft account (or create one if you don’t already have one), create your Azure account, and provide credit card verification.
Check out my article Getting Started with Azure Sign Up for a step-by-step guide, along with screenshots.
Creating the Free Database
This is where we actually create our free Azure SQL database. This is the first of 10 potentially free databases we can create.
1. Start the Process
Go to the Create SQL Database page on the Azure portal.
If that link doesn’t work, go to the Azure portal “Home” and clicking the “SQL Databases” option. Alternatively, use the top search box to search for “SQL Database”, then select “SQL Databases” and follow the prompt to create the database. This should bring you to the “Create SQL Database” page (as if you’d clicked the above link).
Once you’re on the “Create SQL Database” page, you should see an offer that starts off with “Want to try Azure SQL Database for free?”. Something like this:
Click “Apply offer”
Fill in the details:
- Subscription: Your free subscription (this will probably already be selected)
- Resource group: Click “Create new” to create a new resource group. All you need to do is provide a name (e.g., “FreeSQLResourceGroup”). Alternatively, you can select an existing resource group if you’ve created one previously.
- Database name: Choose a name (e.g., “FreeSQLDatabase”)
- Server: Click “Create new”
2. Create SQL Server
After clicking “Create new” for the server, the following screen appears:
Complete this form. For example:
- Server name: Choose a unique name (e.g., “yourname-dev-server”)
- Location: Select a suitable region. If it doesn’t accept your selection, choose one near your location.
- Authentication method: Choose an option. If you don’t have Microsoft Entra Authentication configured, choose “Use SQL authentication” for now.
- Server admin login: Create a username
- Password: Create a strong password (save this!)
- Click “OK”.
3. Check Database Details
If you arrive back at the main database creation screen:
- Leave the Compute + Storage options at the default.
- Keep the “Behavior when free offer limit reached” setting at “Auto-pause the database until next month”. This will prevent you from going over the free limit (and being charged for any surplus usage).
- Keep the “Backup storage redundancy” at its default setting.
- Click “Next: Networking”
4. Configure Networking Rules
The Networking screen looks like this:
If you don’t have any specific requirements, try the following:
- Select “Public Endpoint” under the “Connectivity method” option. This reveals the “Firewall rules”
- Under “Firewall rules”, click “Yes” to “Allow Azure services and resources to access this server” and “Add current client IP address”. This allows your local machine to connect.
- Click “Next: Security”
5. Configure Security Rules
Leave these at the default. Click “Next: Additional settings”
6. Additional Settings
It’s OK to leave these at the default, but you can change if you prefer. For example you can select the Sample database if you want a sample database to play with. The sample database is AdventureWorksLT.
Select “Next: Tags”.
7. Tags
Select “Next: Review and Create”.
8. Review and Create
Finally, we get to the last screen before the database is actually created:
Scroll down this page to check all details:
If everything looks good, click “Create”.
This starts the deployment process. Keep your screen open while this is in progress. Once complete, a “Your deployment is complete” message is displayed:
And that’s your free database created. Feel free to click “Go to resource” to see the details of your deployment.
As mentioned, you get 10 free databases under this offer. So you have another 9 free databases remaining. You can create those using the same steps used to create this one.
Connecting to your Database
You can now go ahead and set up a connection to your database from your local machine using regular tools like SSMS, VS Code, sqlcmd, etc. You can use the full server name (including the .database.windows.net part), as well as the username and password you created. Here’s an example of connecting to an Azure SQL database using VS Code if you need some pointers.