Amazon Web Service (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, offering over 200 fully featured services from data centers globally. Millions of customers, including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies, are using AWS to lower costs, become more agile, and innovate faster. AWS offers new subscribers a 12-month free tier to get hands-on experience with all AWS cloud services.

AWS Free tier Account

Because AWS offers a free tier with no upfront expenses, it's the ideal place to start your cloud care journey if you're new to cloud services. You can build simple applications, acquire new skills, and experiment for free with some of AWS's services. Following are some of the services which are offered by AWS.

• Compute: AWS EC2 instance.
• Storage: AWS EBS, EFS, and S3 are the storage services offered by AWS
• Databases: AWS offers databases as a service like AWS RDS, Amazon Aurora, and so on.
• Networking: AWS VPC and AWS Subnet are the networking services offered by AWS.
• Management Tools: Free use of the Management Console and CLI for AWS resource management.

Eligibility for the AWS Free Tier

The AWS Free Tier offers limited access to various AWS services for new AWS customers to explore and try out the platform at no cost for a specified period. Eligibility criteria for the free tier include:

• New AWS Customers: Anyone who signs up for an AWS account for the first time.
• Limited Time: The Free Tier is available for 12 months after sign-up and varies by service. Some services have ongoing free tiers beyond the first year.
• Usage Limits: Each service within the Free Tier has usage limits. As long as your usage stays within these limits, you won't incur any charges.
• Service-Specific Limits: Different services have different usage limits. For example, Amazon EC2 provides a certain number of hours of compute time, while Amazon S3 offers a limited amount of storage.
• Geographic Availability: The Free Tier is available worldwide, but certain services or features might not be available in all regions.
• Payment Method: You must have a valid payment method on file when signing up. However, you won't be charged unless you exceed the Free Tier limits.
• Account Verification: You need to verify your identity to access the Free Tier.
• Educational Institutions: Students and educators can also access the AWS Educate program, which provides additional benefits and credits for learning purposes.

Steps to Creating a Free tier AWS Account

Step 1: Sign Up for an AWS Account

• Open AWS Sign-up Page in any browser.

• Enter your email address and AWS account name.
• Click "Verify Email Address" and enter the verification code received in your email.

Step 2: Set Root User Password

• Enter and confirm the Root user password.
• Click "Continue (step 1 of 5)".

Step 3: Account Type Selection

• Choose "Personal - for your own projects".
• Fill in personal details like full name, contact number, country, and address.
• Click "Continue (Step 2 of 5)".

Step 4: Billing Information 

• Enter billing details.
• Click "Verify and Continue".

Step 5: Identity Verification

• Confirm identity via mobile number or email.
• Enter verification code.
• Click "Continue".

Step 6: Select Support Plan

• Choose "Basic Support - Free".
• Click "Continue".

Step 7: Account Confirmation

• AWS account is successfully created and ready for use.

Benefits of AWS Free tier Account

• Hands-On Experience: Users can experience cloud services firsthand in a risk-free and realistic setting with the AWS Free Tier. This is very helpful for people who are just learning about AWS and cloud computing.
• Cost-Efficient Learning: New users can expose to new services of AWS with out thinking about the cost. Which makes it cost efficient.
• Wide Range of Services: AWS offers wide range of services where a new user can explore different services can experience the real use of cloud computing.
• Scalability Testing: Users can test there applications by deploying it in AWS. They can test the application in different environments and in different conditions.
• Hosting Small Applications: Small applications can hosted on AWS for free as long as they adhere to the Free Tier usage restrictions.

Applications of AWS Free tier Limit

Following are the some of the applications of AWS free tier limit.

• Learning and Training: Students and the professionals who are new to AWS can learn using AWS free tier. Through practical experience with cloud services, it enables users to investigate and comprehend AWS services, infrastructure, and best practices.
• Development and Testing: Developers can use AWS free tier account to test there application in different environments with out incurring cost.
• Startup and MVP Development: The AWS Free Tier is a useful tool for startups and entrepreneurs to create early-stage prototypes or minimal viable products (MVPs).
• Technical Certifications: The students who want to attend aws solution architect associate exam can use AWS free tier account full fledged to prepare for the exam.