Credit-based Free Level: On July 15, 2025, AWS introduced a credit-based “Free Plan” in place of the previous 12-month free-trial model for new accounts. $100 in AWS credits are given to new users automatically upon signup also they can earn an additional $100 by completing onboarding tasks.
Free vs. Paid Plans: Users are required to select either a Paid Plan (for production use) or a Free Plan (for exploration/POCs) when creating their accounts. Both plans still have access to Always Free deals and up to $200 in credits, but accounts on the Free Plan are restricted from using some expensive services.
Always Free Services: With monthly usage caps, AWS still provides more than thirty always-free services. AWS Lambda (1M invocations/month, 400K GB‑seconds), Amazon DynamoDB (25 GB storage + provisioned RCU/WCU), Amazon S3 (5 GB Standard storage), Amazon CloudFront (1 TB data out + 10M requests), and Amazon SNS (1 million publishes) are among the core, always-free services. Although the Free Plan duration is capped (see below), these always-free limits are applicable indefinitely (not just for a full year).
New Free Services/Offers: AWS expanded the EC2 Free Tier (which covers instances with a corresponding public IP) to include 750 free IPv4 address-hours per month in early 2024. Free credits for educational activities were also introduced by AWS (e.g. $X credit for launching an EC2 instance, using RDS, etc.).
Increased Coverage: All AWS commercial regions (global regions) are now covered by the Free Tier. Note: Lambda is the primary exception to the general rule that AWS GovCloud (US) is not included in free-tier offers.
What’s Removed or Deprecated 😒
End of 12-Month Free Tier: The customary 12-month free trial for new AWS accounts has been discontinued for accounts created on or after July 15, 2025. New accounts instead receive the 6-month Free Plan, which is based on credit. Accounts that were open prior to July 2025 are not required to switch; they continue to receive the same 12-month benefits.
Expiration of the Free Plan: Under the new Free Plan, accounts end when credits run out or after six months. Unless the user switches to a Paid Plan, a 90-day grace period is followed by the account being closed and resources being erased when a Free Plan expires. Under the previous system, accounts did not automatically close; instead, they rolled over to paid usage after a year.
Service Restrictions: Some services that would “immediately consume the entire Free Tier credit” are not available to Free Plan accounts. For instance, purchases from the AWS Marketplace, hardware appliance services, and large dedicated infrastructure offerings are prohibited. (Accounts on the Paid Plan are not subject to these limitations.)
AWS CodeCommit: CodeCommit is no longer available to new customers. As of mid-2024, CodeCommit is “no longer available to new customers.” Current CodeCommit users can keep using it, but new users won’t be able to access this free Git service.
S3 RRS and Others: The Free Tier is still only available for standard services; for instance, Amazon S3 Reduced Redundancy Storage (RRS) is not covered; only standard storage up to 5 GB is free. (In general, the Free Tier does not include legacy or deprecated services.)
Free Tier: Before vs. After July 2025
AWS Free Tier changes from July 15, 2025: Old model offered 12-month trials and always-free services. New model splits into Free Plan (6-month credit trial with $100+ credit, limited access) and Paid Plan (full access). Always-free offers remain unchanged. Free accounts auto-close after expiry (90-day data retention); paid ones don’t. Region coverage remains, GovCloud mostly excluded.
What Happens If I Still Have Credits After 6 Months?
Unless you upgrade, your Free Plan will expire after six months, even if you still have AWS credits.
🚫 Free Plan Expiry Rules:
After six months or when the credits run out, whichever comes first, the Free Plan ends.
Once expired:
- Your AWS account will be automatically closed after it has expired.
- Any resources that are in use will be shut down.
- Data is erased after a 90-day grace period for recovery.
- Credits that are not used are lost.
✅ How to Keep Your Credits
After six months, to continue using your credits:
- Open the AWS Billing Console and log in.
- Go to Account Settings.
- Select “Upgrade to Paid Plan.”
- Verify your choice. Once upgraded:
- After being upgraded, your account doesn’t automatically expire.
- Any remaining AWS credits are yours to keep.
- You have complete access to every AWS service.
Reminder: Upgrading simply removes restrictions and expiry — you only start paying if your usage goes beyond the free limits or your credits.
In conclusion, cloud exploration is now more flexible (through credits) but has a shorter lifespan thanks to AWS’s 2025 Free Tier redesign. At the expense of a more stringent 6-month limit and certain service limitations, it encourages active learning and streamlines usage tracking. Students should take note of the updated schedule and save important work before it expires, while developers and start-ups should use the larger initial credits for extensive testing and switch to the Paid Plan as necessary.
Sources: Official AWS announcements and documentation on Free Tier changes and service pricing.
Top comments (1)
Well written and explained.