Yes — Azure Kubernetes Service has a permanent free tier alongside its paid plans. The free plan includes monthly uptime goal above 99.5% for the Kubernetes API server on the Free plan. FreeTier.co estimates the free tier at about $1.00/mo, and a credit card is required at signup.
About
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is Microsoft Azure's managed Kubernetes service for deploying and scaling containerized applications. It provides a hosted Kubernetes control plane, node pool management, automated upgrades, scaling, monitoring, and integration with Azure networking, security, and CI/CD tooling.
The service includes a Free tier for experimentation and development, a Standard tier for production workloads with SLA-backed control plane availability and higher node limits, and a Premium tier with long-term support. AKS Automatic is also available for teams that want managed node provisioning, scaling, upgrades, and network configuration with embedded best practices.
- Managed Kubernetes control plane
- Free tier with no SLA
- Standard tier up to 5,000 nodes
- Premium tier long-term support
- AKS Automatic managed operations
- Azure Arc-enabled hybrid deployments
- Integrated monitoring and security
Free Tier Value
This free tier has real monthly value because it lets someone run a small AKS cluster without paying for the control plane, but they still pay for the underlying Azure resources. Since the page says it is for experimentation and development only, has no SLA, and is not meant for more than about 10 nodes, its practical value is modest—roughly $1/month as a lightweight starter option.
What's included in the free tier
- No SLA for the Free tier; suitable for experimentation and development only.
- Pay only for underlying resources while using the Free tier.
- Free tier clusters are not meant to run at scale beyond 10 nodes.
- Free tier is not intended for workloads requiring high availability.
- Monthly uptime goal above 99.5% for the Kubernetes API server on the Free plan.
See Azure Kubernetes Service pricing for current limits.
Paid plans
Standard
- cluster node limit
- up to 5,000
- control plane SLA
- financially backed
- kubernetes version support
- standard support
- Financially backed API server uptime SLA
- Standard tier for production workloads
- Up to 5,000 cluster nodes
- Standard Kubernetes version support
- Compute charges billed separately
Premium
- cluster node limit
- up to 5,000
- support window
- 2 years with LTS
- kubernetes version support
- extended support
- Long-term support for Kubernetes versions
- Bug fixes and security updates extended for one year beyond community support
- Available for LTS-capable Kubernetes versions
- Standard cluster requirement
- Compute charges billed separately
Pricing extracted from Azure Kubernetes Service's pricing page. Always verify current pricing before committing.
Common questions
Is Azure Kubernetes Service free forever?
Yes. Azure Kubernetes Service has a permanent free tier alongside its paid plans, though the allowance typically resets each month.
Does Azure Kubernetes Service require a credit card?
Yes. Azure Kubernetes Service asks for a card at signup, even for the free tier.
What is Azure Kubernetes Service's free tier worth?
We estimate Azure Kubernetes Service's free tier is worth about $1.00 per month. That maps to an FTV score of 34/100. See freetier.co/ftv for how we calculate it.
