🚀 Hosting Solutions Using Azure Always Free Tier Services
Looking to host applications or services without spending a dime? Microsoft Azure offers a powerful Always Free Tier, perfect for developers, students, startups, and hobbyists. These services are available forever (within usage limits), giving you a cost-free way to build real-world applications in the cloud.
In this blog post, we'll explore how you can use Azure’s Always Free services to host a variety of solutions, from static sites to containerized apps.
🆓 Key Azure Always Free Services
Here are some of the top Azure services that are always free:
- Azure App Service – Host up to 10 web, mobile, or API apps (1 GB storage, 1 hour/day compute)
- Azure Functions – 1 million serverless executions per month
- Azure Cosmos DB – 25 GB storage and 1,000 RU/s
- Azure Blob Storage – 5 GB storage with 20K read and 10K write ops
- Azure Event Grid – 100,000 operations/month
- Azure Container Apps – 180,000 vCPU-seconds and 2M requests/month
- Azure IoT Hub – 8,000 device-to-cloud messages/day
- Azure AI Services – Free quotas for vision, language, anomaly detection, etc.
🚀 Hosting Solutions with Azure Always Free Tier
1. 🌐 Static Website Hosting
Services Used: Azure Blob Storage, Azure CDN
Use Case: Personal websites, portfolios, documentation
Steps:
- Upload static files to Azure Blob Storage
- Enable static website hosting
- Use Azure CDN for global delivery + HTTPS
2. ⚙️ Serverless Web Applications
Services Used: Azure App Service, Functions, Cosmos DB, API Management
Use Case: Full-stack web applications
Steps:
- Host frontend via Azure App Service
- Build backend APIs using Azure Functions
- Store data in Cosmos DB
- Manage and expose APIs using API Management
3. 🐳 Containerized Apps
Services Used: Azure Container Apps, Azure Container Registry
Use Case: Microservices, Docker apps, MVPs
Steps:
- Build and push Docker image to Container Registry
- Deploy using Azure Container Apps
4. 📡 IoT Solutions
Services Used: Azure IoT Hub, Functions, Cosmos DB
Use Case: Collect and process IoT device data
Steps:
- Connect devices to IoT Hub
- Trigger functions on new data
- Store results in Cosmos DB
5. 💬 Real-Time Communication
Services Used: Azure Web PubSub, Azure Functions
Use Case: Chat apps, live dashboards, notifications
Steps:
- Set up Web PubSub for messaging
- Process events using Azure Functions
📊 Summary Table
| Solution Type | Key Services | Ideal For |
|---|---|---|
| Static Website | Blob Storage, CDN | Personal sites, documentation |
| Serverless Web App | App Service, Functions, Cosmos DB | Full-stack applications |
| Containerized App | Container Apps, Container Registry | Microservices, Dockerized apps |
| IoT Solution | IoT Hub, Functions, Cosmos DB | Device data collection and processing |
| Real-Time Communication | Web PubSub, Functions | Chat applications, live dashboards |
🚦 Final Thoughts
Azure’s Always Free Tier is a fantastic way to explore cloud computing and build applications at zero cost. Whether you're experimenting with new tech or deploying a real-world project, Azure has the tools to get you started—for free.