I am not getting azure free database 100000 vCore seconds for my sql server database

Venkata Renukaiah Sanaka 20 Reputation points
2026-09-03T00:10:23.3533333+00:00

Hi,

I am using azure free sql server database with monthly 100000 vCore seconds. But suddenly from current month the benefits are not applying. I am unable to create ticket also. Can anyone help me how to use free services.

Azure SQL Database
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SHOUMIK CHAKRAVARTY 245 Reputation points
2026-09-03T02:31:02.6766667+00:00

Thanks for sharing the screenshot.

For your first question - there's no time limit on the offer. The Azure SQL Database free offer runs for the lifetime of your subscription. There's no 10 month or 12 month cap. The "12 months free" you may have seen elsewhere refers to the separate Azure free account offer, which is a different program with a different set of services. The SQL Database free offer doesn't expire.

The monthly allowance is 100,000 vCore seconds, 32 GB data and 32 GB backup storage per free-offer database, and it resets at the start of each calendar month. You can have up to 10 free-offer databases per subscription.

On the seconds remaining not changing

Your screenshot actually shows the benefit is working: "Free database offer: Applied", and the cost summary lists the first 100,000 vCore seconds as free. The reason the number isn't moving is that the database isn't really doing anything. Serverless only burns vCore seconds while the database is active, and your utilization chart shows CPU peaking at about 5%. So barely any consumption, and the remaining count stays put. That's expected, not a missing benefit.

If you want to check it properly, go to the database Overview tab, find "Free monthly vCore amount" and click the seconds remaining. That opens the metrics view with "Free amount consumed". Just make sure the time range covers this month.

If it still looks wrong after that

Could you share:

  1. The exact "seconds remaining" value on this database versus one of the databases that did reset.
  2. A screenshot of the Free amount consumed metric with the time range visible.
  3. How many free-offer databases you have on this subscription (the limit is 10 — an eleventh wouldn't receive the offer).

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  1. SHOUMIK CHAKRAVARTY 245 Reputation points
    2026-09-03T01:04:06.69+00:00

    Hi @Venkata Renukaiah Sanaka -

    The free offer gives each database 100,000 vCore-seconds of compute per month, plus 32 GB of data storage and 32 GB of backup storage, and that resets at the start of every calendar month.

    What happens when you run out depends on the choice made when the database was created. It either auto-pauses and stays unreachable until the next month, or it keeps running and you get billed for whatever you use beyond the free amount.

    One thing to know is that once you move from auto-pause to continue-billing, you can’t move back. The free offer FAQ is explicit about it:

    “You can't revert to the Auto-pause the database until next month option once you've switched to the continue billing option.”

    So if that setting was changed at some point, every month the database will burn through the allowance and then start charging, which feels a lot like the free benefit disappearing.

    The other thing to look at is how quickly you’re getting through the allowance. vCore-seconds tick up whenever the database is awake, so anything that stops it pausing (a monitoring query, a connection pool that never closes, an auto-pause delay that never gets reached) can burn through a month’s worth in a fraction of a month.

    Check Compute + Storage on the database and see which of the two options is set. Cost analysis on the subscription will tell you what’s actually being charged.

    Post back with what that setting says and what you’re seeing on the bill, and it should be clear whether this is the allowance running out or something else.

    Help make this community better for everyone: if this answer resolved your issue, please accept it or leave an upvote. If not, share more details in a comment so we can continue the discussion and find the right solution.

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