How to qualify for free 365 developer sandbox subscription?

Question

Hello MS team,

I tried to create a developer account to get access to free 365 subscription, but after joining the dashboard says that I don't qualify currently. Is there a way to get free trial with personal microsoft account? Thank you.

Answer 1

Hi @Ksenia

The following sign-in options are not currently supported by the Microsoft 365 Developer Program:

1. Phone number.
2. Email account with *.onmicrosoft.com domain.

If you're signed in with one of these options, you'll get an error message and will need to sign in with a supported email account. For more information, see **What account can I use to sign up for the Developer Program?
**
Qualifying Microsoft 365 Developer Program members can set up a Microsoft 365 E5 developer subscription for use in building solutions independent of your production environment.

For information on how to join the Microsoft 365 Developer Program, see this document.

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Answer 2

Microsoft changed the requirements for sandbox subscriptions a while back, you need to have a qualifying Visual Studio subscription now: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/subscriptions/vs-m365#eligibility

You can instead sing up for a free trial: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2260943&clcid=0x409&culture=en-us&country=us