Hi elaine diggle
Thank you for posting in the Microsoft Community forum. I hope you're doing well.
I understand that you have a question if you will be charged of using Hotmail. I would be happy to answer your question.
To answer your question, Hotmail is free to use email. You will only get charge if you subscribed to any services such as Microsoft 365 subscription and others. But if you do not have any subscription, then you will not be charge on anything. You can use Hotmail for free.
Hope it answers your question.
Sincerely
ReynaldoB
Microsoft Community Forum Moderator