B1s/B2ats_v2 VM sizes show "NotAvailableForSubscription" on Free Trial subscription (Azure Plan 1)

Question

I have an Azure Free Trial subscription (Azure Plan billing model). When creating a VM, sizes labeled "free services eligible" (e.g., Standard_B1s, Standard_B2ats_v2) show error "NotAvailableForSubscription: This size is currently unavailable in [region] for this subscription" — tested in Sweden Central, East US, and East US 2, all fail the same way. Regular non-free-labeled sizes (e.g., B2s_v2, D2ls_v5) work fine in the same regions. My vCPU quota is not the issue (3-4 vCPU regional quota, currently at 0% usage). Microsoft.Compute resource provider is registered. Is this a known restriction for Azure Plan-based free trial subscriptions? Is there a way to enable free-tier VM SKU eligibility without upgrading to Pay-As-You-Go?

Answer 1

Hello @Nadeem

For Azure Free Trial subscriptions, certain VM sizes may be restricted even if they are labeled as “free services eligible”. This is typically due to SKU retirement, regional capacity, or subscription limitations. Unfortunately, Free Trial subscriptions cannot request quota increases, which means that retired or restricted SKUs like Standard_B1s cannot be enabled in those subscriptions.

As an alternative, you might consider using newer VM sizes such as Bsv2 or Dsv5, which are actively supported and available in more regions. These sizes are not restricted and may better suit your needs without requiring an upgrade to Pay-As-You-Go

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Answer 2

NotAvailableForSubscription for Standard_B1s or Standard_B2ats_v2 on a Free Trial subscription is consistent with subscription-level SKU restrictions, not a VM quota issue.

Supported facts from the documented guidance:

1. This error occurs when the selected VM SKU is not available for the subscription in that region or zone.
2. Azure CLI and PowerShell SKU queries can show restricted SKUs as NotAvailableForSubscription.
3. The documented workaround is to use a different VM size or a different region.
4. If the required SKU must be used in that region, the documented path is to submit a SKU request to Azure Support.

For the scenario described, the practical checks are:

1. Verify the SKU restriction directly with Azure CLI:

      az vm list-skus --location eastus --size Standard_B --all --output table
   

   Repeat for eastus2 and swedencentral.
2. Check whether the size is marked as restricted for the subscription. If the output indicates NotAvailableForSubscription, that confirms the subscription-level restriction.
3. In the Azure portal, start creating a VM and use Size → See all sizes to confirm which sizes are actually available for that subscription and region.
4. If B1s or B2ats_v2 is required, submit a SKU request to Azure Support.

The provided material does not document any specific Azure Plan 1 Free Trial rule that enables those free-tier VM SKUs on request, and it does not document a self-service switch to turn on free-tier VM SKU eligibility without upgrading. The supported conclusion is only that these SKUs can be restricted at the subscription level even when quota is available, and the documented remedies are changing region, changing size, or submitting a SKU request.

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