Get Started with AWS: Creating a Free Tier Account

This post covers the AWS Free Tier Account Overview. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is providing Free Tier accounts to new subscribers to get hands-on experience with all the AWS cloud services.

Important Note:

1. When attempting to create a Free AWS account, there is a high likelihood of encountering issues or facing restrictions if the same email, phone number, IP address, or other identical details have been used in previous registrations.
2. To ensure a smooth experience and prevent any potential complications, we recommend opting for a Pay-As-You-Go account.
3. With a Pay-As-You-Go account, you will only be charged for the services you use, providing greater flexibility and eliminating the risk of account limitations.
4. To avoid incurring unnecessary charges, we advise you to delete any resources that are no longer needed after completing your labs or tasks. This will help you manage your account efficiently while avoiding additional costs.

In this AWS Free Tier account, Amazon is giving a number of different services with some limitations to get hands-on practice and more knowledge on AWS Cloud services, as well as regular business use. The AWS Free Tier is mainly designed to give hands-on experience with AWS Cloud Services for customers free of cost for 6 Months. With the AWS Free Tier account, all the services offered have a limit on what we can use without being charged.

Read: What is AWS Console

Important: 

When attempting to create an AWS account, there is a high likelihood of encountering issues or facing restrictions if the same email, phone number, IP address, or other identical details have been used in previous registrations. 

To ensure a smooth experience and prevent any potential complications, we recommend opting for a Pay-As-You-Go account.

With a Pay-As-You-Go account, you will only be charged for the services you use, providing greater flexibility and eliminating the risk of account limitations.

To avoid incurring unnecessary charges, we advise you to delete any resources that are no longer needed after completing your labs or tasks. This will help you manage your account efficiently while avoiding additional costs.

Get started with your Pay-As-You-Go account here: Upgrading To a Paid Plan To Use All Services

REGISTER FOR AWS FREE-TIER ACCOUNT

Step 1: First, open your web browser and navigate to the AWS Free Tier Page
Step 2: On the middle click of Create a Free Account

Step 3: Verify your email address.

• Provide password: Provide the details that you want to use to log in to your AWS account, and click on Continue

• Email address: Enter the email ID that hasn’t been registered yet with Amazon AWS  
• Password: Type your Password  
• Confirm password: Confirm the Password  
• Captcha: Enter the given security check

AWS offers two plans for new customers: the Free Plan and the Paid Plan. Since we will be building production-ready workloads and using AI/ML services like SageMaker, OpenSearch, and other advanced services, we recommend selecting the Paid Plan.

Paid Plan Benefits:

• Access to over 150 AWS services, including AI/ML, Compute, Databases, Storage, and more.
• Receive up to $200 USD in credits to explore and test services. Gain $100 USD credits at sign-up and up to $100 USD more to earn as you explore key AWS services.
• Enjoy free usage of select services within credit limits.
• Pay only when your usage exceeds the credit thresholds.
• Scale workloads beyond the free-tier limits as your projects grow.
• Full access to all AWS features and services for development, testing, and production environments.

Choosing the Paid Plan ensures you can use all cloud services without limitations. This is essential for AI/ML projects, data engineering, and advanced cloud workloads that may exceed the Free Tier usage limits. It also allows you to develop real-world production-ready applications while still enjoying initial credits.

Step 4: Contact Information
Select your AWS type (Professional/ Personal). Fill in the correct information to validate your account if you’re going to create a personal use account, then click on “Personal Account”; otherwise, use “Company Account”, accept the Terms and Conditions, and then click on Create Account and Continue

Note: Make sure to provide proper contact details and mobile number to get the Verification code from AWS.
Step 5: Payment and PAN information: In this step, you must fill in your credit card /Debit Card info and billing address and click on Secure Submit.

Read AWS CLI Secrets Manager.

Step 6: In this step, it will take you to the payment gateway to validate your payment information, and for your credit card verification, Amazon will charge the minimum price based on your Country. Here I have provided India, so Amazon charged 2 INR.

Step 7: Phone verification: Here, you will be taken to an identity verification page that will already have your phone number, so you just have to select either “Text message or Voice call.” Provide a valid phone number, solve the captcha, and then click on Send SMS or Call Me Now(depending upon your selection).

Step 8: After clicking on Send SMS or Call me Now, you will immediately receive a call or SMS from Amazon for a verification code. Enter your code, then click on Verify Code.

Step 9: Support plan: AWS support offers a selection of plans to meet your business needs.
Select your suitable plan, then click continue.

Note: All customers receive free basic support.

Step 10: Registration Confirmation page.
Once you have completed all the above steps and processes. You’ll get the confirmation page below. Now your account will be processed for activation. It may take somewhere between 30 minutes and 1 hour for you to receive an email confirmation that your Amazon Cloud Services account has been activated.

In this Blog, we have successfully created the AWS Free Tier Account.

Log in to the AWS Console

Note: Make Sure you log in as the root user in your AWS Account.

Step 1: Open your web browser, navigate to https://aws.amazon.com/console/, and click on Sign In to the console.

Step 2: Enter the username that you have chosen while creating the account and click on Next. 

Step 3: Enter the password associated with the user and then click on Sign in.

Step 4: You can see the home screen below after you log in. 

Add MFA

Note: For security reasons, you need to add MFA, which provides an extra layer of security

Step 1: Navigate to IAM

Step 2: In the IAM dashboard, you will see the Add MFA button. Click on it

Step 3: Provide the MFA device name and then select the MFA device as the Authenticator app. Click on Next.

Step 4: Now, install Google Authenticator on your phone.

Android: Click here

IOS: Click here

Step 5: Now open the Google Authenticator App, click on Get Started, and scan the QR code.

Step 6: Now, click on Show QR Code in AWS Console and open the Google Authenticator app on your phone. Scan the code in the phone and then enter the code from your Phone into MFA code 1 and MFA code 2.

Then, click on the Add MFA button.

Note: Take a screenshot of the code so that in the future, if you lose your phone, you can use it to re-enable MFA

Step 7: Now you will see that the device has been added for MFA

Now you have successfully activated MFA on your root account settings.

5.1 Accessing AWS Console Using MFA

Step 1: Open your AWS console login page and click on Root User, then enter your email ID and click on Next.

Step 2: Enter your Password corresponding to the Email address.

Step 3: Use your Google Authenticator Application on mobile and enter the MFA code in the AWS Console.

Verify Your Account

AWS Support offers four support plans: Basic, Developer, Business, and Enterprise. 

By default, we have a basic plan, and if you want to change your plan, you can change it accordingly 

To verify your account plan, click on this link: 

https://console.aws.amazon.com/support/plans/home#/ 

Free Tier Limits

• Monthly 750 hours of Amazon EC2 Cloud computing capability that is scalable.
• 5 GB of basic storage on Amazon S3, Infrastructure for scalable, robust, and secure object storage.
• Monthly database usage allotted to Amazon RDS 750 hours (for relevant database engines), SQL Server, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, and MySQL managed relational database services.
• 5 GB of Amazon EFS storage. A shared file storage solution that is easy to use and scales for Amazon EC2 instances.
• 30 GB of General Purpose (SSD) or Magnetic Elastic Block Storage from Amazon Elastic Store is long-lasting, dependable, low-latency block-level storage volumes for EC2 instances.

Troubleshooting

1. OTP not received on your Mobile

Error: While creating an AWS Account, if didn’t receive an SMS or call to complete the identity verification process.

Cause: There might be some error from the backend of AWS, The Server might be busy at that time, or you might have entered the wrong number. Also, there might be a possibility that the country is not supported by AWS.

Fix: There are several fixes to this issue:

1. You’ve entered the correct telephone number and selected your country code correctly during the sign-up process.
2. If you have entered the Correct Telephone number & Country Code and are still not able to receive the SMS or Voice call, then you need to create a Case with the AWS Support Team. In this case, they will help you to verify the telephone number.
   Please follow the steps below: Create the Case with AWS Support.
   • Visit AWS Support from the link
     https://support.console.aws.amazon.com/support/home?region=us-east-1#/ 
   • Click on Create Case.
     

• • Select the Account and Billing
    Service: Account Activation
    Category: Account Verification
    Severity: General Question
    Click on Next Steps: Additional Information

• • Here, define the complete issues that you are facing, and then click on Solve Now or Contact Us. Once the case is created, you have the option to connect with them via Email or Live Chat to resolve your issues

2. The account is on Hold

Error: AWS Account is on Hold

Cause: There can be several reasons why an AWS account is put on hold. Some common causes include:

1. Payment Issues: If there are problems with the payment method linked to the AWS account, such as an expired credit card or insufficient funds, AWS may place the account on hold.
2. Verification Required: AWS might require additional verification of account ownership or billing information, and until the verification is completed, the account remains on hold.
3. Security Concerns: In some cases, AWS might detect suspicious activities or security issues associated with the account, prompting them to put it on hold for investigation

Fix: To resolve the “AWS account on hold” issue, follow these steps:

Check Payment Method, Contact AWS Support, Provide Documentation &  Check for Email Notifications

Keep in mind that the specific steps to resolve the issue may vary depending on the cause of the account hold. It is essential to address the root cause promptly and follow AWS instructions to lift the hold and regain access to your AWS resources.

Note: You can find all the details in your email.

To download the complete Certified AWS Solutions Architect Exam Questions Guide, click here

3. AWS was not able to validate the provided access credentials

Error: Failed to operate: DescribeAvailabilityZones

Cause: The error “Failed to operate: DescribeAvailabilityZones” indicates that AWS was unable to verify your access credentials. This means it couldn’t confirm your identity and permissions to access the requested information.

This error typically occurs due to: Incorrect Time or Network connectivity issues

Fix:  To fix this issue, check if the timings of your PC (Laptop/Desktop) are correct or not. If it’s not correct, you can update the timings manually and select the option Enable Set Time Automatic.

Related Links/References:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) Free Tier Account Services
  
• Overview of Amazon Web Services & Concepts
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate SAA-C03 Exam
• Amazon Elastic File System User Guide
• AWS Management Console Walkthrough
• AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional DOP-C02 Exam

Next Task For You

Begin your journey towards an AWS Cloud by joining our FREE Informative Class on Amazon Cloud Free Class by clicking on the image below.