AWS Free Tier Usage Limits means the specific amounts of cloud resources you can use for free when you start with Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS does not let you use unlimited services for free — instead, it gives certain monthly limits and time-based limits so that beginners can learn and build without paying immediately. AWS Free Tier is very helpful for students and developers who want to practise cloud computing basics without spending money. Understanding these limits carefully helps you avoid unexpected charges later when your usage goes beyond what is free.

What is AWS Free Tier?

AWS Free Tier Usage Limits are the conditions that tell you:

• How much of a service you can use for free each month

• How long the free usage lasts (e.g., 12 months or always free)

• What happens when you exceed the free usage limits

AWS Free Tier has three parts:

1. 12-Month Free Tier:
   For new AWS accounts, many services are free for up to 12 months starting from the day you create your AWS account. AWS Documentation

2. Always Free:
   Some services are free forever (with monthly limits) as long as you keep using them.

3. Short-Term Trials:
   Some services offer free usage for a limited time or usage count when you activate that service. 

AWS Free Tier Usage Limits Explained

12-Month Free Tier Limits

When you create a new AWS account, AWS gives many services free usage for 12 months. You must stay within these limits each month or you will be charged regular rates.

Important examples of 12-month limits (typical popular ones) include:

Amazon EC2 (Compute Instances)

• 750 hours per month of Linux/Windows t2.micro or t3.micro instances
  • This is roughly enough to run one small virtual server all month.
  • If you run two instances, the hours are shared — so you will likely be charged.

Amazon S3 (Storage)

• 5 GB of Standard storage
• 20,000 GET requests & 2,000 PUT requests per month
• Storage space counts the data you keep; requests count the times you read/write data.

Amazon RDS (Databases)

• 750 hours per month of eligible small DB instance (MySQL/PostgreSQL etc.)
• 20 GB storage + 20 GB backup storage
  This allows you to run a small relational database for free.

AWS Lambda (Serverless Functions)

• 1 million free requests per month
• 400,000 GB-seconds of compute time per month
  Lambda is always free (even after the 12 months), up to these monthly limits.

Amazon CloudFront

• 50 GB of data transfer out
• 2 million HTTP/HTTPS requests per month
  Useful for distributing website content globally.

Always Free Tier (No Expiry)

Some services give free usage every month without an expiration, as long as you keep an AWS account active.

Examples of always-free limits include:

• AWS Lambda: 1M requests + 400,000 GB-seconds
• Amazon DynamoDB: 25 GB storage + millions of read/write units
• Amazon CloudWatch: 10 custom metrics + 10 alarms
• Amazon SNS: 1M publishes
• Amazon SQS: 1M requests

These always-free offers are very helpful for small applications or learning purposes.

How AWS Counts Free Tier Usage

AWS measures your usage automatically across regions. For example:

• Each month resets your usage (you don’t save unused free limits to the next month).
• If you exceed the limit for a service in that month, AWS immediately starts charging you at standard rates.
• AWS sends email alerts when you reach about 85% of a service’s free limit, so you can adjust usage.

Practical Explanation — What This Means For You

Suppose you want to learn AWS and practise with cloud services:

• If you use only one EC2 small instance and do not upload huge data, you can run it throughout the month without cost for the first year.
• If you frequently upload and download files from S3 within 5 GB and stay within request counts, you won’t be billed.
• If you build serverless applications with Lambda and keep requests under 1M per month, that is free forever.

These limits let you practice building real applications without paying — but only if you understand and watch your monthly usage.

Common Mistakes Beginners Make

1. Thinking “Free Tier is unlimited.”
   AWS Free Tier has clear limits — once you go above them, you will be billed.
2. Keeping many services running at the same time.
   Multiple EC2 instances eat your free hours fast.
3. Not checking usage alerts.
   Without tracking, you may exceed a free limit and get billed without knowing.
4. Confusing always-free with 12-month free.
   Some resources are always free (like Lambda limits), while others expire after 12 months.