Getting Started

Be aware that Free Tier does mean always free. There are substantial limits on what you can do with a free tier account and very few barriers to prevent you from inadvertently activating a product with an associated cost. In addition, the items covered in the essentials tutorials were free at the time of publication. It is possible that the free tier boundaries will change in the future.

NOTE: You are responsible for any costs associated with your Amazon Web Services (AWS) account.

Once you are ready to setup your account, visit aws.amazon.com and click the Create an AWS Account button.

Provide Root Account Info

Root user email address: Enter the email address for the root user of this account. This user will have access to do everything within this account.
AWS account name: A username for this account. This can be anything you choose.

Click Verify email address.

Verify Your Email Address

A verification code will be sent to the root email address you provided in the prior step. 

Enter the verification code and click Verify

Create Root User Password

Once your root email address is verified, you will be prompted to create a password for the root user.

Remember that this user will have access to do EVERYTHING in AWS so make sure it is secure.

Enter your desired password and then enter it again to confirm.

You will then need to enter the displayed characters for the security check

Click Continue (step 1 of 5)

Enter Contact Information

You need to provide all of your contact information for the root user.

You must also check the box indicating that you have read and accept all the terms.

Click Continue (step 2 of 5)

Enter Payment Information

Remember that the free tier does not mean you cannot incur costs. It only means that there are some products with options that are free for a limited time. If you ever use a product with a cost, YOU WILL BE CHARGED.

Enter in all your payment information.

Click Continue (step 3 of 5)

Confirm Your Identity (part one)

Amazon Web Services (AWS) goes out of its way to ensure that you are who you say you are. You will be sent another verification code.
Enter the phone number where you would like to receive the verification code via text. You also have the option to verify using a voice call.

Enter the characters provided with the security check.

Click Send SMS (step 4 of 5)

Confirm Your Identity (part two)

Enter the verification code.

Click Continue (step 4 of 5)

Choose Support Level

The free tier provides only basic support. You will receive support for your account and billing only. No technical support for any Amazon Web Services (AWS) products is provided.

Click Complete sign up

Access the Management Console

Your account is now created. To start using it you need to access the console.

Click Go to the AWS Management Console

Sign In (part one)

The only user we have for this account is the Root user so ensure that option is selected.

Root user email address: Enter the email address you used when creating this account.

Click Next

Sign In (part two)

Password: Enter the password you created for this root user.

Click Sign in

Sign In (part three)

Security Check: Enter the displayed characters to confirm you are a human.

Click Submit

Sign In (part four)

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is very careful about making sure that the users are who they say they are and human.

Verification code: Enter the verification code sent to the email address for this root user.

Click Submit

Explore the Management Console

You are now on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Management Console and can begin to explore.

All Done

You now have an AWS free tier account that you can use to try out different products and learn how cloud computing with Amazon Web Services works. Remember that you are responsible for any costs incurred as you use products.

You may return to the Amazon Web Services Essentials tutorial for the additional steps.