Save Money with AWS Promotional Credits for Alexa
Build and Host Most Alexa Skills for Free
Alexa developers can build and host most Alexa skills for free using Amazon Web Services (AWS). Many Alexa skill developers currently take advantage of the AWS Free Tier, which offers one million AWS Lambda requests and up to 750 hours of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) compute time per month at no charge. However, if developers exceed the AWS Free Tier limits, they may incur AWS usage charges each month.
Developers with a published Alexa skill can apply to receive a $100 AWS promotional credit, and in subsequent months may be eligible to receive an additional $100 per month in AWS promotional credits if they incur AWS usage charges for their skill, making it free for developers to build and host most Alexa skills. All you have to do is apply.
To receive your first $100 AWS promotional credit, you must build and publish a skill. Learn more about how to build your first skill.
To apply, all you need is your Amazon developer vendor ID, AWS account ID, and contact information. Apply now.
We will email you when your application has been accepted and the $100 AWS promotional credit has been applied to your account. The credit is valid for one year.
After receiving your initial credit, you are automatically eligible to receive a $100 AWS promotional credit each month if your AWS usage surpasses the AWS Free Usage Tier.
It’s free for you to build skills using the AWS Free Usage Tier, which offers one million AWS Lambda requests and up to 750 hours of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) compute time per month at no charge. You can enhance and scale your skills using additional AWS offerings like such as Amazon EC2, Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon DynamoDB, and Amazon CloudFront. Whether it’s computing power, database storage, content delivery, or other functionality, AWS has a wide range of services to help developers build sophisticated applications with increased flexibility, scalability and reliability.
Learn more about how to use AWS services to unlock your skill's potential.
- How do I know if I am eligible to receive AWS promotional credits?
All developers with at least one live skill who apply for the program will be eligible for a one-time $100 AWS promotional credit, valid for 12 months. After receiving an initial credit, eligibility for additional monthly credits is determined on a month-by-month basis. Developers are eligible to receive a $100 monthly AWS promotional credit if (1) at least one skill is live at 11:59 PM Pacific Time (PT) the end of the prior month, (2) they received their initial AWS promotional credit in a previous month, and (3) an AWS usage charge related to an Alexa skill was incurred in the prior month. - What qualifies as having a live skill?
If the skill is in the “live” publication status in on the last day of the month, it qualifies as a live skill. You can check the status of your skills in the developer console here: https://developer.amazon.com/edw/home.html#/skills/list. - I’m not eligible yet. Do I need to wait to apply?
No, feel free to apply now, even before you’ve published your first skill. Once you’ve become eligible and your application has been accepted, the first credit will be sent to the primary communication email address on your Amazon developer account on or around the 15th of the month. - Where can I find my Vendor ID and my AWS Account ID?
To find your Vendor ID, log in to the developer portal and then visit https://developer.amazon.com/mycid.html. To find your AWS Account ID, log in to the AWS console and then visit https://console.aws.amazon.com/billing/home?#/account. - Do I need to apply for the monthly AWS promotional credits separately?
No, you only need to apply once. - When will I receive AWS promotional credits?
If you are eligible, the $100 AWS promotional credit will automatically be applied to your AWS account and is valid for one year from the date of issue. You will be notified via email on or around the 15th of the month following your acceptance into the program. For example, if your application was accepted in March, credits will be applied to your AWS account and you will be emailed in April. If your Alexa skill incurs AWS usage charges in April, additional credits will be applied to your AWS account in May, which can only be used toward charges incurred in May. - How do I apply the promotional credit to my AWS account?
Your promotional credit will be applied to your AWS account automatically. As of February 2018, you no longer need to manually apply a promotional code to your AWS account. To view your active promotional credits, see the Credits page of your AWS account. - I am eligible for AWS promotional credit but did not receive it. What happened?
Because only one credit per month is allocated per vendor it is sent to the primary communication email address on your Amazon developer account, not the contact email in your application. Check to see what your primary communication email address is here: https://developer.amazon.com/settings/profile/detail.html. - Do credits accumulate month-over-month?
With the exception of the first credit, which expires after 12 months, AWS promotional credits expire at the end of the calendar month in which they were issued and do not accumulate. To check the expiration date of a credit, refer to the Credits section of the AWS Billing and Cost Management Dashboard here: https://console.aws.amazon.com/billing/home#/credits. - Do I get more credits if I have built multiple skills or skills in multiple locales?
Only one AWS promotional credit per month will be given per Vendor ID, independent of the number of skills or locales associated with the account. - Can I give the AWS promotional credit to a friend?
AWS promotional credits are non-transferrable and are intended to be used for AWS usage charges you incur for services used in connection with a live Alexa skill. Redeeming a promotional code on an unrelated AWS Account is a violation of the terms and conditions and may result in loss of eligibility or forfeiture. - Can credits be split across multiple AWS accounts?
No. Each promotional credit code can only be redeemed once and only on one AWS account. If you have multiple AWS accounts, you could qualify to receive promotional credit for each of those accounts if each account has at least one live Alexa skill associated with it. - What happens if a skill gets suppressed because of policy violation, developer request, etc.?
Applicant eligibility is checked on the last day of each month. The vendor must have at least one skill in the live state to receive an AWS promotional credit.
If you have any other questions please refer to the developer forum. For any account-specific questions please contact us directly.
To qualify for a one-time $100 AWS promotional credit under this offer, you must apply for the offer using the form above and have a live Alexa skill. To receive additional AWS promotional credits under this offer, the following conditions must be met as of 11:59 PM PT on the last day of the month immediately preceding the month in which you receive the promotional credit: (i) you must have a live Alexa skill; and (ii) you must have incurred usage charges under your AWS account. Amazon reserves the right to limit application of the promotional credits received under this offer to usage charges incurred for AWS services used in connection with a live Alexa skill. Your participation in this offer is subject to the agreement between you and AWS governing your use of AWS services and the App Distribution and Services Agreement. The promotional credits received under this offer are subject to the AWS Promotional Credit Terms and Conditions, currently available at https://aws.amazon.com/awscredits.