I could not connect to ADF. it is asking me to pay-as-you-go. previously with *******@gmail.com

Hey Udaya, it looks like the reason you can’t “open” or connect to ADF any more is that your account no longer has an active Azure subscription. Azure Data Factory (and all other Azure services) require you to have a valid subscription (even if you stay within free-tier or credit limits) before you can author or run pipelines. Once your free trial expires or you close that subscription, you must either reactivate it or sign up for a new pay-as-you-go (PAYG) offer to keep using ADF.

Here’s what you can try:

1. Check your current subscriptions – Sign in to the Azure portal → Subscriptions – Do you see your old trial listed under “Closed” or “Disabled”? If it’s been less than 90 days since you closed it, you can click Reactivate.
2. Create or upgrade to a pay-as-you-go subscription – In the Subscriptions blade, click “+ Add” – Choose “Pay-As-You-Go” – You’ll need to verify an identity (credit card, phone, etc.), but you can stay within free credit limits or only pay for what you actually use.
3. Assign yourself permissions on the Data Factory resource – Once your subscription is live, make sure your user has at least the Data Factory Contributor role on the resource group (or subscription) where you want to create/open ADF.
4. Re-open or create your Data Factory – After subscription is active, go to Create Resource → Analytics → Data Factory, fill in basics, and hit Create. – You’ll be able to connect to the ADF Studio and author pipelines again.

A few notes:

• There’s no perpetual “free tier” for Data Factory beyond the initial trial credits—once those credits are gone, all activity runs, debugging, etc., are billed at PAYG rates.

• If you don’t see the Reactivate option or the “+ Add” subscription button, check that you’re in the right Azure AD tenant (top-right corner) and that your account isn’t blocked or limited.

References

1. Error message when free/trial account expires and requires PAYG upgrade https://learn.microsoft.com/answers/a/12312091?wt.mc_id=knowledgesearch_inproduct_azure-cxp-community-insider
2. Azure subscription management (reactivate, create new) https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/azure-resource-manager/management/azure-subscription-service-limits#subscriptions
3. Azure Data Factory roles & permissions https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/data-factory/concepts-roles-permissions#roles-and-requirements
4. Data Factory pricing overview (so you know what will be billed once you’re on PAYG) https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/details/data-factory/data-pipeline/

Hope that helps! Let me know if you run into any errors re-activating or creating the subscription.

Hi Udaya !

Thank you for posting on MS Learn Q&A.

ADF requires an active Azure subscription and the Azure free account is normally only for new Azure customers and after the free credit period ends Azure asks you to move to pay-as-you-go to continue using services.

If you were previously using ADF through another account or another user subscription, that user needs to add your current account to the subscription or resource group or DF with the correct RBAC role such as contributor.

Closing your old subscription will not usually reset free trial eligibility. If you are eligible, you can check Azure free account or Azure for students.

Otherwise, you will need a pay-as-you-go subscription but you can control costs by setting budgets, alerts, and deleting resources when not in use.

Also, avoid posting your personal email publicly for privacy reasons. :D

Use of Azure Data Factory (ADF) requires an active Azure subscription. A previous free trial or subscription that was created with the Gmail account has likely expired or been closed, so ADF now prompts to create or upgrade to a Pay-As-You-Go subscription.

Key points from the provided information:

1. Free trial limitations
   • Azure free trial can only be activated once per new Azure user. If any Azure subscription (including a previous free trial) has already been used with that Microsoft account, another free trial cannot be created.
   • If a free trial was used before, the only supported path is to upgrade or create a Pay-As-You-Go subscription.
2. “Free trial isn’t available” / “You are not eligible” behavior
   • When trying to sign up again, Azure checks whether there was any previous subscription on that account. If so, it blocks new free trials and may show messages like “Free trial isn't available” or “You are not eligible for an Azure subscription.”
   • The documented guidance in this case is to sign up for a Pay-As-You-Go subscription instead.
3. Subscription closed or blocked
   • If the previous subscription was closed or the tenant was blocked due to inactivity, access to ADF under that subscription is no longer possible.
   • In similar cases, users have had to:
     • Go to https://signup.azure.com in a clean/incognito browser session.
     • Sign in with the same account.
     • Follow the prompts to upgrade/convert to a Pay-As-You-Go subscription when Azure detects an existing (previous) free account.
4. When the portal shows no usable subscription
   • If the Azure portal shows one subscription but it is closed or unusable, and a new free trial is not allowed, the supported option is to create or upgrade to a Pay-As-You-Go subscription.
   • If there is any account or subscription flag preventing this, the resolution requires Azure Support to review and fix the account status.
5. How to proceed in this situation
   • If the goal is to continue using ADF with the same Gmail-based account:
     1. Open a private/incognito browser session.
     2. Go to https://signup.azure.com and sign in with the Gmail-based Microsoft account.
     3. If Azure detects an existing free account, follow the flow to upgrade to Pay-As-You-Go.
   • If the portal or signup flow still does not allow creating/using a subscription, open a billing support request so Azure Support can correct any account flags and finalize or fix the subscription:
     1. Go to the Azure portal support creation page (for example, from the portal’s Help + support section).
     2. Choose Billing as the issue type.
     3. Select the affected subscription (or account) and complete the support request.
     4. Billing support is free and can resolve blocked or incomplete subscription setups.

Without an active subscription, ADF cannot be used for free again under the same account once the initial free trial or previous subscription has ended.

References:

• Troubleshoot issues when you sign up for a new account in the Azure portal
• Error message: AADSTS5000225: This tenant has been blocked due to inactivity. - Microsoft Q&A
• Can't find the subscription - Microsoft Q&A
• I need help with bill waiver on my subscription but cannot open a support ticket. - Microsoft Q&A