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Microsoft Dev Box

Streamline development with secure, ready-to-code workstations in the cloud

Enable self-service, on-demand development

Microsoft Dev Box is an Azure service that gives developers access to ready-to-code, project-specific dev boxes that are preconfigured and centrally managed. Support hybrid dev teams of any size with high-performance, cloud-based workstations, and let developers focus on writing code by streamlining access to the tools they need.

Preconfigured project- and task-based dev boxes can be deployed on demand by developers based on their needs

Windows-based dev boxes support all the tools and resources needed for desktop, mobile, web apps, and game development

Comprehensive access controls and a centralized view of all dev boxes across the organization help maximize security

Transform the developer workstation

Support any developer workload with self-service, on-demand dev boxes. Streamline developer onboarding by providing a library of project- and task-specific dev boxes in the cloud that are preconfigured with everything they need to start coding immediately. Create dev boxes to experiment on a proof of concept, keep your projects separate, and set up parallel tasks across multiple dev boxes to avoid bogging down your primary environment.

Streamline dev team collaboration

Create and maintain dev box images with all the tools and dependencies your devs need to build and run apps. Support any project—including desktop and mobile development, gaming, and IoT—using any tool that runs on Windows. Quickly assign dev boxes based on Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) groups, limiting access for certain roles while giving greater control to others. Instantly scale compute resources to upgrade aging hardware and allocate more compute power for high-demand workloads.

Manage and secure dev workstations

Take advantage of unified management, security, and compliance by building on Windows 365 to interoperate with Microsoft Intune and Microsoft Endpoint Manager. Easily control permissions and policies from one dev box to another using Azure AD, and deploy via the Azure global network to ensure a high-fidelity development experience. Keep dev boxes up to date by pushing out zero-day patches across the organization, and isolate compromised dev boxes to avoid exposing sensitive data.

Comprehensive security and compliance, built in

Microsoft Dev Box pricing

Pay as you go with your existing eligible Microsoft 365 or Windows licenses. Deploy dev boxes tailored to the needs of your developers without wasting compute.

Get started with an Azure free account

Start free. Get $200 credit to use within 30 days. While you have your credit, get free amounts of many of our most popular services, plus free amounts of 55+ other services that are always free.

After your credit, move to pay as you go to keep building with the same free services. Pay only if you use more than your free monthly amounts.

After 12 months, you'll keep getting 55+ always-free services—and still pay only for what you use beyond your free monthly amounts.

Frequently asked questions about Microsoft Dev Box

  • Dev Box is available in preview in Australia East, Europe West, Japan East, Canada Central, UK South, US East, US East 2, US South Central, and US West 3.
  • Most modern devices with an internet connection can access dev boxes, including devices supported by Windows 10, Windows 11, Mac OS, iOS, and Android. You can access dev boxes through the Microsoft Remote Desktop app or directly within an HTML5-capable browser. Certain features may require specific hardware.
  • Dev Box aims to empower development teams to build any application on any tech stack using any tool. While in preview, as the service is starting with Windows support, any tool that works on the Windows operating system can be installed on a dev box. Dev boxes also support development and debugging of applications and cross-platform applications that run on Linux using Windows Subsystem for Linux.
  • No, you need an internet connection to use Dev Box. When Dev Box is interoperable with Windows 365, it will take advantage of the cloud-based service's innovations, including the offline support planned for a future release of Windows 365.
  • Dev Box supports custom images through Azure Compute Gallery. Dev infrastructure teams can attach a compute gallery to the service and use the custom images from the specific compute gallery while creating dev boxes. Plans to support building custom images are in the works.
  • To use Dev Box, each user must be licensed for Windows 11 Enterprise or Windows 10 Enterprise, Microsoft Endpoint Manager, and Azure Active Directory P1. In addition to being available independently, these licenses are included in Microsoft 365 F3, Microsoft 365 E3, Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft 365 A3, Microsoft 365 A5, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, and Microsoft 365 Education Student Use Benefit subscriptions.

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