Guidance on Marketplace Rewards Azure sponsorship use cases
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Marketplace Rewards partners can use Azure sponsorships to support customer deployments and no-cost trials of Marketplace offers.
- Announcement date: June 25, 2026
- Workspace: General
- Impacted audience: Marketplace Rewards partners using Azure sponsorships for customer deployments or no-cost trial offers in Microsoft Marketplace.
Details
Marketplace Rewards provides eligible software development companies with Azure sponsorship benefits designed to accelerate sales through Microsoft Marketplace. By understanding current Azure sponsorship guidance, you can maximize benefit value and support successful Marketplace outcomes.
Key details
- Azure sponsorships can be awarded to customers to support deployments tied to Marketplace deals, reducing costs and accelerating adoption. Sponsorship usage must align with current program policies and eligibility requirements
- Partners can use Azure sponsorships to offset infrastructure costs from no-cost trials of Marketplace offers. Sponsorships for no-cost trials apply to eligible software as a service (SaaS) and Azure Application offers hosted on a partner tenant with no-cost trial capability enabled or a 0 USD SKU
- Beginning in FY27, Azure sponsorship moves to use case-specific allocations, with separate allowances for customer deployments (larger, dedicated allocation) and no-cost trials (smaller, dedicated allocation), as part of Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace. This new unified Microsoft offering for software companies, launching this fall, brings together independent software vendor (ISV) Success, Marketplace Rewards, Azure IP co-sell, and Solutions Partner* with certified software** designations - so partners can accelerate publishing, monetize faster through Marketplace, and drive more predictable revenue growth
*"Solutions Partner" refers to a company that is a member of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program and might offer software, services, and/or solutions to customers. Reference to “Solutions Partner” in any content, materials, resources, web properties, etc. and any associated designation shouldn't be interpreted as an offer, endorsement, guarantee, proof of effectiveness or functionality, a commitment, or any other type of representation or warranty on the part of Microsoft.
All decisions pertaining to and related to your business needs, including but not limited to strategies, solutions, partner selection, implementation, etc., rest solely with your business.
**A certification is (1) specific to the solution’s interoperability with Microsoft products and (2) based on self-attestation by the solution owner. Solutions are only certified as of the date the solution is reviewed. Solution functionality and capability are controlled by the solution owner and might be subject to change. The inclusion of a solution in Marketplace and any such designations shouldn't be interpreted as an offer, endorsement, guarantee, proof of effectiveness or functionality, a commitment, or any other type of representation or warranty on the part of Microsoft.
All decisions pertaining to and related to your business needs, including but not limited to strategies, solutions, partner selection, implementation, etc. rest solely with your business.
Next steps
Review the Marketplace Rewards Azure sponsorship policy guide.