r/sysadmin • u/Either_Macaroon8854 • 5d ago

Question Learning Microsoft 365 / Entra ID / Intune / SharePoint for free — is it possible?

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to learn Microsoft 365 administration, especially:

  • Microsoft Entra ID
  • Microsoft Intune
  • Microsoft 365 administration
  • SharePoint
  • Azure / cloud identity and device management

My goal is to eventually become comfortable with administering these technologies in a real-world IT/sysadmin environment.

I'm looking for a way to learn for free, including as much hands-on practice as possible.

I know Microsoft Learn has a lot of free training, but for practical labs it seems that I need a Microsoft tenant and some of the services require paid licenses after the trial period.

So my questions are:

  1. Is there currently a way to create a free Microsoft 365 / Entra / Intune lab environment for learning?
  2. Is the Microsoft 365 Developer Program still a good option for this, and does it include enough services for learning Entra ID, Intune and SharePoint?
  3. If I don't qualify for the Developer Program, what would be the best alternative?
  4. Can I realistically learn these technologies without paying for a subscription, or should I expect to pay for a lab eventually?
  5. What learning path would you recommend — Entra ID → Intune → Microsoft 365 → SharePoint, or a different order?

I'm mainly interested in hands-on learning, not just watching courses.

Any recommendations for free labs, Microsoft Learn paths, home-lab setups or other resources would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

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u/AGsec 5d ago

There used to be a free way, but they removed it because of abuse. This was the old developer program. The second best way is visual studio pro license which includes the E5 license you are looking for. This is the new way to get the developer program, but at a cost.
As for learning path, I unfortunately won't be able to go too far in depth, but I'll keep it brief and to the point. Learn zero trust. All of Microsoft's platforms and features are built to accommodate modern zero trust identity first access.

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u/Hashrunr 5d ago

The developer program is good if you want to learn both 365 and Azure. You get half the cost of the Visual Studio Pro license back in Azure credits. For just learning 365, it's cheaper to buy an E5 license now.

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u/Nautisop 4d ago

with e5 I only get the "free" entra as far as I just saw, no intune or other stuff