Visual Studio Lite benefits - without Azure Credits and Keys

justinroyal​ should have an update for us soon. Thank you! 

An email just went out. Nothing new, same loss of benefits. This "clarification" adds nothing.

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Here's how developer tool access through benefits offerings is changing

As part of the February 13 expansion to the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program benefits offerings—including partner benefits packages, Solutions Partner designations, and specializations—we have made important updates to how developer tools and Azure credits are delivered. These updates are designed so partners can better utilize Azure credits across teams, promote compliant use of partner program benefits, simplify benefits management, and preserve access to core developer tools.

As part of this update, Azure credits are now delivered at the organizational level through your active benefits offering(s) and accessible through the Partner Center benefits dashboard. This pooled model gives partners greater flexibility to allocate credits across teams and projects, helping to reduce unused credits and better align Microsoft Azure usage with real development and testing needs.

Because the changes to how users access developer tools through partner program benefits might require an Azure subscription migration, we strongly encourage you to prepare a change management plan for this transition.

To support clearer entitlement boundaries and modern, cloud-first development workflows, access to some legacy on-premises software downloads and transferable product keys is no longer included with partner program developer benefits. These entitlements remain available through appropriate licensing channels. Importantly, these changes apply only to partner program benefits and do not affect paid Visual Studio subscriptions or SKUs. Partners can also continue to activate IDE licenses for eligible team members via email-based sign-in.

Along with these changes, we're also providing access to additional learning and support resources to foster deeper understanding of the partner program and community-driven guidance of developer best practices. These include many of the existing benefits, such as Visual Studio Live! event discounts, Dometrain, and access to the C# Dev Kit, as well as new benefits like Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program Concierge chat and Azure Community Forums.

Note that these changes will not be retroactively applied. Existing benefits remain in place until renewal, and the updated model applies only at your next renewal or for new purchases made on or after February 13, 2026.

Please review the Microsoft Learn page for more details and additional resources on how to prepare for this change.