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Microsoft Business Central CDX Environment

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Posted on by Ahmad Subhani

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Hi, Thank You in Advance
I am a Consultant by Profession so I need a CDX Environment in which I can do development and can give Demo's.

Is it Possible to get a CDX Environment for Free.

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Dynamics 365 Business Central

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OussamaSabbouh 20,124 Super User 2026 Season 2 on at

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Hello Ahmad,
Yes, but with an important distinction: CDX has been renamed Microsoft Demo Experience (MDX). If your organization is enrolled in Microsoft Partner Center and your account is eligible for MDX, you can claim Business Central demo tenants through aka.ms/CDX; Microsoft currently provides limited 90-day and one-year demo tenants, depending on your MDX roles/limits. These environments are intended for demos and training, not production, and they expire. If your main purpose is ongoing AL development + testing + customer demos, the more appropriate option is the Dynamics 365 Business Central Partner Sandbox license, which Microsoft specifically supports for learning, development, testing, and demos, but that license is not free and currently requires at least five licenses per tenant. If you aren't enrolled as a Microsoft partner, there isn't a generally available free permanent CDX/MDX environment; you can instead use the standard Business Central free trial/sandbox temporarily for AL development. So: partner + MDX entitlement → demo tenant without purchasing normal BC production licenses; permanent development environment → Partner Sandbox license.
Regards,
Oussama Sabbouh
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YUN ZHU 103,644 Super User 2026 Season 2 on at

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Yes, hope the following helps.
How to create a new Demo & Trial Business Central tenant via Microsoft Demo eXperiences (MDX) – formerly CDX
https://yzhums.com/72433/

Thanks.
ZHU
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AndrewThomas81 3,013 Super User 2026 Season 2 on at

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Yes I use one

Kind Regards

Andrew Thomas FCCA MCP
YouTube - Use Business Central
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Grigorios Mavrogeorgis 3,638 Super User 2026 Season 2 on at

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Hi, CDX is not really a free public thing, it is tied to a partner account. You sign in with the work account of an organisation that has a Microsoft partner agreement, so as an independent consultant you get in only if you are under some partner's tenant. On your own it will not open.
For demos it is not a big loss though. A Business Central sandbox with the Cronus data covers most of what people want to see, and you can spin one up from a trial and refresh it when it runs out. For development I would go with a container on your own machine, BcContainerHelper and one command, you get whatever version you need with the demo licence inside, no cost.
The only real path to CDX is your company enrolling as a partner, and that is a different conversation, not a free one.
Glad to help - follow up if anything is unclear.
► If this solved it, marking it verified helps others too.
Regards,
Grigorios Mavrogeorgis
Business Central Consultant & AL Developer
Work: Gmsoft Limited
Blog: insidebusinesscentral
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gregorymavrogeorgis