Microsoft announced today that they will offer two features in Windows Azure Active Directory free of charge; Access Control and Core Directory and Authentication.

• Access Control provides centralized authentication and authorization by integrating with consumer identity providers such as Facebook or by using an on-premises deployment of the Windows Server Active Directory service. With Access Control, you can create a single application that can allow users to sign in with both their organizational credentials stored in Windows Azure Active Directory or Windows Server Active Directory, or by using popular consumer identity services like Microsoft Account, Facebook, Google, or Twitter. Historically, Access Control has been priced by number of transactions, but now it is available at no charge.
• Core Directory and Authentication enables capabilities such as single sign-on, user and group management, directory synchronization, and directory federation. These capabilities are currently free of charge in the Windows Azure Active Directory Developer Preview and will remain free of charge after Windows Azure Active Directory reaches general availability.

Good times!