The following Esri user accounts give access to ArcGIS Online using the ArcGIS API for Python:

1. An anonymous user account that gives you access to ArcGIS Online without passing in any user information. This is a quick solution for testing some basic functionality but doesn't offer any advanced functionality that comes with a personalized account. We'll cover this option as we proceed further in two of the three hands-on exercises in this chapter.
2. An ArcGIS Online organizational account (or Portal for ArcGIS account). This requires a (paid) subscription to ArcGIS Online or Portal for ArcGIS. This option gives you the most functionality possible but is not covered here.
3. An ArcGIS Enterprise trial account. This option is free and provides you with service credits that are required for creating maps and publishing content. This trial account only lasts for 21 days and after that has to be transferred to a paid account in order to be continued. Setting up a trial account is covered as we proceed further.
4. A free Esri developer account. This account is part of the ArcGIS Developer program that gives you 50 service credits for developing and testing personal apps, as well as using ArcGIS Online, among others. This option is covered as we proceed further.
5. Finally, there's the option to create a public ArcGIS account and log in to ArcGIS Online using a web browser. Using these login details, you can now connect to ArcGIS Online with the API, but with limited functionality. This option was added in the 1.3 version of the API and is not covered here.

Summarizing the previously mentioned points, we have covered a number of different user accounts to access ArcGIS Online with the API. A personalized account gives you added functionality over an anonymous one. We'll use both types for the exercises later in this chapter. Let's now look at how the API is organized into different modules and what functionality they offer.