Licensing cost guide

Hyper-V and Hypervisor Licensing Cost 2026: List Prices Compared

Hyper-V licensing cost in 2026: Windows Server 2025 Datacenter lists at $6,771 per 16-core pack. Prices for Proxmox, XCP-ng, Azure Local and VMware compared.

Last updated 22 October 2026 Data version 3 Refreshed quarterly 24 sources Cite Download CSV

By Dinesh Kumar. Published by Sysprobs.

Dinesh has worked in IT for about 20 years across virtualisation, networking and Microsoft platforms. He runs Sysprobs.

Windows Server 2025 Datacenter lists at $6,771 per 16-core pack, a one-time licence price at suggested MSRP with unlimited VMs (Microsoft, retrieved 2026-10-07). ^S02

Proxmox VE Premium costs EUR 1,100 per CPU socket per year, net of VAT, on a one-year term (Proxmox Server Solutions, retrieved 2026-10-07). ^S01

The Azure Local host fee is $0.33 per physical core per day, with no minimum and no maximum (Microsoft, retrieved 2026-10-07). ^S08 ^S09

Open the calculator Runs in your browser. No sign-up, nothing sent to a server.

Hyper-V has no separate price: it is licensed through Windows Server. Microsoft lists Windows Server 2025 Datacenter at $6,771 per 16-core pack, a one-time licence price at suggested MSRP, on its pricing page retrieved 2026-10-07 ^S02. Windows Server 2025 Standard lists at $1,176 per 16-core pack and covers 2 VMs per full licensing of the host ^S02. Proxmox VE support subscriptions run from EUR 120 to EUR 1,100 per CPU socket per year, net of VAT, on the pricing page retrieved 2026-10-07 ^S01. As retrieved on 2026-10-07 from Microsoft’s Azure Retail Prices API, the Azure Local host fee is $0.33 per physical core per day ^S08. Microsoft’s billing page states no minimum and no maximum ^S09.

To price your own cluster, open the Hypervisor Licensing Cost Calculator 2026. It turns hosts, sockets, cores and VMs into 1-year and 3-year licence or support costs for Hyper-V, Proxmox VE, XCP-ng, Azure Local and VMware. This page holds the list prices, the rules and the sources behind it. Broadcom publishes no VMware list price, so the VMware rows use the quote you enter.

Key findings

Each finding names the product, the publisher and the retrieval date, and the product version where the source states one.

Windows Server 2025 Datacenter costs $6,771 per 16-core pack, a one-time licence price at suggested MSRP, and covers unlimited VMs plus one Hyper-V host per licence (Microsoft, retrieved 2026-10-07) ^S02.
Windows Server 2025 Standard costs $1,176 per 16-core pack and covers 2 VMs per licensing of the host, relicensed for each further 2 VMs (Microsoft, retrieved 2026-10-07) ^S02 ^S07.
One Windows Server 2025 Datacenter pack costs 5.76 Standard packs, so on list price Datacenter is cheaper from 11 VMs per host (Microsoft, retrieved 2026-10-07) ^derived.
Windows Server 2025 pay-as-you-go through Azure Arc costs $33.58 per core per month, or $402.96 per core per year (Microsoft, retrieved 2026-10-07) ^S02 ^derived.
Proxmox VE costs EUR 120 per CPU socket per year for Community and EUR 1,100 for Premium, net of VAT, on a one-year term (Proxmox Server Solutions, retrieved 2026-10-07) ^S01.
XCP-ng with Vates support costs $1,000 per host per year for Pro, from 3 hosts, and $1,800 for Enterprise, from 4 hosts (Vates, retrieved 2026-10-07) ^S06.
Azure Local (Microsoft, retrieved 2026-10-07) costs $0.33 per physical core per day, or $120.45 per core per year, with no core minimum and no maximum ^S08 ^S09 ^derived.
VMware vSphere 9.0 is sold only inside VMware Cloud Foundation or vSphere Foundation, with no standalone SKU, and Broadcom publishes no list price (Broadcom FAQ, retrieved 2026-10-07) ^S13.
VMware VCF and VVF need at least 16 physical cores licensed per CPU (Broadcom KB article, retrieved 2026-10-07) ^S10. Broadcom’s VCF 9.0 documentation says the same for most products, retrieved on 2026-10-11 from its TechDocs licensing page ^S30.
Retrieved on 2026-10-07, the Microsoft Learn lifecycle page shows that Hyper-V Server 2019 reaches the end of extended support on 2029-01-09 and that its mainstream support has ended ^S04.

Using the calculator with this data

Open the Hypervisor Licensing Cost Calculator 2026 and enter your cluster: hosts, sockets per host, physical cores per socket and total VMs. Hyperthreads do not count on any core-priced platform here ^S03 ^S07 ^S10. The defaults are 4 hosts, 2 sockets, 32 cores and 150 VMs.
Pick the term, 1 year or 3 years. For VMware, type your Broadcom quote in USD per core per year under “Your VMware quote, optional” in the first group of inputs. Without a quote the VMware rows show licensed cores only. The VMware 72-core order minimum is off by default and can be switched on. It was reported in March 2025 in a distributor notice to French partners ^S14. It was reported reversed in April 2025 ^S27 ^S28 and in May 2025 ^S29. Those are news and vendor-blog reports, not Broadcom documents. Two UK pages still state it later: a reseller page dated December 2025 that says UK only ^S15 and a UK firm’s page updated October 2026 with no regional scope ^S16. Broadcom’s 2026 licensing pages state 16 cores per processor, and no per-order minimum was found on them ^S30 ^S31. Enter a discount percent for any platform where you hold a negotiated price, and the calculator reduces that platform’s cost by it. Optionally add a migration labour line as hours per VM times the number of VMs times your hourly rate; it is your own estimate, and this page supplies no labour figure.
Read the results table. Expand “Arithmetic” on any row for each step and its data rows. Copy the results as text or use the share link to keep the scenario.

What the Hyper-V licensing cost result means

Each row is the cost of that platform on your cluster, before tax. Discounts and labour apply only if you enter them.

The 1-year figure is the first year of cost. The 3-year figure depends on how the vendor sells. Windows Server is a one-time licence price at suggested MSRP ^S02. S02 does not state a licence term, so this page treats the licence as bought once, and its 3-year figure equals its 1-year figure. Microsoft’s Windows Server overview lists perpetual as one licensing option but does not tie it to the Datacenter or Standard price ^S32. Proxmox sells a one-year subscription term ^S01, Vates sells per year ^S06 and Azure Local is a daily meter ^S08. Their 3-year figures are three times the first year, with no multi-year discount applied.

Included: the hypervisor licence, or the vendor support subscription where the hypervisor is free software. Proxmox VE and XCP-ng rows are the price of a support tier ^S01 ^S06. VMware support comes with the core price for VCF ^S23 and for VVF ^S13, and so does vSAN entitlement ^S10, so no support line is added.

Excluded:

Windows Server CALs, required for every user or device ^S02 but not priced on the pricing page, plus Software Assurance and the per-VM licensing option.
Support uplifts above the chosen Proxmox or Vates tier, and Vates XOSTOR storage add-ons.
The Azure Local Windows Server guest add-on at $23.30 per physical core per month ^S03.
Volume, negotiated and multi-year discounts unless you enter a discount percent, including the Vates offer of up to 10 percent off a 3-year term ^S06.
Taxes, hardware, and migration labour unless you enter your own estimate.

Hyper-V and hypervisor licensing rules the calculator applies

Rules by platform.

Platform	Unit	Minimums	VM rights	Source
Windows Server Datacenter (Hyper-V)	physical core, sold in 16-core packs	8 core licences per processor, 16 per server ^S07	unlimited VMs and one Hyper-V host per licence ^S02	^S02 ^S07
Windows Server Standard (Hyper-V)	physical core, sold in 16-core packs	same core minimums as Datacenter ^S07	2 VMs per full licensing of the host; every further 2 VMs relicenses all cores ^S07	^S02 ^S07
Azure Local	physical core per day	none; no core minimum and no maximum ^S09	guest OS licensed separately ^S09; hyperthreads not counted ^S03	^S03 ^S08 ^S09
Proxmox VE	CPU socket per year, one-year term ^S01	none	unlimited; four support tiers from Community to Premium	^S01
XCP-ng with Vates support	host per year; Essential and Essential+ are flat fees for up to 3 hosts ^S06	Pro from 3 hosts, Enterprise from 4 hosts ^S06	unlimited	^S06
VMware VCF and VVF	physical core per year, at your quote	16 cores per CPU ^S10 ^S30 ^S31; 72 cores per order is a report, not a Broadcom document, off by default and switchable. Not stated in ^S10. Reported in March 2025 by ^S14, reported reversed in April and May 2025 by ^S27 ^S28 ^S29, and still stated by UK pages in December 2025 ^S15 and October 2026 ^S16. No per-order minimum found on ^S30 ^S31.	unlimited; vSAN entitlement of 1 TiB per VCF core and 0.25 TiB per VVF core ^S10	^S10 ^S13 ^S14 ^S15 ^S16 ^S27 ^S28 ^S29 ^S30 ^S31

Nutanix NCI and Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Engine are not in the calculator. Nutanix publishes no list price ^S19 and Red Hat publishes none for OVE ^S05. The only dollar figures found are reseller SKU listings, not vendor prices, and the Red Hat Standard SKU price is unverified, so no price is shown. Nutanix licenses every core in the cluster ^S19; Red Hat licenses one subscription per bare-metal node with unlimited VMs ^S22.

Worked example: Hyper-V licensing cost vs VMware, Proxmox, XCP-ng and Azure Local

Example (b) uses the calculator defaults: 4 hosts, 2 sockets per host, 32 cores per socket and 150 VMs. That is 8 sockets and 256 physical cores ^derived. Figures are USD at list price with the exclusions above.

Platform	Price basis	1-year	3-year	Inputs
Windows Server Datacenter	vendor list, one-time	108,336	108,336	^derived from ^S02 and ^S07
Windows Server Standard	vendor list, one-time, stacked	357,504	357,504	^derived from ^S02 and ^S07
Proxmox VE Standard	vendor list, EUR converted	4,960	14,880	^derived from ^S01 and ^S26
Proxmox VE Premium	vendor list, EUR converted	9,920	29,760	^derived from ^S01 and ^S26
Vates Pro	vendor list	4,000	12,000	^derived from ^S06
Vates Enterprise	vendor list	7,200	21,600	^derived from ^S06
Azure Local host fee	vendor API meter	30,835.20	92,505.60	^derived from ^S08 and ^S09
VMware VCF and VVF	your Broadcom quote	256 cores x your quote	three times the 1-year figure	quote required

Datacenter licenses all 64 cores on each host once. Standard relicenses those cores for every 2 VMs ^S07, so a host carrying 38 VMs needs 19 full licensings. On list price Datacenter is cheaper from 11 VMs per host ^derived. Inputs: each Standard licensing of the host covers 2 VMs ^S07, so 11 VMs need 6 of them. Six Standard packs at $1,176 cost more than one Datacenter pack at $6,771 ^S02. One Datacenter pack costs 5.76 Standard packs ^derived. Vates Essential and Essential+ are absent because they are capped at 3 hosts ^S06.

3-year licence cost: 4 hosts x 2 sockets x 32 cores, 150 VMsVMware omitted: Broadcom publishes no list price; enter your quote in the calculator. USD, list prices retrieved 2026-10-07. 256 physical cores. No CALs, Software Assurance, support uplifts or discounts.

Windows Server is a one-time price (S02 states no term), so 3-year cost equals 1-year cost.
Subscriptions and meters are 3 x the annual figure.
Proxmox converted from EUR at the ECB reference rate 1.1269 USD per EUR of 2026-10-06.

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Per-core list prices compared

Windows Server 2025 Datacenter works out to $423.19 per core and Standard to $73.50 per core. Each is the 16-core pack list price divided by 16 ^derived. Both are one-time licence prices at suggested MSRP, not yearly prices ^S02. Pay-as-you-go Windows Server through Azure Arc is $33.58 per core per month, retrieved 2026-10-07 ^S02, or $402.96 per core per year ^derived. The Azure Local host fee comes to $120.45 per core per year ^derived. Proxmox, Vates and Red Hat do not price per core, so the chart leaves them out.

Per-core prices, 2026: one-time licence prices vs prices per yearVMware omitted: Broadcom publishes no list price; enter your quote in the calculator. USD per core. Datacenter and Standard are one-time licence prices, paid once. Pay-as-you-go and Azure Local are prices per year. The bars are not on the same basis.

Windows Server per-core equivalents are the 16-core pack list price divided by 16.
That price is paid once (S02 states no term), not charged yearly.
Proxmox (per socket), Vates (per host) and Red Hat (per node) have no per-core price and are not shown.
Nutanix reseller SKU prices state no term and are not shown. vSphere Standard (one UK reseller figure) is not shown.

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Assumptions and data sources

Every price is a vendor list price or a vendor API meter, retrieved on 2026-10-07 from the vendor’s own page or API. The dataset is version 3. Version 3 adds one evidence row per report on the VMware order minimum, each labelled as a report and not a Broadcom document, and changes no price. Proxmox publishes EUR net of VAT ^S01. The calculator converts at the European Central Bank reference rate of 1.1269 USD per EUR for 2026-10-06 ^S26, rounds to whole dollars per socket once, then multiplies. The rate can be overridden. Azure Local is billed at $0.33 per physical core per day ^S08. On a 365-day year that is 120.45 USD per core per year and 10.04 USD per core per month ^derived. The 60-day trial ^S03 and Azure Hybrid Benefit, which waives the host fee for Datacenter with active Software Assurance ^S03, are off by default.

Broadcom does not publish list prices for VCF or VVF, so the calculator computes VMware cost only from the quote you enter.

Hyper-V is a role of Windows Server, and each Standard or Datacenter licence covers one Hyper-V host ^S02. The standalone Hyper-V Server 2019 has reached the end of mainstream support. Microsoft’s lifecycle page ^S04 carries the extended end date as the timestamp 1/10/2029 6:59:59 AM, with support dates shown in Pacific Time. This page reads that as the end of 9 January 2029.

When a figure counts as dated: this page’s last data check is 2026-10-19, the day its latest source was read. The last full check of every price was 2026-10-07. The cut-off date is 2024-10-19, 24 months before the last data check. A figure is labelled dated when the date that counts for it falls before that cut-off, as the hub methodology sets out. No figure on this page is labelled dated. Prices are counted from the day they were read. Reports are counted from their publication date, the earliest being 2025-03-28. The Hyper-V Server 2019 lifecycle page was last changed on 2024-05-20, but lifecycle dates are never labelled dated.

Reports used where no primary document exists: Broadcom publishes no document that states or withdraws a 72-core order minimum. The page therefore uses six news, reseller and vendor-blog reports ^S14 ^S15 ^S16 ^S27 ^S28 ^S29. Each is labelled “Report, not a Broadcom document” here, in the source panel and in the CSV. The order minimum is an option you switch on, not a default and not a headline figure. The CSV holds one row per report: min_cores_per_order_reported for the three that state the minimum, and min_cores_per_order_reversal_reported for the three that report its reversal.

Known limits

Broadcom’s VVF FAQ ^S13 lists VVF 9.1 as generally available; availability through resellers can vary by region.
The calculator does not apply a 72-core minimum order per VMware product unless you switch it on. The rule was reported in March 2025 in a distributor notice to French partners ^S14. Reports from April 2025 ^S27 ^S28 and May 2025 ^S29 say it was reversed. Two UK pages still state it later. A reseller page dated December 2025 says UK only ^S15, and a UK firm’s page updated October 2026 gives no regional scope ^S16. The order-minimum sources (S14 to S16) are news and reseller sources. The reversal reports are news and vendor-blog reports. None is a Broadcom document. The reversal reports name no distributor and publish no price list. Broadcom’s 2026 pages state 16 cores per processor ^S30 ^S31. No per-order minimum was found on either page, but absence from a page is not proof. The June 2026 terms say ordering terms sit on the quote or order form ^S31, so a quote-level rule would not appear there. Whether any order minimum applies to you is therefore unconfirmed. Switching it on changes only orders under 72 licensed cores. It does not change the worked example, which licenses 256 cores ^derived.
Microsoft sells core licences in 2-packs and 16-packs ^S07 but publishes no MSRP for the 2-pack. Hosts whose core count is not a multiple of 16 are priced with the 2-pack at one eighth of the 16-pack MSRP. That is an assumption, stated in the arithmetic.
Windows Server Standard assumes VMs spread evenly with no failover headroom. Real clusters license for the worst-case host after failover, which raises the Standard figure.
All hosts in a scenario are identical. Mixed clusters need one run per host type and a manual sum.
Prices change. Microsoft states that prices vary by country ^S02, and all USD figures are US list. Vendor pages are rechecked quarterly; the data date at the top of this page says what the calculator holds.

Frequently asked questions

What licensing is needed for Hyper-V?

Hyper-V is a role of Windows Server, so each Hyper-V host needs a Windows Server Standard or Datacenter licence, which covers one Hyper-V host ^S02. All physical cores must be licensed, with at least 8 core licences per processor and 16 per server ^S07.

How much does Datacenter cost as a Hyper-V host licence?

As a Hyper-V host licence, Windows Server 2025 Datacenter lists at $6,771 per 16-core pack at Microsoft's suggested MSRP, retrieved 2026-10-07 ^S02. One licence covers one Hyper-V host with unlimited VMs once all its physical cores are licensed ^S02. For Standard against Datacenter per core, CALs and other host sizes, see the Windows Server licensing calculator.

How to calculate Windows Server license?

Count the physical cores on each host, with at least 8 per processor and 16 per server, and buy that many core licences in 16-packs or 2-packs ^S07. For Standard, repeat that count for every further 2 VMs on the host ^S07.

How many VMs can I license with Windows Datacenter?

Datacenter covers unlimited VMs on a host once all its physical cores are licensed ^S02. On list price it beats stacked Standard from 11 VMs per host: 11 VMs need 6 Standard licensings at $1,176 per 16-core pack, more than one Datacenter pack at $6,771 ^S02.

How many VMs per Windows Server license?

Standard covers 2 VMs per full licensing of the host, and every further 2 VMs means relicensing all of the host's cores again ^S07. Datacenter covers unlimited VMs plus one Hyper-V host per licence ^S02.

What is replacing Hyper-V?

Hyper-V remains a role of Windows Server 2025, with one Hyper-V host per licence ^S02. For the standalone Hyper-V Server 2019, Microsoft's lifecycle page says mainstream support has ended and links to Hyper-V on Windows Server and Azure Stack HCI as upgrade options ^S04. It shows the extended end date as the timestamp 1/10/2029 6:59:59 AM, with support dates in Pacific Time ^S04. This page reads that as the end of 9 January 2029.

How much does a vSphere license cost?

Broadcom publishes no list price, and vSphere 9.0 is sold only inside VMware Cloud Foundation or vSphere Foundation, with no standalone SKU ^S13. Both are licensed per physical core with at least 16 cores per CPU ^S10, so the calculator multiplies your own quote by your licensed cores.

Sources

Every figure on this page carries a key that links to an entry below. Retrieved is the date the figure was read from the source for this dataset; the methodology section gives the date of the last full check. Sponsor names who paid for the research; a figure with a sponsor is read with that interest in mind. Keys follow the source ledger, so a missing number is a source that was reviewed and not used on this page. Hub-wide rules are on the methodology page.

S01 Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH, Proxmox Virtual Environment Subscription Pricing (proxmox.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-07
- Proxmox VE Premium: EUR 1,100 per CPU socket per year.
  Verbatim
  PREMIUM ... € 1,100 / year per socket
- Proxmox VE Community: EUR 120 per CPU socket per year.
  Verbatim
  COMMUNITY ... €120 / year per CPU socket
- Prices are net of VAT and the subscription term is one year.
  Verbatim
  Prices are net; VAT is added where applicable. Subscription term: one year from purchase.
- Worked example (b), Proxmox VE Standard: 8 sockets x round(EUR 550 x 1.1269 = 619.80 to 620 USD) = 4,960 USD per year, 14,880 USD over 3 years.
  Verbatim
  STANDARD ... € 550 / year per socket
- Worked example (b), Proxmox VE Premium: 8 sockets x round(EUR 1,100 x 1.1269 = 1,239.59 to 1,240 USD) = 9,920 USD per year, 29,760 USD over 3 years.
  Verbatim
  PREMIUM ... € 1,100 / year per socket
S02 Microsoft, Windows Server 2025 Pricing and licensing (microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-07
- Windows Server 2025 Datacenter: $6,771 per 16-core pack, one-time licence price at suggested MSRP.
  Verbatim
  Windows Server 2025 Datacenter edition Suggested MSRP: $6,771 ... Datacenter and Standard edition pricing is for 16 core licenses
- Windows Server 2025 Standard: $1,176 per 16-core pack, one-time licence price at suggested MSRP.
  Verbatim
  Windows Server 2025 Standard edition Suggested MSRP: $1,176 ... Datacenter and Standard edition pricing is for 16 core licenses
- Windows Server 2025 Standard covers 2 VMs per full licensing of the host, plus one Hyper-V host per licence.
  Verbatim
  2 virtual machines, plus one Hyper-V host per license
- Windows Server 2025 Datacenter covers unlimited VMs, plus one Hyper-V host per licence.
  Verbatim
  unlimited virtual machines, plus one Hyper-V host per license
- Windows Server 2025 pay-as-you-go through Azure Arc: $33.58 per core per month.
  Verbatim
  $33.58 per CPU core / month; $0.046 / hour
- CALs are required and are not priced on this page.
  Verbatim
  CALs are required for every user or device accessing a server.
- Prices vary by country; the figures are US list prices in USD.
  Verbatim
  Pricing is shown in USD and may vary from country to country.
- Datacenter per core: 6,771 / 16 = 423.19 USD. Standard per core: 1,176 / 16 = 73.50 USD.
  Verbatim
  Windows Server 2025 Datacenter edition Suggested MSRP: $6,771 ... Datacenter and Standard edition pricing is for 16 core licenses
- Pay-as-you-go per year: 33.58 USD x 12 months = 402.96 USD per core.
  Verbatim
  $33.58 per CPU core / month; $0.046 / hour
- One Datacenter pack costs 5.76 Standard packs: 6,771 / 1,176 = 5.76.
  Verbatim
  Windows Server 2025 Standard edition Suggested MSRP: $1,176 ... Datacenter and Standard edition pricing is for 16 core licenses
- Break-even: 11 VMs need 6 Standard licensings, 6 x 1,176 = 7,056 USD, above one Datacenter pack at 6,771 USD. 10 VMs need 5, 5 x 1,176 = 5,880 USD, below it.
  Verbatim
  Windows Server 2025 Standard edition Suggested MSRP: $1,176 ... Datacenter and Standard edition pricing is for 16 core licenses
- Worked example (b), Datacenter: 16 packs x 6,771 USD = 108,336 USD.
  Verbatim
  Windows Server 2025 Datacenter edition Suggested MSRP: $6,771 ... Datacenter and Standard edition pricing is for 16 core licenses
- Worked example (b), Standard: 304 packs x 1,176 USD = 357,504 USD.
  Verbatim
  Windows Server 2025 Standard edition Suggested MSRP: $1,176 ... Datacenter and Standard edition pricing is for 16 core licenses
S03 Microsoft, Azure Local pricing overview (azure.microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-07
- Azure Local counts physical cores, not hyperthreads.
  Verbatim
  When cores are counted, multi-threading is not included in the count.
- Azure Local Windows Server guest add-on: $23.30 per physical core per month.
  Verbatim
  $23.3/physical core/month
- Azure Local free trial: 60 days after registration.
  Verbatim
  Azure Local offers a free trial for the first 60 days after registration.
- Azure Hybrid Benefit waives the host fee for Windows Server Datacenter with active Software Assurance.
  Verbatim
  If you are licensing Azure Local (L1) with Windows Server Datacenter with active Software Assurance through Enterprise Agreement or CSP ... which waives the Azure Local (L1) host service fee and Windows Server subscription.
S04 Microsoft Learn, Hyper-V Server 2019 lifecycle (learn.microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2024-05-20
Retrieved
2026-10-07
- Hyper-V Server 2019 extended support ends 9 January 2029. The page shows the timestamp 1/10/2029 6:59:59 AM and says support dates are in Pacific Time.
  Verbatim
  Extended End Date 1/10/2029 6:59:59 AM
- Mainstream support for Hyper-V Server 2019 has ended, and the page links to upgrade options.
  Verbatim
  Mainstream support for Hyper-V Server 2019 has ended. Please see the articles linked in the below section for upgrade options.
S05 Red Hat, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Engine product page (redhat.com)
Note
Absence claim: the page lists no price. The quote shows what it says about licensing.
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-07
Verbatim
Get a straightforward, per-node licensing model for bare-metal deployments ... with the flexibility to add virtual clusters using core-based subscriptions.
S06 Vates SAS, Pricing and support (XCP-ng, Xen Orchestra) (vates.tech)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-07
- Vates Pro: $1,000 per host per year, from 3 hosts.
  Verbatim
  PRO 3 hosts min 1000 ... /host/year
- Vates Enterprise: $1,800 per host per year, from 4 hosts.
  Verbatim
  MOST POPULAR ENTERPRISE 4 hosts min 1800 ... /host/year
- Vates Essential and Essential+ are flat fees capped at 3 hosts.
  Verbatim
  ESSENTIAL 3 hosts max 2000 ... /year ... ESSENTIAL + 3 hosts max 4000 ... /year
- Vates offers up to 10 percent off a 3-year term. The page does not apply it.
  Verbatim
  1 Year Support No savings 3 Years Support Save up to 10% 5 Years Support Save up to 15%
- Worked example (b), Vates Pro: 4 hosts x 1,000 USD = 4,000 USD per year, 12,000 USD over 3 years.
  Verbatim
  PRO 3 hosts min 1000 ... /host/year
- Worked example (b), Vates Enterprise: 4 hosts x 1,800 USD = 7,200 USD per year, 21,600 USD over 3 years.
  Verbatim
  MOST POPULAR ENTERPRISE 4 hosts min 1800 ... /host/year
S07 Microsoft, Windows Server 2025 Licensing Guidance (microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-07
- Core licences equal the physical cores, with at least 8 per processor and 16 per server.
  Verbatim
  subject to a minimum of 8 core licenses per physical processor and a minimum of 16 core licenses per server.
- Core licences are sold in 2-packs and 16-packs.
  Verbatim
  Core licenses are sold in 2-packs and 16-packs.
- Standard covers 2 operating system environments per full licensing of the host.
  Verbatim
  Windows Server Standard provides rights to use two operating system environments (physical or virtual OSEs)
- Each further 2 VMs on Standard means relicensing all the host's cores.
  Verbatim
  For each additional set of two OSEs or two Hyper-V containers the customer wishes to use, the server must be relicensed for the same number of core licenses.
- Worked example (b): 2 sockets x 32 cores = 64 cores per host, so 4 packs of 16 per host.
  Verbatim
  subject to a minimum of 8 core licenses per physical processor and a minimum of 16 core licenses per server.
- Worked example (b), Standard: 38 VMs on a host need ceil(38 / 2) = 19 stacks; 76 stacks across 4 hosts x 4 packs = 304 packs.
  Verbatim
  For each additional set of two OSEs or two Hyper-V containers the customer wishes to use, the server must be relicensed for the same number of core licenses.
- Break-even: 11 VMs need ceil(11 / 2) = 6 Standard licensings of the host.
  Verbatim
  For each additional set of two OSEs or two Hyper-V containers the customer wishes to use, the server must be relicensed for the same number of core licenses.
S08 Microsoft, Azure Retail Prices API, Azure Stack HCI meters (Azure Local) (prices.azure.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2025-04-01
Retrieved
2026-10-07
- Azure Local host fee: $0.33 per physical core per day, effective 2025-04-01.
  Verbatim
  "retailPrice":0.33,"unitPrice":0.33,"armRegionName":"Global","location":"Global","effectiveStartDate":"2025-04-01T00:00:00Z" ... "meterName":"Standard Monthly Service Fee" ... "unitOfMeasure":"1/Day"
- Azure Local per year: 0.33 USD x 365 days = 120.45 USD per core. Per month: 120.45 / 12 = 10.04 USD.
  Verbatim
  "retailPrice":0.33,"unitPrice":0.33,"armRegionName":"Global","location":"Global","effectiveStartDate":"2025-04-01T00:00:00Z" ... "meterName":"Standard Monthly Service Fee" ... "unitOfMeasure":"1/Day"
- Worked example (b), Azure Local: 256 cores x 120.45 USD = 30,835.20 USD per year, 92,505.60 USD over 3 years.
  Verbatim
  "retailPrice":0.33,"unitPrice":0.33,"armRegionName":"Global","location":"Global","effectiveStartDate":"2025-04-01T00:00:00Z" ... "meterName":"Standard Monthly Service Fee" ... "unitOfMeasure":"1/Day"
S09 Microsoft Learn, Azure Local billing and payment (learn.microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026-06-25
Retrieved
2026-10-07
- Azure Local has no minimum and no maximum core count, and bills a flat rate per physical processor core.
  Verbatim
  Billing is based on a flat rate per physical processor core in an Azure Local instance (additional usage charges apply if you use other Azure services). ... It's simple: There's no minimum, no maximum, and no math with memory, storage, or network ingress or egress.
- Guest VMs on Azure Local might need their own operating system licensing.
  Verbatim
  Azure Local doesn't require a traditional on-premises software license, although guest virtual machines (VMs) might require individual operating system licensing.
S10 Broadcom Knowledge Base, KB 313548: Counting Cores for VCF and VVF and TiBs for vSAN (knowledge.broadcom.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-07
- VMware VCF and VVF: at least 16 physical cores licensed for each CPU.
  Verbatim
  You must license a minimum of 16 physical cores for each CPU (physical processor) in your ESXi hosts, even if a CPU has fewer than 16 cores.
- VCF includes 1 TiB of vSAN entitlement per core.
  Verbatim
  provides 1 TiB of vSAN entitlement for each VCF core purchased
- VVF includes 0.25 TiB of vSAN entitlement per core.
  Verbatim
  provides 0.25 TiB of vSAN entitlement for each VVF core purchased (rounded up to the next TiB)
S13 Broadcom, VMware vSphere Foundation Frequently Asked Questions (PDF) (vmware.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026
Retrieved
2026-10-07
- VMware vSphere 9.0 has no standalone SKU; it is sold only inside VMware Cloud Foundation or vSphere Foundation.
  Verbatim
  Q. Are standalone SKUs for vSphere Standard and vSphere Enterprise Plus available for version 9.0? A. No. Version 9.0 will only be available for VMware Cloud Foundation and VMware vSphere Foundation.
- VMware vSphere Foundation 9.1 is generally available as of 5 May 2026.
  Verbatim
  VMware vSphere Foundation 9.1 is generally available as of May 05, 2026.
- Absence claim: Broadcom publishes no list price for VMware Cloud Foundation or vSphere Foundation. The FAQ gives no price.
- Support is included in VMware vSphere Foundation.
  Verbatim
  Broadcom Software Maintenance Essential Support is included in VMware vSphere Foundation
S14 The Register, VMware distributor Arrow says minimum software subs set to jump from 16 to 72 cores (theregister.com)
Note
Report, not a Broadcom document. The Register quotes an email from distributor Arrow to its French partners.
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2025-03-28
Retrieved
2026-10-07
Verbatim
the minimum number of cores required for VMware licenses will increase substantially, from 16 to 72 cores per command line.
S15 boxxe (UK reseller), VMware by Broadcom product changes, 1 Dec 2025 (boxxe.com)
Note
Report, not a Broadcom document
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2025-12-02
Retrieved
2026-10-07
Verbatim
there is now a minimum purchase requirement of 72 cores. ... Please be aware this update applies to UK only.
S16 C4C Group (UK IT services), VMware Pricing 2026: Per Core Costs and Calculator (c4cgroup.co.uk)
Note
Report, not a Broadcom document
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026-10
Retrieved
2026-10-07
Verbatim
There is a minimum subscription order of 72 cores, so small environments are billed for at least 72 cores.
S19 Nutanix, Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) datasheet (nutanix.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-07
- Nutanix publishes no list price for NCI. The datasheet carries no dollar price.
- Nutanix NCI is priced per core and must cover every core in the cluster.
  Verbatim
  NCI is priced on a per core basis and licensing must cover the entire number of cores for full capacity of the cluster being licensed.
S22 Red Hat, Self-managed Red Hat OpenShift subscription guide (redhat.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-07
Verbatim
Each bare-metal node subscription entitles a single physical node, regardless of the number of total CPU sockets or cores. ... Unlimited VMs on subscribed hosts.
S23 Broadcom, VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 Frequently Asked Questions (PDF) (vmware.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026-09-03
Retrieved
2026-10-07
Verbatim
Broadcom Software Maintenance Essential Support is included with VCF.
S26 European Central Bank, Euro foreign exchange reference rates, US dollar (eurofxref-daily.xml) (ecb.europa.eu)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026-10-06
Retrieved
2026-10-07
Verbatim
<Cube time='2026-10-06'> ... <Cube currency='USD' rate='1.1269'/>
S27 heise online (iX Magazin), VMware backs down: companies can continue to license 16 cores (heise.de)
Note
Report, not a Broadcom document
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2025-04-10
Retrieved
2026-10-11
Verbatim
Contrary to Broadcom's initial announcement, companies can now still purchase VMware licenses from 16 cores, as a distributor confirmed to iX.
S28 it-daily.net, relaying iX, VMware customers do not need a 72-core minimum license after all (it-daily.net)
Note
Report, not a Broadcom document
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2025-04-10
Retrieved
2026-10-11
Verbatim
The company has reversed its controversial decision to increase the minimum number of VMware licenses from 16 to 72 cores. This is reported by the german magazine iX.
S29 Licenseware (software asset management vendor blog), VMware Walks Back Controversial Licensing Change After Industry Backlash, Denies Official Announcement (licenseware.io)
Note
Report, not a Broadcom document
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2025-05-08
Retrieved
2026-10-11
Verbatim
By April 10, 2025, reports emerged indicating that Broadcom had retracted the 72-core minimum requirement, opting to maintain the existing 16-core minimum per CPU. This reversal was confirmed by distributors and reflected in updated reseller price lists.
S30 Broadcom TechDocs, VCF 9.0 licensing model (VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 documentation) (techdocs.broadcom.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026-09-29
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- VMware VCF 9.0, most products: at least 16 cores per physical CPU.
  Verbatim
  Most products have a minimum consumption rule of 16 cores per physical CPU. CPUs that have fewer than 16 cores consume 16 cores.
- Absence claim: no per-order minimum was found on this page. Searches for 72, per order, purchase order, order minimum, minimum order, minimum quantity and minimum purchase found no match.
S31 Broadcom, VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Specific Program Documentation (SPD), June 2026 (PDF) (ftpdocs.broadcom.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026-06
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- VMware Cloud Foundation, June 2026 terms: at least 16 cores per processor.
  Verbatim
  License Metric. Software is subscription software licensed on a per Core license metric with a minimum licensing requirement of 16 Cores per Processor.
- The terms apply in addition to the quote or order form, so an order-level rule would sit there.
  Verbatim
  in addition to any terms and conditions referenced on the Broadcom quote, order form, statement of work, or other mutually agreed ordering document (each a "Transaction Document")
- Absence claim: no per-order minimum was found in this document. Searches for 72, per order, purchase order, order minimum, minimum order, minimum quantity and minimum purchase found no match.
S32 Microsoft Learn, What is Windows Server? (learn.microsoft.com)
Note
Lists perpetual licensing as an option; it does not tie that option to the S02 price.
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2025-07-28
Retrieved
2026-10-19
Verbatim
Flexible licensing: Choose between pay-as-you-go, perpetual, or subscription-based licensing.

Figures marked ^derived are computed from the sourced figures beside them; the formula is stated in the text and rounding is stated once in the methodology.

Cite this page

Data on this page is published under CC BY 4.0. Use any figure, chart or table with a link back to this page.

Plain text: Sysprobs Data (2026). Hyper-V and Hypervisor Licensing Cost 2026: List Prices Compared. Edited by Dinesh Kumar. https://sysprobs.com/data/hypervisor-licensing-calculator/ (updated 22 October 2026, accessed [date accessed]).
HTML: <a href="https://sysprobs.com/data/hypervisor-licensing-calculator/">Hyper-V and Hypervisor Licensing Cost 2026: List Prices Compared</a>, Sysprobs Data, updated 22 October 2026, accessed [date accessed].
APA: Sysprobs Data. (2026, October 22). Hyper-V and Hypervisor Licensing Cost 2026: List Prices Compared. Retrieved [date accessed], from https://sysprobs.com/data/hypervisor-licensing-calculator/

Quoting one figure: name the organisation that produced it, and its sponsor where there is one, then link here. For example: "Windows Server 2025 Datacenter lists at $6,771 per 16-core pack, a one-time licence price at suggested MSRP with unlimited VMs (Microsoft, retrieved 2026-10-07).", compiled by Sysprobs Data. The source panel above gives the publisher, sponsor, sample and fieldwork for every key.

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3-year licence cost: 4 hosts x 2 sockets x 32 cores, 150 VMs

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Per-core prices, 2026: one-time licence prices vs prices per year

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Changelog

2026-10-07: First version, data version 1.
2026-10-09: Moved to the Sysprobs Data hub.
2026-10-09: Added the VMware 72-core order minimum as a toggle, per-platform discounts and an optional migration labour line.
2026-10-09: Corrected the Windows Server Datacenter versus Standard break-even to 11 VMs per host.
2026-10-11: The VMware 72-core order minimum toggle now defaults to off, following reports that it was reversed in April 2025. Broadcom's 2026 pages state 16 cores per processor. No price changed.
2026-10-20: Published at https://sysprobs.com/data/hypervisor-licensing-calculator/.
2026-10-21: Calculator: a line above the results names the cheapest production option and compares it with your VMware quote. The quote fields moved to the first group of inputs. Results pause while an input is invalid, the address bar keeps your inputs, and a link carries your hosts to the Windows Server calculator. No figure changed.
2026-10-22: Retitled this page around licensing cost. The calculator keeps its own page and address. Added a Key findings section that names the product, publisher and retrieval date in each sentence, and the product version where the source states one. The per-core chart now labels each bar as a one-time licence price or a price per year. Dataset version 3 adds the 72-core order minimum evidence rows to the CSV, one per report, each labelled as a report and not a Broadcom document. The CSV also names the publisher and web address of every source. The source panel lists each figure with its own verbatim text. Added a Microsoft source for perpetual licensing and related Sysprobs guides. The calculator embed code now carries a line that fits the frame to the calculator. No price changed.