Per-core price comparison: vendor list prices, 2026 VMware omitted: Broadcom publishes no list price; enter your quote in the calculator. USD per core. Windows Server licence prices are one-time; pay-as-you-go and Azure Local recur per year.
Per-core price comparison: vendor list prices, 2026.
Horizontal bar chart of per-core prices in USD. Windows Server Datacenter and Standard are one-time list prices divided by 16 cores per pack. Windows Server pay-as-you-go and Azure Local are recurring per-core-per-year figures derived from monthly and daily meters. VMware is omitted because Broadcom publishes no list price; the calculator takes the reader's own quote. Values in USD: Windows Server 2025 Standard 73.50. Azure Local host fee 120.45. Windows Server 2025 pay-as-you-go 402.96. Windows Server 2025 Datacenter 423.19. Windows Server per-core equivalents are the 16-core pack MSRP 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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Windows Server 2025 Standard
Microsoft list 2026, one-time, pack price /
16, 2 VMs.
Windows Server 2025 Standard: 73.50 USD. 73.50
Azure Local host fee
Microsoft API meter 2025, daily x 365.
Azure Local host fee: 120.45 USD. 120.45
Windows Server 2025 pay-as-you-go
Microsoft list 2026, Azure Arc, monthly x 12.
Windows Server 2025 pay-as-you-go: 402.96 USD. 402.96
Windows Server 2025 Datacenter
Microsoft list 2026, one-time, pack price /
16.
Windows Server 2025 Datacenter: 423.19 USD. 423.19
USD per core (one-time for Windows Server, per year for the
others).
Source: Sysprobs Data, 2026, from Microsoft.
Per-core price comparison: vendor list prices, 2026.
Horizontal bar chart of per-core prices in USD. Windows Server Datacenter and Standard are one-time list prices divided by 16 cores per pack. Windows Server pay-as-you-go and Azure Local are recurring per-core-per-year figures derived from monthly and daily meters. VMware is omitted because Broadcom publishes no list price; the calculator takes the reader's own quote. Values in USD: Windows Server 2025 Standard 73.50. Azure Local host fee 120.45. Windows Server 2025 pay-as-you-go 402.96. Windows Server 2025 Datacenter 423.19. Windows Server per-core equivalents are the 16-core pack MSRP 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.
0
100
200
300
400
500
Windows Server 2025 Standard
Microsoft list 2026, one-time, pack price / 16, 2
VMs.
Windows Server 2025 Standard: 73.50 USD. 73.50
Azure Local host fee
Microsoft API meter 2025, daily x 365.
Azure Local host fee: 120.45 USD. 120.45
Windows Server 2025 pay-as-you-go
Microsoft list 2026, Azure Arc, monthly x 12.
Windows Server 2025 pay-as-you-go: 402.96 USD. 402.96
Windows Server 2025 Datacenter
Microsoft list 2026, one-time, pack price / 16.
Windows Server 2025 Datacenter: 423.19 USD. 423.19
USD per core (one-time for Windows Server, per
year for the others).
Source: Sysprobs Data, 2026, from Microsoft.
Windows Server per-core equivalents are the 16-core pack MSRP 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. Chart by Sysprobs Data : Hyper-V Licensing Calculator 2026: Hypervisor Licensing Cost vs VMware, Proxmox, XCP-ng and Azure Local.