Extended Security Updates Cost Calculator
What it costs to keep Windows Server 2016, SQL Server 2016 or Windows 10 on Extended Security Updates for one, two or three years — Azure Arc monthly per core, volume licensing at the live ESU list price per 2-core pack and year, the Azure-hosted path, and the upgrade or migration that ends the ESU line — side by side, per year and in total. Windows Server 2012 / R2 gets the honest answer: there is no further year to buy.
Planning the whole Windows Server 2016 estate, not only the ESU line? Send us the server count and the sites and get the plan outline and a fixed price for the assessment first.
01 Product
Which end-of-support product are you keeping past its date?
02 Servers, VMs and years
ESU follows the server's own licensing. Enter the hosts that run Windows Server 2016, the physical cores in each (a 16-core minimum per host applies) and the Windows Server 2016 VMs on each. Standard covers two VMs each time the host's cores are licensed, so a third VM means licensing the host again; Datacenter covers any number.
Licensed cores: 16. 1 host × 16 cores = 16 cores.
03 Rates
Enter Microsoft’s current per-core monthly rate from the Azure Arc pricing page. When we read that page on 20 October 2026 it listed Windows Server 2016 Standard at about $10.50 per 2 cores per month ($5.25 per core) and Datacenter at $60 per 2 cores ($30 per core); SQL Server 2016 rates are edition-specific. The same list price applies to the Azure VM path. Nothing is priced on those paths until you do.
04 Path
Highlight one path in the table, or compare them all.
| ESU year | Azure Arc ESU | Volume-licensing ESU | Azure VM or Azure Local | Upgrade or migrate instead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 Jan 2027 – Jan 2028 | enter rate | $992 | enter rate | — |
| Year 2 Jan 2028 – Jan 2029 | enter rate | $992 | enter rate | — |
| Year 3 Jan 2029 – Jan 2030 | enter rate | $992 | enter rate | — |
| Total, 3 years | enter rate | $2,976 | enter rate | quoted separately |
Azure Arc ESU
Monthly, per core, on your Azure subscription16 cores × 12 months × your per-core monthly rate. Requires the Azure Connected Machine agent (1.62 or later for 2016) and attested Software Assurance, a Server Subscription or, for Windows Server 2016, SPLA licensing. The license you provision names physical or virtual cores and Standard or Datacenter. Billing starts 13 January 2027; a license provisioned later is back-billed to the 12 January 2027 end-of-support date; moving from volume licensing to Arc is not supported for 2016.
Volume-licensing ESU
Annual, per 2-core pack, through your licensing agreement8 × 2-core packs × $124 / $124 / $124 (ESU SKU list price per pack, per year). Annual keys through volume licensing. Where the price list carries the Windows Server 2016 ESU SKU (2-core pack, per year, the same price each year), that list price is used; otherwise the current Windows Server 2025 license price is applied to each year, per Microsoft's Lifecycle FAQ. Software Assurance or a Server Subscription is required for this route.
Azure VM or Azure Local
Monthly, on your Azure subscription, plus Azure compute16 cores × 12 months × the same per-core rate as Arc. Since 1 April 2026 new ESU offerings carry the same list price in Azure as anywhere else, so a 2016 server in Azure is not at no additional charge. ESU is billed to the Azure subscription; the VM's compute, storage and networking are separate Azure meters and are your cost.
Upgrade or migrate instead
—No ESU cost — project work quoted separately. An in-place upgrade to Windows Server 2025 (direct from 2016), a rebuild on new hardware, or a move to Azure with a supported operating system — the server stays supported without ESU.
Keep this estimate
We send the numbers above to your inbox, with a copy to our team so we can help with the next step. Or book a 30-minute plan call and we turn the estimate into a written plan: which licenses, through which channel, in what order.
Four inputs, three example scenarios.
Quick start
- Pick the product, edition and segment — the base license price fills in from the live catalog.
- Enter the hosts, the physical cores in each and the VMs on each (or SQL Server cores, or Windows 10 devices) and the years you intend to stay on ESU. Standard edition is stacked for you: every pair of VMs beyond the first two licenses the host’s cores again.
- Type Microsoft’s current Azure Arc per-core monthly rate or Windows 10 per-device rate — nothing is pre-filled, so nothing is priced until you do.
- Read the per-year rows and totals, highlight one path, then copy the summary or the link.
What this does not include:
- Azure compute, storage and networking for Azure VM, Azure Local, Windows 365 or AVD paths.
- Azure Arc management costs beyond the ESU meter (Defender, Monitor, Update Manager add-ons).
- Labor: enrollment, Arc onboarding, patch validation, migration or upgrade project work.
- Software Assurance or Server Subscription, where the channel requires it.
Example scenarios
01Windows Server 2016 Standard, 32 cores, 2 years
Two 16-core hosts with two VMs each, kept to January 2029. Compare Arc monthly against the Windows Server 2016 Standard ESU list price per 2-core pack, the same in each year.
Load this scenario →SQL Server 2016 Standard, 8 cores, 1 year
One instance bridged to July 2027 while the vendor certifies a newer version. Four 2-core packs at the SQL Server 2025 Standard price versus the Arc meter.
Load this scenario →Windows 10, 60 devices, 3 years
A fleet that fails the Windows 11 hardware check. Commercial ESU doubling each year against the Intune-managed SKU, Windows 365 at $0 ESU, and the consumer route that stops in 2027.
Load this scenario →Every figure, where it comes from, and when it was checked.
| ID | Assumption | Value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | Volume-licensing ESU is priced at the full current license price in each of years one, two and three; years are cumulative — enrolling in year 2 means buying year 1 as well. Where this site's price list carries the ESU SKU itself (Windows Server 2016 Standard and Datacenter, 2-core packs, years 1 to 3), that list price is used directly; otherwise the current license 2-core pack price is applied to each year. | full price each year · catalog ESU SKUs | Microsoft Lifecycle FAQ, Extended Security Updates (learn.microsoft.com/lifecycle/faq/extended-security-updates), pricing for on-premises and hosted environments: years 1, 2 and 3 each at the full license price annually — confirmed against the FAQ page (updated 24 August 2026) on 20 October 2026. Microsoft, 'Services: Pricing Consistency Update', 27 March 2026 (microsoft.com/licensing/news/services-pricing-consistency-update), fetched 18 October 2026: one list price regardless of deployment location and purchasing channel for ESU offerings released on or after 1 April 2026; the earlier 75 / 100 / 125 schedule belonged to the Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 programs, which that update excludes. ESU SKU prices: src/generated/software-catalog.json, Microsoft NCE software price list (US), November 2026 — identical for years 1, 2 and 3. | 2026-10-18 |
| R2 | The license base for R1's fallback is the current list price from this site's catalog — Windows Server 2025 Standard or Datacenter 2-core pack, SQL Server 2025 Standard or Enterprise 2-core pack — one-time, for the segment selected; the Windows Server 2016 ESU SKUs come from the same catalog. No price is typed into this tool. | live catalog | src/generated/software-catalog.json via wsPriceMatrix(), sqlPrices() and esuSkuMatrix() — the same source as /software and the two licensing calculators. | 2026-10-18 |
| R3 | Windows Server ESU follows the server's own licensing. By physical cores: every core of the host, with a 16-core minimum per host; a Standard license covers two virtual machines, so each further pair of VMs on a host needs the host's cores licensed again, while Datacenter covers any number of VMs. By virtual cores: each VM's own cores with a minimum of eight per VM, always as Standard edition and never for a server with no hypervisor; Microsoft advises it when the VM runs on another vendor's host or cloud, when Windows Server was licensed per VM, or when only some VMs on a newer host run the old version. SQL Server ESU is per core with a 4-core minimum per instance. Volume-licensing ESU is sold in 2-core packs, so packs = licensed cores ÷ 2. | 16 cores per host · 2 VMs per Standard set · 8 cores per VM · 4 cores (SQL) | Microsoft Learn, 'License provisioning guidelines for Extended Security Updates for Windows Server' (azure-arc/servers/license-extended-security-updates, ms.date 2026-09-11, read from the MicrosoftDocs mirror): 'you need a minimum of 16 physical cores per machine … While Standard licensing can be applied to up to two virtual machines (VMs), Datacenter licensing has no limit'; 'the licensing requires a minimum of eight virtual cores per Virtual Machine'; 'You can't use virtual core licensing on physical servers. When you create a license with virtual cores, always select the Standard edition'. SQL Server ESU through Azure Arc (MicrosoftDocs mirror, sql-docs): 'The minimum is four cores.' | 2026-11-11 |
| R4 | Azure Arc ESU is billed monthly per core to your Azure subscription. The calculator multiplies the per-core monthly rate you enter by licensed cores and 12 months for each year. No Arc rate is built in, and a flat rate is applied to every year you select. | input · monthly | Azure Arc ESU billing (MicrosoftDocs mirror, azure-management-docs, billing-extended-security-updates.md): 'Billing is monthly.' Microsoft's per-core rates are published on the Azure Arc pricing page, which could not be reached from this build, so the rate stays an input. | 2026-09-13 |
| R5 | Arc ESU licenses provisioned after the end-of-support date are back-billed to that date and back-billing is not waived. Windows Server 2016 Arc billing starts 13 January 2027; portal configuration opened 3 August 2026. Deactivated licenses keep billing for up to five days. | back-billed | Azure Arc ESU billing (MicrosoftDocs mirror): 'Licenses or extra cores provisioned after End of Support are subject to a one-time back-billing charge.' Windows Server 2016 article on this site (2026-09-06). | 2026-09-13 |
| R6 | Windows Server 2012 / 2012 R2 ESU on Azure VMs, Azure Local and Azure Stack is at no additional charge above the VM cost and ends on the same day as everywhere else, 13 October 2026. There is no fourth ESU year to price. | $0 ESU · ends 13 Oct 2026 | Windows Server ESU overview (MicrosoftDocs mirror): 'There's no extra charge for Extended Security Updates on top of an Azure VM's cost'; ESU duration table, both rows 'October 13, 2026'. content/deadlines.json windows-server-2012-r2-esu-end. | 2026-09-13 |
| R7 | From 1 April 2026 new ESU offerings — Windows Server 2016 and SQL Server 2016 among them — carry the same list price in Azure, on-premises and other clouds. An Azure-hosted 2016 server is therefore not at no additional charge; the calculator applies the per-core rate you enter for Arc to the Azure VM path as well, and Azure compute stays your cost. | same list price | Azure Local ESU benefits (MicrosoftDocs mirror, azure-stack-docs, azure-benefits-esu.md): 'Beginning April 1, 2026, Microsoft introduced a standardized pricing approach ... same list price regardless of deployment location'. SQL Server ESU (sql-docs mirror, sql-server-extended-security-updates.md): moving a SQL Server 2016 workload to an Azure VM no longer entitles it to ESU at no additional charge. Windows Server 2016 article on this site (2026-09-06). | 2026-09-13 |
| R8 | Windows 10 commercial ESU is per device, per year, cumulative, and the list price doubles each year. The year-1 per-device rate is an input — Microsoft's figure could not be verified from this build, so nothing is pre-filled. Education pricing differs; enter the rate for your segment. | input · ×2 each year | Windows 10 ESU article on this site (2026-09-06): 'licensed per device, per year', 'the years are cumulative', 'the price rises at each renewal'. The doubling pattern is Microsoft's published programme design (Windows IT Pro Blog announcement, December 2023); confirm the current list price and SKU with your quote. | 2026-09-13 |
| R9 | Devices managed in Intune or Windows Autopatch use the cloud-assigned ESU license, which Microsoft prices below the key-based one (input; the same doubling is applied). Windows 10 22H2 session hosts in Azure Virtual Desktop, and devices connecting to a Windows 365 Cloud PC, are entitled to ESU at no additional charge while that subscription is active. | input / $0 ESU | Windows 10 ESU article on this site (2026-09-06): cloud-managed license assignment; 'session hosts in Azure Virtual Desktop ESU automatically'; Windows 365 entitlement 'while that subscription is active'. | 2026-09-13 |
| R10 | Consumer Windows 10 ESU is a single enrollment for personal devices covering to 12 October 2027 — $30 one-time plus tax, or no additional charge when the PC syncs its settings or with 1,000 Rewards points. One enrollment covers up to 10 devices on the same Microsoft account. It excludes domain-joined, Entra-joined, MDM-enrolled and kiosk devices, and there is no consumer year 3. | $30 one-time · to 12 Oct 2027 | Microsoft, Windows 10 Consumer Extended Security Updates (microsoft.com/en-us/windows/extended-security-updates), read 12 November 2026: one-time purchase of $30 USD plus applicable tax, coverage through October 12, 2027, one license on up to 10 devices, not for commercial scenarios. content/deadlines.json windows-10-esu-year-2-end. | 2026-11-12 |
| R11 | ESU delivers security updates rated Critical and Important (SQL Server: Critical only) — no new features, non-security fixes or technical support. Every ESU figure here is Microsoft's charge on your Azure subscription or licensing agreement; IT Partner's service fees are quoted separately. | scope | Windows Server ESU overview (MicrosoftDocs mirror): 'security updates and bulletins rated critical and important'. SQL Server ESU FAQ (sql-docs mirror): 'only Critical Security Updates'. | 2026-09-13 |
The dates this calculator uses
Windows Server 2012 / 2012 R2 Extended Security Updates end
The third and final year of Extended Security Updates for Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 ends; no further security updates will be produced at any price, including for VMs running in Azure.
SQL Server 2016 extended support ended
SQL Server 2016 reached the end of extended support and stopped receiving regular security updates.
Windows Server 2016 end of extended support
Windows Server 2016 reaches the end of its ten-year lifecycle and stops receiving security updates and technical support; servers keep running but are unpatched.
SQL Server 2014 Extended Security Updates end
The final year of Extended Security Updates for SQL Server 2014 ends; no further security updates are produced.
Windows 10 ESU year 2 ends (consumer and commercial)
The second year of Windows 10 Extended Security Updates ends. This is also the end of the consumer ESU program, which Microsoft extended by a year in June 2026.
Windows 10 commercial ESU year 3 ends
The third and final year of paid Windows 10 Extended Security Updates ends; no further Windows 10 security updates are produced.
SQL Server 2016 Extended Security Updates end
The three-year Extended Security Updates window for SQL Server 2016 closes and no further critical security updates are produced.
Sources and check dates for every entry are on the Microsoft deadlines page →
The long-form guides
- Windows Server 2012 / 2012 R2 — ESU year 3 — the last — ends 13 October 2026. There is no year 4, on-premises or in Azure.
- Windows Server 2016 — End of support 12 January 2027; ESU years 1–3 run January 2027 to January 2030.
- SQL Server 2016 — End of support 14 July 2026; ESU years 1–3 run July 2026 to July 2029.
- Windows 10 (commercial ESU) — End of support 14 October 2025; commercial ESU year 1 ends 13 October 2026, year 2 on 12 October 2027, year 3 on 10 October 2028.
ESU, answered without the folklore.
Is there a fourth ESU year for Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2?
No. Year 3 ends on 13 October 2026 and Microsoft has not offered a year 4 through volume licensing, Azure Arc or for VMs in Azure, where ESU was at no additional charge until the same date. After that date the options are an in-place upgrade or rebuild on Windows Server 2025, a move to Azure, or isolation for machines that cannot move.
Is ESU at no additional charge when the server runs in Azure?
For the older programmes — Windows Server 2012 / 2012 R2, Windows 10 22H2 and SQL Server 2014 — yes, until each programme ends. From 1 April 2026 Microsoft applies the same list price to new ESU offerings regardless of where the server runs, and names Windows Server 2016 among them; SQL Server 2016 on an Azure VM is likewise not entitled to ESU at no additional charge. This calculator applies the per-core rate you enter to both the Arc and the Azure VM paths for those products.
How is volume-licensing ESU priced per year?
At the full license price in each of years one, two and three, per Microsoft's Lifecycle FAQ, and the years are cumulative. For Windows Server 2016 the calculator uses the ESU SKUs in this site's current price list directly (Standard and Datacenter 2-core packs, the same price in each year, for the segment you select) and multiplies by the number of 2-core packs your cores need. For SQL Server 2016, where the list carries no 2016 ESU SKU yet, it applies the current SQL Server 2025 2-core pack price to each year. The earlier pattern of three-quarters, the full price and one-and-a-quarter of the license price belonged to the Windows Server 2012 program, which ended on 13 October 2026.
Azure Arc or volume licensing — which channel?
Arc bills monthly per core to your Azure subscription and lets you drop cores as servers are migrated, but licenses provisioned after the end-of-support date are back-billed to it. Volume licensing is an annual key at the full license price each year and needs Software Assurance or a Server Subscription. Moving from volume licensing to Arc is not supported for Windows Server 2016, so the channel you start with is the one you keep.
How are virtual machines counted for Windows Server 2016 ESU?
ESU follows the server's own licensing. Counted by physical cores, every core of the host is licensed with a 16-core minimum, and a Standard license covers two virtual machines: a host with four Windows Server 2016 VMs needs its cores licensed twice, six VMs three times, while Datacenter covers any number of VMs on the host. Microsoft also lets you count by virtual cores, each VM's own cores with a minimum of eight per VM and always as Standard edition, which it advises for VMs on another vendor's host or cloud, for Windows Server licensed per VM, or when only some VMs on a newer host run the old version. The calculator asks for hosts, cores per host and VMs per host, stacks Standard for you, and shows what the other basis would need. Source: Microsoft Learn, License provisioning guidelines for Extended Security Updates for Windows Server, dated 11 September 2026.
Are ESU years cumulative?
Yes. To be covered in year 2 you buy year 1 as well, and year 3 requires both earlier years. Waiting defers the cost; it does not remove an earlier year. Windows 10 commercial ESU follows the same rule per device.
Whose bill is the ESU charge on?
Microsoft's — on your Azure subscription for Arc, Azure VM and SQL IaaS paths, or on your licensing agreement for volume-licensing keys. IT Partner's fees for enrolment, Arc onboarding or migration are quoted separately, in writing, before the work begins.
Want the per-server list, with an exit date against each row?
Thirty minutes with an engineer turns these totals into a written plan: which servers go on ESU, through which channel, and when each one comes off. Fixed price, pay after approval. Microsoft’s ESU charges are billed to you by Microsoft.
Licensing the replacement instead? Windows Server Licensing Calculator → · SQL Server Licensing Calculator →