Cloud VPS · Windows Server · Licensing

Windows Server licensing on a VPS: what is in the price, and what is not

Every Windows row we sell is in exactly one of the states below, and the tables say which. No headline on this site says the license is included unless every machine on that page carries one.

See every city Cheapest Remote Desktop server

The states

Who carries the license.

Included

The platform's own Windows Server image carries its license, and the Windows price is the Linux price of the same machine plus what the platform adds for it. Nuremberg, Seattle, New York, Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore and more.

Your own key

Our own Windows Server 2022 Standard image, unactivated: it runs as an evaluation for 180 days and you activate it with your own key whenever you like, or ask us to quote one. Nuremberg, Helsinki, Ashburn, Hillsboro (OR), Frankfurt, Singapore.

By our engineers

On some platforms the Windows option is ordered by a person rather than by our software. The machine still arrives in under an hour with the same Remote Desktop details; what changes is that a password reset there is a support ticket, not a button. Nuremberg, Seattle, New York, Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore and more.

Worked example

The same shape, two rules.

One machine size, priced in a city where the platform's image carries the license and in a city where you bring the key. Both rows are live prices from the sheet the cart charges from.

License included

$31.90 a month

BD-8: 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 100 GB disk, in Nuremberg. The platform's image carries the license; nothing to activate. Edition: Datacenter.

Deploy in Nuremberg

Your own key

$77.90 a month

C4-8-160: 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 160 GB disk, in Helsinki. Our own image, unactivated: a 180-day evaluation, then your key. Edition: Standard.

Deploy in Helsinki

Activating

With your own key, in three steps.

Step 1
Sign in over Remote Desktop
As Administrator, with the password from your client area.
Step 2
Open Settings, System, Activation
Choose Change product key and enter your Windows Server Standard key. The machine needs to reach the internet, which it does.
Step 3
Done
Activation is immediate for a valid key. If Windows says the key is not for this edition, the key is for a different edition or version; check the edition printed on your city page.

Not licensed by us

What you always bring yourself.

Microsoft Office

Installs fine; the subscription or key is yours.

SQL Server

Express installs freely; Standard and up need your license.

RDS user licenses

Beyond the two administrative sessions Windows Server allows.

Desktop Windows

Not sold: a hosting platform may not license a desktop edition to you.

Questions

About Windows Server licensing.

Do I need to buy a Windows Server license for a VPS?

It depends on the city. Where the table says Included, the platform's image carries the license and the price is the whole price. Where it says Your own key, the machine runs as a 180-day evaluation and you activate it with your own Windows Server Standard key, or ask us to quote one.

What happens after 180 days without a key?

Windows keeps running and keeps asking to be activated: a watermark, a notification, some personalisation settings greyed out. Programs keep working. Activate it with your key at any point and the reminders stop. We tell you this rather than let you find out.

Which key works?

A Windows Server Standard key for the version installed, from a source that permits use on a hosted virtual machine. Volume-licensing and SPLA keys are the usual routes for servers you rent; a retail key bought for a desktop is generally not licensed for this and may fail to activate. If you want us to arrange one, reply to the ready email or open a ticket and we will quote.

Which editions do the platforms install?

Standard and Datacenter, depending on the platform; each city page prints the edition beside the size where the platform states one. Where no edition is printed, the platform did not state one and we do not guess.

Is Office, SQL Server or Remote Desktop Services included?

No, on any of them. Microsoft Office, SQL Server and Remote Desktop Services user licenses (for more than the two administrative sessions Windows Server allows) are separate products you bring. A desktop edition of Windows is not sold here at all.

Why is the Windows price sometimes the same as Linux, and sometimes higher?

Because the platforms differ. Where a platform charges us nothing extra for its Windows image, or where the image is our own, the Windows price is the Linux price of the same machine. Where the platform charges for its Windows option, that charge is in the Windows price and nowhere else: there is no license line at checkout.

By use

What the machine is for.

Forex and MetaTrader

MT4, MT5, cTrader and expert advisors that must stay on, sized by how many terminals you run.

Forex and MetaTrader

Remote Desktop

A Windows machine you sign into as Administrator from anywhere, for work that needs a Windows desktop that never sleeps.

Remote Desktop

Bots and automation

Trading bots, Discord and Telegram bots, browser automation: what keeps a Windows process alive around the clock.