Windows VPS Hosting: What the License Really Costs

Windows VPS hosting costs more than the plan you are looking at, because the Windows license is not in the price. That is true here and it is true almost everywhere; the difference is whether the host says so before you order. This post covers what our Windows images actually give you, how much server Windows needs before it feels good, what the license adds, and when the honest answer is to run Linux instead.

What we hand you, and what you bring#

Windows Server runs on the same KVM platform as our Linux images, so nothing about the virtualization is special or second class. You pick a Windows Server 2019, 2022, or 2025 evaluation image at order time or from the Reinstall tab in the cloud portal, and the Administrator password is shown once in the portal after provisioning.

Those images are Microsoft evaluation editions. They run fully featured for 180 days, and after that you bring your own key: retail, volume, or licensing arranged through your reseller. Converting an evaluation to a licensed edition is two commands and a reboot, written out in the Windows Server guide.

We do not sell Windows licenses, and we would rather say that in the first paragraph than in a support ticket after you have paid. Sort the key with Microsoft or a reseller. If the licensing model for your case is unclear, ask us and we will point you at the right documentation rather than guess at it, because guessing about someone else's license terms is how people end up out of compliance.

Sizing: Windows wants disk before it wants anything else#

Plan for at least 4 GB of RAM and 60 GB of disk for a server that is comfortable rather than merely running. Our smallest Performance plan will boot Windows; it will not enjoy it. A Linux server doing the same job is often happy on half of that, which is the first piece of the real cost difference.

The disk floor is the one that surprises people. Windows Update alone keeps a component store that grows, and a GUI workload plus a page file eats the rest. These are the live plans that clear both floors, straight from our pricing data:

Read that table by disk rather than by price. The Foundational line runs on enterprise Intel hardware with hardware RAID-10 SSD storage and gives you noticeably more room per dollar, which suits a file server, a line-of-business application, or a remote desktop for two people. The Performance line buys clock speed on the AMD EPYC platform we price openly, and that is what SQL Server and anything latency-sensitive actually want.

The door you have to lock#

You reach Windows with Remote Desktop rather than SSH: mstsc on Windows, Microsoft Remote Desktop on macOS, Remmina or xfreerdp on Linux. If Remote Desktop stops answering, the VNC console in the cloud portal shows the Windows login screen exactly as an attached monitor would, so a bad firewall rule is an inconvenience rather than a rebuild.

Open Remote Desktop is the most attacked service on the internet. Restrict it in Windows Defender Firewall to the addresses you actually connect from, or put it behind a VPN, and leave Network Level Authentication on; the firewall guide has the PowerShell for it. Changing the port is a thin extra layer and never a substitute. Everything else you already know how to do here works the same: snapshots, backups, reinstall, and additional addresses behave identically to a Linux server.

When Linux is the cheaper answer#

• A .NET application. Modern .NET runs on Linux. If nothing in the stack is calling a Windows-only API, you are buying a license to avoid a deployment change once.
• A website with a database. Unless the database is SQL Server, the Windows tax buys you nothing a reverse proxy and a Linux service does not already do.
• Familiarity alone. A fair reason, but price the key before you commit to it; the yearly cost of the license frequently exceeds the yearly cost of the server.

Windows earns its place when something genuinely requires it: an application vendor that only ships an MSI, Active Directory, SQL Server with licensing tied to it, or an accounting package your business runs on. In those cases buy the disk, lock the Remote Desktop door, and treat the license as a line item you planned for.

FAQ#

Do you provide the Windows license?
No. The images are Microsoft evaluation editions that run fully featured for 180 days, and beyond that you supply a retail or volume key, or one arranged through your reseller.

What happens when the 180 day evaluation ends?
Windows starts warning and eventually shuts down on a schedule until it is activated. Convert the edition and activate with your key before then; the process is in the knowledge base and does not require a reinstall.

How much RAM does Windows Server need on a VPS?
Four GB is the practical floor and 60 GB of disk matters more than most people expect. Anything with a GUI workload, or SQL Server, wants more of both.

Can I get in if Remote Desktop breaks?
Yes. The VNC console in the cloud portal shows the login screen directly, and rescue mode boots a Linux environment that can still mount the NTFS disk to copy data off.