Pricing and licensing for Windows Server 2016

Choose from three primary editions of Windows Server based on
the size of your organization, as well as virtualization and datacenter
requirements. Then, explore the expanded benefits of Software Assurance
for Windows Server that’s designed to support your transition to hybrid cloud.

Performance and scalability

Windows Server 2016 edition

Ideal for

Licensing model

CAL requirements*

Pricing Open NL ERP (US$)***

Datacenter**

Highly virtualized and software-defined datacenter environments

Core-based

Windows Server CAL

$6,155

Standard**

Low density or non-virtualized environments

Core-based

Windows Server CAL

$882

Essentials

Small businesses with up to 25 users and 50 devices

Specialty servers (server license)

No CAL required

$501

*CALs are required for every user or device accessing a server. See the Product Use Rights for details.
**Datacenter and Standard edition pricing is for 16 core licenses.
***Pricing is shown in USD and may vary from country to country. Please contact your Microsoft representative for a quote.

Windows Server 2016 feature differentiation

Feature	Datacenter	Standard
Core functionality of Windows Server	✔️	✔️
OSEs / Windows Server containers with Hyper-V isolation	Unlimited	2
Windows Server containers without Hyper-V isolation	Unlimited	Unlimited
Host Guardian Service	✔️	✔️
Storage features including Storage Spaces Direct and Storage Replica	✔️
Shielded Virtual Machines	✔️
Networking stack	✔️