Windows 10 Extended Security Updates year two: commercial price doubles to $122 per device from mid-October 2026

Windows 10 Extended Security Updates year two: commercial price doubles to $122 per device from mid-October 2026

5 October 2026 — Windows 10 reached end of support on 14 October 2025. Organisations that kept devices on it could buy Extended Security Updates (ESU) through volume licensing. The first ESU year is now close to its end, and Microsoft's published pricing rule means the second year costs commercial customers twice as much per device.

Not yet independently verified. Microsoft's page states $61 per device for year one and that the price doubles every consecutive year, for up to three years; the $122 figure is arithmetic from that rule and matches The Register. The exact year-two start date (reported by third-party advisers as 14 October 2026, with year one ending 13 October) was not read on a Microsoft page, so check the date in the Microsoft 365 admin centre volume licensing view. Microsoft pages were last updated in November 2025; any later change to the programme was not found. Market-share figures are Statcounter estimates quoted by The Register. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

What changed

Microsoft's documentation states that ESU for organisations is sold through the Microsoft Volume Licensing Program at $61 per device for year one, and that the price doubles every consecutive year. On that rule, year two is $122 per device and year three is $244. Enrolled commercial and education devices can receive ESU updates for a maximum of three years after end of support, and the minimum purchase is one licence. Devices must be running Windows 10 version 22H2 to qualify.

The Register reported on 5 October 2026 that the first year is ending and that commercial customers face the higher renewal price. It also notes some exemptions: Windows 365 Cloud PC users are covered, consumers can obtain free updates by meeting certain conditions, and consumers in the European Economic Area receive updates without extra conditions. Those routes do not apply to commercial devices outside Windows 365.

According to Statcounter figures quoted by The Register, Windows 11 now holds about 71.5 percent of Windows desktop usage and Windows 10 about 27.8 percent. These are estimates from a web-tracking service, not Microsoft statistics.

Who is affected

Any organisation with Windows 10 devices still enrolled in ESU, and any organisation that has devices left on Windows 10 without ESU and is deciding whether to enrol. Education customers fall under the same maximum three-year rule. Teams that run Windows 10 on specialist equipment, such as machines tied to a particular instrument or line-of-business application, are likely to be the ones renewing, because moving them is harder than paying.

What to do

• Count the Windows 10 devices still in use and split them into those that can move to Windows 11 and those that cannot.
• Check the ESU licences in the Microsoft 365 admin centre volume licensing view and confirm the coverage dates for each device.
• Budget year two at $122 per device, and year three at $244 if devices will still be running then. Ask your reseller to confirm the price and the start date for your agreement.
• For devices that will not move, decide whether to renew, isolate them from the network, or retire them, and record the decision with an owner and a date.
• For devices that can move, schedule the Windows 11 upgrade before the renewal so licence spend stops.

Why it matters

The doubling rule is a deliberate nudge towards migration, and the third year costs four times the first. For a fleet of several hundred stragglers the renewal cost moves from a minor line item to a figure that can justify hardware replacement. Buyers also should not assume that ESU removes the need for planning: it covers security updates only, and technical support for the ESU itself is limited to activation, installation and regressions caused by the update.

Company profile on TrustList: Microsoft

Sources

• Microsoft Learn: Extended Security Updates (ESU) program for Windows 10 (page last updated 2025-11-17) — 17 November 2025
• Microsoft Learn: Enable Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU) — 17 November 2025
• The Register — 5 October 2026