Microsoft increases prices for on-premises servers

From July, the costs for those who operate Microsoft servers in their networks will increase. Microsoft has now announced this. The Redmond price increases will therefore not stop at private users and, as expected, the company wants to push its customers further into the cloud.

Microsoft does not want to name the price increase directly for now: “License and price updates for on-premises servers coming in July 2025” is the title of a blog post on the Microsoft 365 blog about the upcoming price increase.

Microsoft: on-premises need recognized

Although the Microsoft 365 suite is the best choice for customers, Microsoft recognizes that for some customers it is essential and mission-critical to enable on-premises installations – i.e., the operation of software on their servers and in their data centers –. The subscription editions (SE) of Microsoft Exchange and Skype for Business Server are due to become generally available in July 2025 and will enable precisely this local operation. It might be a little confusing that Skype will actually be history from May, but this does not yet apply to the business servers.

Microsoft writes specifically: “To support ongoing maintenance and updates for Microsoft's on-premises server products, prices for all standalone on-premises servers (SharePoint Server, Exchange Server and Skype for Business Server) will increase by 10 percent this July, in parallel with the general availability of Exchange Server Subscription Edition and Skype for Business Subscription Edition.”

Those who use Client Access Licenses (CAL) models with billing based on the number of connected clients can dig even deeper into their pockets: The Core CAL Suite and Enterprise CAL Suite will then cost 15 and 20 percent more respectively from July 1, 2025. “Please note that these changes only affect on-premises versions of these products. They do not impact SharePoint Online, Exchange Online or Microsoft Teams purchased with a Microsoft 365 license,” Microsoft explains further.

Microsoft is trying to tighten the price screw on numerous products. In mid-January, for example, it was announced that private customers would pay 30 percent more for Microsoft 365 subscriptions, but would receive Copilot and AI image processing on top. For a limited time, however, there are alternative license types called Microsoft 365 Single Classic and Microsoft 365 Family Classic, without the AI add-on, at the old price.

(dmk)