Comparison of different license models as of 2023
I wanted to compare the pricing of different enterprise linux options in their cheapest available licensed option. All of the following are yearly prices for a single host
- Suse - per IFL (Server)
- Ubuntu Pro - per Machine
- Proxmox VE - per Socket
- VMware ESXi (basic handles 3 hosts at max - cost per host)
- Microsoft Windows Server 2022 - up to 16C/license
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux - per Host
| Yearly licenses | Red Hat | Suse | Ubuntu | VMware ESXi | Proxmox | Microsoft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small physical - non production - license only | 349$ | 777€ | 500$ | 577$ | 105€ | 501 $ |
| Normal Server/Machine/Host | 799$ | 777€ | 1775$ | 1394$ | 490€ | 1069 $ |
| Premium/Datacenter | 1299$ | 1457€ | 3400$ | 4780$ | 980€ | 6,155 $ |
These are the prices as of 30.06.2023 - still the same in 09.2023.
In general, one can see that VMware and Windows are the most expensive ones, while Proxmox is the cheapest one. Of course, comparing it like this is not that useful, as Proxmox is mainly about Virtualization while Suse is mostly used as a Server OS.
I find it quite interesting, that the cost of the different tiers is mostly equivalent and seems to be intended to be a little cheaper thant the alternatives.
For me, the choice is quite clear to be Proxmox with Debian as the actual server os on hosts.