Cloud PC Math for MSPs: Picking Between Windows 365 Business, Enterprise, and AVD

A Cloud PC at roughly $30 per user per month will not beat a laptop on price, and that is fine, because price is not the pitch. Microsoft published public pricing for Windows 365 on August 2, 2021, and the interesting decisions for MSPs live one layer down: which plan fits which customer, when Azure Virtual Desktop is the smarter buy, and where Cloud PC genuinely earns its keep.

The pricing table splits into two major plans, Business and Enterprise. Business plans carry a hybrid benefit discount of around 16% when the base system runs Windows 10 Pro, which rules out devices like Chromebooks. And note the wrinkle: hybrid benefit pricing and Enterprise pricing are exactly the same. Identical price, different products, which means the choice comes down to technical fit rather than cost.

One requirement applies across the board: every plan needs a base license, either Windows 10 Enterprise E3 plus EMS E3, or Microsoft 365 F3, E3, E5, or Business Premium.

Business or Enterprise: what actually separates them?#

Business: fast to deploy, light on control#

Windows 365 Business is the lightweight path: license users and you are done. Cloud PCs provision in about 30 minutes and are immediately accessible. The trade-offs that come with that speed, as of August 2021:

• No custom images.
• Fewer print options, because you do not control the network; technologies like Universal Print are not supported on the Business plan at this time.
• Resizing a Cloud PC upward in CPU or RAM is a manual operation, where Enterprise builds it into the interface natively. Resizing up is supported; resizing back down is not.
• Every user is created as a local admin on their Cloud PC by default, which is not always what you want.

The redeeming feature is identity and management: Business-plan devices natively join Azure AD and enroll into Intune automatically, so you can push applications, compliance profiles, scripts, and more the moment the device is provisioned.

Enterprise: more control, more plumbing#

Enterprise setup is far more time-intensive. As of August 2021 it requires connecting to a local Active Directory environment: you need an Azure subscription on top of the licensing so you can create a VNet with line of sight to AD. Azure AD Domain Services is not supported, and while Microsoft says native Azure AD join support like the Business plan is coming, it does not exist yet.

In exchange, Enterprise supports custom images and has native resizing support inside the Endpoint Manager admin center.

When does AVD win the deal?#

Nerdio (opens in new tab) produced the best AVD-versus-Windows-365 comparison available today, and the conclusion is blunt: if cost is the primary consideration in a DaaS rollout, AVD is the way to go. Using reserved instances, pooled hosts, and auto-scaling, the savings over Windows 365 can reach 58%. The full analysis is here (opens in new tab).

The laptop comparison cuts the same way. Stack roughly $30 per user per month against a similar-spec laptop over a 3-year life and there are no meaningful savings. Which is why we think the pitch belongs on security, compliance, and flexibility, not cost.

Where should you deploy Cloud PC first?#

These are starting-point scenarios; your existing offering and customer environments will suggest others.

1. BYOD and remote work#

BYOD and remote work drove this product's creation. Windows 365 creates a secure access gateway for BYOD devices: work from any device, anywhere, with no firewall or VPN required to reach corporate resources. The native Intune integration lets you push an entire security stack, scripts, RMM tools, and applications directly to the Cloud PC.

A Cloud PC deployment can also start eroding the purchase-and-shipment layer of physical PCs. You are unlikely to drop hardware support altogether, but a hybrid approach works: shift the workload to Cloud PC as each physical device hits end of life.

Microsoft positions Windows 365 as a direct answer to the hybrid work paradox (opens in new tab): workers want more flexible remote options and more in-person collaboration at the same time. Provisioning Cloud PCs for remote workers while issuing physical PCs to office staff threads that needle.

There is a packaging angle too: a new service add-on for customers who want physical workstations plus the flexibility of working anywhere on any device.

2. Replacing legacy RDS and VDI#

Windows 365 gives you a path off legacy RDS or VDI workloads, whether that is a Microsoft stack on something like ProPlus or a third party that has generated years of headaches, like Citrix. One constraint to respect: Windows 365 only supports single-user sessions, so AVD may be the better fit where you need to preserve multi-session functionality. Ideally the switching cost pays for itself in operational efficiency.

3. Contractors and temporary access#

Windows 365 is a strong fit for secure, temporary access to corporate resources. When contractors arrive, spin up a Cloud PC scoped to what they need and they are productive immediately. It also plays well with compliance regimes like HIPAA and FINRA: when the engagement ends, access is removed instantly, and DLP concerns leave with it.

How we would position it#

Windows 365 changes how we think about PC deployment for customers. For MSPs struggling to move customers up to Microsoft 365 Business Premium at $20 per user, Cloud PC adds real weight to that upsell conversation, since Business Premium is a required prerequisite. It is a harder sell if you itemize 365 licenses to customers instead of bundling your offering at a per-user price. Either way, lead with the security of the solution: it protects a great deal without getting in the user's way.