In 2021, Microsoft set an end-of-support date for Windows 10 of October 2025. As we hit the halfway mark to October 2025 last year, Microsoft announced a way to continue getting security updates for Windows 10: a paid extended support program. And thanks to a Microsoft Tech Community post (via Windows Central), we know how much it'll cost — and it's pretty expensive.
The extended support program can give you an extra three years of security updates for Windows 10, but it costs $61 per device for the first year. This price doubles for the next two years ($122 in Year Two, $244 in Year Three), and if you opt in during year two or three, you'll have to pay for any update years you'd missed because the "ESUs are cumulative."
Traditionally, an extended support program from Microsoft is reserved for businesses and enterprise customers who have a lot of PCs to upgrade. But for the first time, Microsoft is allowing individuals to opt into these three years of extended security updates. But is holding onto Windows 10 for three more years worth a collective $427 per device?
Is it time to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11?
Right now, Windows 10 users have three options. One, you upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 for free before Windows 10 support ends. Two, you decide to pay the ridiculously high fee for extended support to squeeze out three more years of secure Windows 10 use. Or three, you choose to skip upgrading or extending support and use an insecure version of Windows 10.
Because regular Windows security updates protect your device from any threatening bugs or vulnerabilities, we wouldn't recommend the third option. But at the end of the day, it's your device to do with what you will.
Until October 2025, you'll get monthly security updates for Windows 10 like normal. So you don't have to decide right now whether you'll pay $427 over three years to keep Windows 10 or upgrade to Windows 11 for free, but the obvious choice for most people will be a free upgrade — and Microsoft likely knew this when pricing the extended support program.
There are a ton of ways Windows 10 is objectively better than Windows 11, but even the most devout Windows 10 fans will have to eventually upgrade to Windows 11. It's just a matter of deciding whether that time is right before October 2025 or in October 2028 after shelling out $427.
