Pricing benchmark
What extended support for end-of-life software costs
On 26 Oct 2026 the published prices were: Ubuntu Pro $500 per server a year, TuxCare from $5,000 a year for up to 10 systems, SQL Server 2016 ESU from $278 a month per 2 cores, and AWS RDS Extended Support $0.10 per vCPU-hour. HeroDevs and OpenLogic publish none. OSSeva publishes none; its quote follows technologies, versions, environments and tier.
Third-party prices checked 26 Oct 2026 on each vendor's own page, with sources at the foot of this page. Written by the OSSeva team, which sells a competing service.
Published extended support prices, checked 26 Oct 2026
Seven vendors, five billing units. OSSeva comes first: it has no list price, and a quote follows four things set out below. The other rows are the numbers each vendor prints today, or a plain "not published".
| Vendor | What it extends | Published price | Billing unit | Per year, full use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OSSeva | Self-managed open source databases, brokers and runtimes, end-of-life lines included | Not published. A senior engineer replies within 1 business day with a quote. | Per cluster for most technologies (how a quote is built) | Not published |
| Canonical Ubuntu Pro | Ubuntu LTS and the packages in the Ubuntu archive | $25 per workstation and $500 per server (unlimited VMs) per machine per year. 24/7 support add-on: $1,775 Infra or $3,400 Full per server per year; weekday support is 50% less. | Per machine; public cloud is metered by the hour, about 3 to 4.5% of the list price | $500 per physical server |
| Microsoft ESU (Azure Arc) | SQL Server 2014 and 2016, Windows Server 2016 | SQL Server: $1,081 Enterprise or $278 Standard per month per 2 cores. Windows Server 2016: $60 Datacenter or $10.50 Standard per month per 2 cores. | Per core, billed monthly; 4-core minimum per SQL Server instance | SQL Server $6,486 or $1,668 per core; Windows $360 or $63 per core |
| TuxCare (OSSeva vs TuxCare) | Linux operating systems and six runtimes (.NET, Node.js, OpenJDK, PHP, Python, Ruby) | Sold annually in bands: up to 10 systems $5,000, up to 100 $9,750, up to 250 $23,750. Above that, custom. Its pricing page asks for a custom quote. | Per system (physical, VM or cloud instance), or per runtime instance | Up to $500, $97.50 or $95 per system when the band is full |
| AWS RDS and Aurora Extended Support | RDS for PostgreSQL and MySQL past standard support | $0.100 per vCPU-hour in years 1 and 2, $0.200 in year 3 (US East, Ohio). Other Regions cost more. | Per vCPU-hour; Multi-AZ standby instances are billed | $876 per vCPU, then $1,752 |
| Azure Database for PostgreSQL | PostgreSQL 11 to 13 on Azure Flexible Server now, 14 from 1 Feb 2027 | $0.070 per vCore-hour (East US). Billing for versions 11 to 13 started 1 Sep 2026. | Per vCore-hour, running servers only | $613.20 per vCore |
| HeroDevs (OSSeva vs HeroDevs) | Never-Ending Support for named application versions | Not published. The page shows Custom Pricing, billed annually, multi-year options. | Annual licence per user: people who commit code to the project repository | Not published |
| OpenLogic (OSSeva vs OpenLogic) | Technical support and long-term support for open source | Not published. The page offers a quote request only. | Not stated | Not published |
The last column is arithmetic on the published rate for a full year (8,760 hours, or 12 months) and is not a vendor quote. TuxCare bands were read from its checkout by selecting each band; nothing was submitted, and the page prints no per-system rate. Ubuntu Pro prices exclude the cloud-metered option. Amazon ElastiCache, EKS, OpenSearch and Azure AKS are on the cloud extended support pricing page.
The same 50-system estate at each published rate
Take 50 systems of 4 cores or vCPUs each, running all year. This shows how each unit scales, not which vendor is better: the rows cover different software, and some cannot cover the same systems at all.
| Vendor | How the 50 systems are counted | Annual list price |
|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro | 50 physical servers, subscription only | $25,000 (50 x $500) |
| TuxCare | 50 systems fall in the up-to-100 band | $9,750 |
| SQL Server Standard ESU | 200 vCores = 100 two-core units x $278 x 12 | $333,600 |
| SQL Server Enterprise ESU | 100 two-core units x $1,081 x 12 | $1,297,200 |
| AWS RDS Extended Support | 200 vCPUs x $0.10 x 8,760 hours (years 1 and 2) | $175,200, then $350,400 in year 3 |
| Azure PostgreSQL | 200 vCores x $0.07 x 8,760 hours | $122,640 |
| HeroDevs, OpenLogic | Priced per user, or not stated | Not published |
| OSSeva | Per cluster, not per server, core or vCPU | Not published; quote on request |
Why the spread is so wide: Microsoft and AWS count cores or vCPU-hours, so the bill grows with hardware. TuxCare counts systems in bands. OSSeva counts clusters, so adding cores to a cluster does not change the count. For your own figures, put a quote and your current spend into the database support cost calculator.
What each price buys, and what it does not
Ubuntu Pro
Microsoft ESU
TuxCare
AWS RDS Extended Support
How OSSeva prices extended support
OSSeva does not publish a price. Four things set a quote, and each one is stated in words so you can check a quote against your own estate.
Technologies and units in scope
Versions you run
Environments
Tier
The full unit list is on the pricing page. A senior engineer replies within 1 business day with a quote.
Extended support or an upgrade?
Every extended support price above is a bridge, and several stop the day you upgrade: the AWS charge ends when the instance runs a version in standard support, and Microsoft cancels ESU billing on upgrade or migration. Run both costs side by side in the upgrade vs extended support calculator.
When OSSeva is not the right purchase
- Operating systems: OSSeva does not patch Linux distributions or kernels. Use the OS vendor, TuxCare or OpenLogic.
- SQL Server and Windows Server: OSSeva does not support or patch them. Buy Microsoft ESU, or migrate SQL Server databases to PostgreSQL.
- Databases inside RDS, Aurora or ElastiCache: only AWS can change those builds, so Extended Support or an upgrade is the route.
- You want the vendor to host and run the database for you: a managed service fits better than software you operate.
Where the software is yours to run, see the extended support vendors compared.
Sources
Every third-party figure on this page was read on the vendor's own page on 26 Oct 2026. Prices change; confirm with the vendor before you budget.
- Canonical, Ubuntu Pro pricing: ubuntu.com/pricing/pro (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Microsoft, Azure Arc pricing (Extended Security Updates): azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/azure-arc/core-control-plane/ (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Microsoft, SQL Server ESU FAQ: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/end-of-support/extended-security-updates-frequently-asked-questions?view=sql-server-ver17 (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- TuxCare, Extended Lifecycle Support checkout: tuxcare.com/buy/els/ (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- TuxCare, pricing: tuxcare.com/pricing/ (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- AWS, Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL pricing: aws.amazon.com/rds/postgresql/pricing/ (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- AWS, RDS Extended Support charges: docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/extended-support-charges.html (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Microsoft, Azure Database for PostgreSQL pricing: azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/postgresql/flexible-server/ (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- HeroDevs, pricing: herodevs.com/pricing (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- OpenLogic, pricing: openlogic.com/pricing (checked 26 Oct 2026)
How much does extended support cost?
It depends on what is extended and how the vendor counts. On 26 Oct 2026 the published prices were: Ubuntu Pro $500 per server per year, TuxCare $5,000 a year for up to 10 systems, SQL Server 2016 ESU $278 a month per 2 cores on Standard and $1,081 on Enterprise through Azure Arc, and AWS RDS Extended Support $0.10 per vCPU-hour in US East (Ohio) in years 1 and 2, then $0.20. HeroDevs and OpenLogic do not publish prices. OSSeva does not publish one either.
Is TuxCare cheaper than HeroDevs?
No published figure can settle it. HeroDevs shows Custom Pricing, billed annually, with licences counted per user, meaning people who commit code to the project repository. TuxCare's checkout shows annual bands per system: $5,000 up to 10 systems, $9,750 up to 100 and $23,750 up to 250. The units differ and the products cover different software, so ask both for a quote on the same list of versions.
What does AWS RDS Extended Support cost?
AWS charges per vCPU per hour on provisioned RDS instances after standard support ends: $0.100 in years 1 and 2 and $0.200 in year 3 in US East (Ohio), per the RDS for PostgreSQL pricing page on 26 Oct 2026. Other Regions cost more and standby instances in Multi-AZ deployments are billed. The charge stops when you upgrade to a version in standard support or delete the database. An 8 vCPU instance running all year costs $7,008 in years 1 and 2.
Does OSSeva publish its prices?
No. OSSeva shows no price list. A quote depends on the technologies and units in scope, the versions you run, the environments and the tier: Patch, Assure or Operate. A senior engineer replies within 1 business day. The database support cost calculator compares a quote with what you pay today, from your own figures.
Why can't I compare these prices directly?
Each vendor counts a different unit: a machine, a core, a band of systems, a vCPU-hour or a user, and each covers different software. Normalise to your own estate, as the 50-system example on this page does, and ask every vendor to quote the same list of versions and environments.
Get a quote
Get your exact quote.
Send the technologies, versions and clusters you run. A senior engineer replies within 1 business day with a quote priced per cluster.
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