TCO calculator
What does the decision actually cost?
Compare keeping Windows and adding XPC against replacing the endpoint operating system or buying dedicated thin clients. Licences, hardware and engineer hours, over one to five years, using your own numbers.
How the model works
Three costs decide it: licensing, hardware and labour.
Every endpoint strategy pays some combination of the three. XPC pays a subscription and a small install effort. Replacing the endpoint OS pays licensing and a substantial per-endpoint migration. Buying thin clients pays capital up front and still pays a rollout. The calculator prices all three from the values you enter, and leaves out anything identical on both paths.
Your numbers
Change any value and the result updates immediately. Nothing is sent anywhere — the calculation runs in your browser.
Total endpoints you would put on this strategy.
Compare against
The alternative you are weighing XPC against.
Subscription or licence cost for the replacement endpoint OS and its management platform.
Blended internal or MSP rate for the people doing the work.
Imaging or provisioning, peripheral testing, deskside attendance and rework — per endpoint.
$7,690
XPC over 3 years
95 billable PCs at $2.00 per PC per month, plus deployment labour.
$21,750
Replace the endpoint operating system
Licensing, hardware and migration labour combined.
$14,060
Avoided by keeping Windows
Equivalent to $3.91 per PC per month across the modelled period.
Cost build-up
Keep Windows, add XPC
$7,690- XPC subscription$6,840
- Deployment labour$850
- New endpoint hardware$0
Replace the endpoint operating system
$21,750- Endpoint licensing$9,000
- New endpoint hardware$0
- Migration or rollout labour$12,750
- Licensing or subscription
- Hardware
- Labour
Cumulative cost by year
| Year | XPC | OS replacement | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $3,130 | $15,750 | $12,620 |
| Year 2 | $5,410 | $18,750 | $13,340 |
| Year 3 | $7,690 | $21,750 | $14,060 |
Your result, in words
XPC total cost of ownership — 100 PCs over 3 years. Keep Windows and add XPC: $7,690 (95 billable PCs at $2.00 per PC per month, plus $850 deployment labour). Replace the endpoint operating system: $21,750 (licensing $9,000, hardware $0, labour $12,750). XPC costs $14,060 less over the period, equivalent to $3.91 per PC per month. Figures are calculated from the values entered on xpc.direct/tco-calculator and exclude Citrix, RDP or other remote desktop licensing, which is unchanged on either path.
What this does not include
Citrix, RDP, AVD, Windows 365 and other remote desktop licensing is excluded, because it is the same on either path and unchanged by this decision. Windows licensing is likewise excluded: XPC keeps the Windows you already licence.
Your own project-management time, change-control effort, pilot phases and user communication are not priced here, and in a platform migration they are rarely trivial. Nor is the cost of rework when a peripheral, a line-of-business application or a compliance agent turns out not to be supported on a replacement endpoint OS.
Every alternative-path figure is a value you entered, not a vendor quote. Use real quotes before taking a number to your finance team, and treat this page as a structure for the conversation rather than a source of pricing.
Related reading
The arguments behind the numbers.
The calculator prices the decision. These pages explain it.
Replace Windows, or keep it?
When a thin-client OS is genuinely the right answer, and when it is not.
Read moreBuy thin clients, or reuse PCs?
Capital refresh against repurposing hardware you already own.
Read moreSupport-ROI calculator
What a reduction in endpoint support contacts is worth each year.
Read moreQuestions
About this calculator.
Where do the XPC figures come from?
The published XPC commercial model: the first five active PCs are free, additional PCs are $2 per PC per month, and the rate falls to $1.80 per PC per month once 500 or more PCs are billable. Deployment labour is modelled at a tenth of an engineer hour per endpoint, because the rollout is an MSI install and a portal toggle.
Are the alternative costs vendor figures?
No. Every alternative-path figure is a value you enter: licence cost per endpoint per year, hardware cost per device and engineer hours per endpoint. We do not publish other vendors' pricing on your behalf. Use your own quotes for an accurate comparison.
Why is remote desktop licensing excluded?
Citrix, RDP, AVD, Windows 365 and other remote desktop licensing is identical on either path, so including it inflates both totals equally without changing the decision. The calculator compares only the costs that differ.
Does XPC really avoid new hardware cost?
XPC installs on the Windows PCs you already own and does not replace the operating system, so no endpoint refresh is required to adopt it. Hardware that is already end-of-life should still be replaced on its own schedule; the calculator does not assume otherwise.
Can I share the result?
Yes. Copy the summary as text, or print the page as a one-page business case. Nothing you enter is stored or transmitted — the calculation runs entirely in your browser.
Run XPC on five PCs at no cost and check the numbers yourself.
The free tier is not a trial. Install it on five endpoints, measure the difference, then decide what the rest of the estate is worth.