Which licensing model is suitable for streaming Windows 11 apps on a public kiosk?

Question

The goal is to run Windows apps and allow users to access them remotely for testing desktop applications without running them locally. The two main use cases are:

1. The stream of the remote desktop application will be running on a publicly accessible kiosk PC.
2. Public users can connect for a short amount of time via a link or access code to the VM, without requiring user registration.

Note: The connection to the remote VM will use a custom streaming protocol due to graphical limitations of RDP, which is not optimized for motion graphics.

The options discovered include:

• Windows Server 2022 on Azure is not a good fit, as it causes compatibility issues with applications optimized for Windows 11 and is also costly.
• A Windows 11 VM on Azure requires Microsoft E3, E5, or similar licenses. However, there isn't a fixed user for kiosks, and using a license per connection does not make sense. Can licenses be purchased or can the AVD per-user pricing model be applied for external users with placeholder accounts (e.g., pc1@example.com, pc2@example.com)?
• The guide “Windows 11 Licensing for Virtual Desktops” mentions buying a Windows VDA per-device, but this is only for on-premise servers, which contradicts the goal of eliminating on-premise server maintenance. Is there no way to use a per-device Windows 11 license on Azure?
• The Microsoft 365 E3 Unattended License indicates that the VM isn't bound to a single user, but it may not be suitable as the apps will be controlled by an external user via a custom protocol, classifying it as an attended bot.

Guidance is needed on licensing compliance, as AVD per-user licensing appears to be the closest fit, but it requires creation of placeholder accounts.

Answer 1

For your scenario: public kiosks streaming Windows 11 apps to anonymous users—the Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) per-user access pricing is the most suitable and compliant approach because:

Designed for external users: Azure’s per-user access pricing model explicitly supports “external commercial purposes,” meaning public or customer access. You pay only for actual users per month, regardless of identities being real or placeholders, as long as they connect.

No need for E3/E5 licenses per session: You don’t need a full M365 E3/E5 on placeholder accounts. AVD handles access rights, saving cost and complexity.

I have created step by step for you on how to Implement with Placeholder Accounts:

Step	Description
1️	Enroll your Azure subscription in AVD per-user access pricing (via Azure portal under AVD settings)
2	Enroll your Azure subscription in AVD per-user access pricing (via Azure portal under AVD settings)
3	Create placeholder accounts in Entra ID (e.g., kiosk1@…, kiosk2@…) for each kiosk endpoint. They don’t need E3/E5 or Windows licensing.
4	Publish your Windows 11 VM or RemoteApp to these placeholder accounts, configured per kiosk.
5	Users connect via link or code, authenticating through these placeholders to stream apps. They don’t need registration, thanks to generic credentials.