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

Petr Hanák 0 Reputation points
2025-06-06T21:56:33.48+00:00

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.

Windows for business | Windows Client for IT Pros | Devices and deployment | Licensing and activation
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