Hotpatching – the ability to install patch updates without needing to restart the server – has been available in Microsoft Azure for a while. It is now coming to on-premises Windows Server 2025 machines…for a fee.
This new capability requires connection to Azure Arc and is currently free in preview but, from July 1 2025, it will cost $1.50 per core per month. That’s over $100,000 per year for 100 x 64 core servers…
*Update May 2026*
As of May 15th, 2026 – Hotpatch enabled by Azure Arc is available at no additional cost for Windows Server 2025. See more here:
If you’ve enrolled into the Preview, make sure you unenroll by June 30th to avoid being charged!
Interestingly, it doesn’t remove reboots completely but reduces the number from 12 per year to 4.
See more details from Microsoft here.
Cloudy with a chance of Licensing 