SharePoint Server Subscription Edition: Licensing & Upgrade

This is a reference page our SharePoint Server support team maintains on SharePoint Server Subscription Edition (SE): what it is, how the licensing works, and how to get there from 2016 or 2019.

What is SharePoint Server Subscription Edition

SharePoint Server Subscription Edition is the current — and only supported — version of on-premises SharePoint Server. It reached general availability in November 2021. Support for SharePoint Server 2016 and SharePoint Server 2019 ended on July 14, 2026, per Microsoft's lifecycle end-of-support list for 2026 (Project Server 2016 and 2019 ended the same day). There was never a SharePoint Server 2022, and there will be no year-numbered successor. SE replaces the major-version model with a single continuously serviced product.

The feature baseline at release is documented on the official what's new in SharePoint Server SE page: OpenID Connect (OIDC) authentication, Windows Server Core support, AppFabric integration into Distributed Cache, and direct upgrade from both 2016 and 2019. Everything after that arrives through twice-yearly feature updates.

Subscription Edition end of life

SE has no fixed end-of-support date. It is governed by the Modern Lifecycle Policy: the product stays supported as long as the customer stays current with updates. Microsoft has published an earliest possible end-of-support date of December 31, 2035 for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition — meaning support cannot end before that date, and any actual end date would be announced under Modern Lifecycle notice rules. In practice, "subscription edition end of life" is a per-build question, not a product question: per the SE product servicing policy FAQ, each monthly Public Update (PU) is supported for one year from its release, so a farm falls out of support by running a PU older than 12 months — not by the calendar reaching a version's retirement date.

Version and update model

SE is serviced through three mechanisms:

• Public Updates (PUs): monthly, cumulative, containing security and quality fixes. Each PU carries a one-year support window. There are no service packs.
• Feature updates: twice a year (spring and autumn), delivered inside PUs and named by year and half — Version 22H2, 23H1, 24H1, 24H2, and so on. The Version 25H1 feature update, for example, added TLS 1.3 database connectivity, AMSI request-body scanning, automatic machine key rotation, and the Cloud Hybrid Search upgrade.
• Release rings: new features ship first to the Early release ring, then to Standard. Farm administrators choose the ring, which controls when feature experiences activate.

Content databases are upgraded between builds with the Upgrade-SPContentDatabase cmdlet or the configuration wizard, the same as prior versions — the difference is that this now happens continuously rather than once per major version.

Licensing requirements

The license structure carries over from SharePoint 2019: a server license per running instance — Standard or Enterprise edition — plus a Client Access License (CAL) per user or device, with the Enterprise CAL additive on top of the Standard CAL for Enterprise features. Project Server Subscription Edition is included in the SE Enterprise installation and requires the Enterprise license.

What changed is the purchase model. As the name states, SE cannot be run on a bare perpetual license. To run it compliantly, one of the following must be true:

• Active Software Assurance on existing SharePoint Server and CAL licenses. Customers with SA on 2016 or 2019 licenses are entitled to SE for the duration of the SA term.
• Subscription licenses for the SE server and CALs, purchased through Volume Licensing.

Microsoft does not publish fixed retail pricing for SE server licenses or CALs; pricing is quote-based through Volume Licensing programs and varies by agreement type, term, and reseller. The SharePoint Server product page on microsoft.com routes purchase inquiries through partners and Volume Licensing rather than listing prices.

System requirements

Per the official software requirements documentation:

• Operating system: Windows Server 2019, 2022, or 2025 — Standard or Datacenter, with Desktop Experience or Server Core. SE is the first SharePoint version supported on Server Core.
• Database: SQL Server Standard or Enterprise supporting database compatibility level 150 — SQL Server 2019 CU5 or later, SQL Server 2022, and later versions. Azure SQL Managed Instance is supported for Azure-hosted farms. SQL Server Express is not supported.
• Prerequisites: IIS, .NET Framework 4.8, and the Visual C++ redistributable, installed by prerequisiteinstaller.exe or manually.
• Hardware: 64-bit, 4 cores minimum; 12–16 GB RAM for farm members, 16–24 GB for single-server installs.

Upgrade paths from 2016 and 2019

SE supports N−1 and N−2 version-to-version upgrade — the first SharePoint release to do so. Both SharePoint Server 2019 and SharePoint Server 2016 upgrade directly to SE using the database-attach method, per the official upgrade process overview. There is no in-place upgrade for SharePoint Server; there never has been.

The sequence: create and configure the SE farm, set the old farm read-only, back up and restore the databases, upgrade service applications (BDC, Managed Metadata, Search, Secure Store, User Profile databases carry over; Word Automation and Machine Translation do not), attach and upgrade content databases, then upgrade site collections. Server-side customizations must be reinstalled on the new farm before content databases attach.

What 2016 and 2019 farms face now

The decision tree is short. Content that can move to SharePoint Online should — that removes the servicing burden and the licensing question at once; our SharePoint migration guide covers that path. Farms that stay on-premises for regulatory, data-residency, or customization reasons have exactly one supported destination: Subscription Edition, reached by database attach. Hybrid is the middle position — an SE farm connected to Microsoft 365, with Cloud Hybrid Search (upgraded in Version 25H1) indexing both.

FAQ

Was there a SharePoint Server 2022?

No. SharePoint Server 2022 never existed. Subscription Edition, released November 2021, replaced the year-numbered release model entirely.

When does SharePoint Server Subscription Edition end of life occur?

There is no fixed date. SE follows the Modern Lifecycle Policy and stays supported while the farm stays current. Microsoft's published earliest possible end-of-support date is December 31, 2035, and any actual end would be announced in advance under Modern Lifecycle rules.

Does SharePoint SE require a subscription?

Yes — either active Software Assurance on SharePoint server and CAL licenses, or SE subscription licenses purchased through Volume Licensing. There is no perpetual-only option.

How much does SharePoint Server Subscription Edition cost?

Microsoft does not publish list pricing for SE. Server licenses (Standard or Enterprise) and CALs are quoted through Volume Licensing programs and resellers.

Can I upgrade directly from SharePoint 2016 to Subscription Edition?

Yes. SE supports N−2 upgrade, so both 2016 and 2019 databases attach and upgrade directly. Versions older than 2016 must hop through 2016 or 2019 first.

Is there an in-place upgrade to SharePoint SE?

No. SharePoint upgrades are always database attach: build a new SE farm, move the databases, upgrade, cut over. This differs from Exchange Server SE, which does offer an in-place path from Exchange 2019.

Is SharePoint 2019 still supported?

No. Support for SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 ended July 14, 2026, with no ESU program. The only supported on-premises version is Subscription Edition.