Each Windows release for almost as long as the operating system has existed has come in multiple editions. Back in the day, things were actually very complex, with Windows Vista having editions like Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate. Windows 11 also comes in a few flavors, such as Home, Pro, Pro for Workstations, Enterprise, and Education (plus some IoT editions and Windows 11 SE, which are a different breed).
While that still seems like a lot, most users will only ever see Home and Pro, since the other SKUs aren't really available in consumer laptops. And there are a few differences between these two editions in terms of features and hardware support, so it's worth looking into what they offer to see what suits you the best.
5 reasons to upgrade to Windows 11 Pro
Do you need Windows 11 Pro or is the Home edition good enough? Here are a few reasons why you might want to upgrade.
Windows 11 Home vs Pro: Pricing
Before anything else, the major difference between Windows 11 Home and Pro is pricing. If you want to buy a new Windows 11 license to install on a PC you just built, for example, the Home edition will cost $139.99, while Pro will cost $199.99.
However, most laptops and desktop computers will come with either Windows 11 Home or Pro preinstalled, with Home being the most common. If you have Windows 11 Home and you want to upgrade to Pro, that will cost you $99.99.
Windows 11 Home vs Pro: Summary of differences
It's important to know that, for most people, Windows 11 Home will do pretty much anything you need it to do. As the name implies, the Pro edition is meant for professionals, usually people using their devices for work, and specifically within a company.
As such, most of the features in Windows 11 Pro are meant for very specific use cases. Here's a quick rundown:
|
Feature |
Windows 11 Home |
Windows 11 Pro |
|---|---|---|
|
Requires a Microsoft account for setup |
Yes |
Only when set up for personal use |
|
Join Active Directory/Azure AD/Microsoft Entra ID |
No |
Yes |
|
Hyper-V |
No |
Yes |
|
Windows Sandbox |
No |
Yes |
|
Microsoft Remote Desktop |
Client only |
Yes |
|
Windows Hello |
Yes |
Yes, plus Windows Hello for Business |
|
Copilot |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Device encryption |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Find my device |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Firewall and network protection |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Internet protection |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Parental controls/protection |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Secure Boot |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Windows Security (Microsoft Defender) |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Microsoft Defender Application Guard |
No |
Yes |
|
BitLocker drive encryption |
No |
Yes |
|
Windows Information Protection |
No |
Yes |
|
Mobile device management (MDM) |
No |
Yes |
|
Group Policy |
No |
Yes |
|
Enterprise State Roaming with Azure |
No |
Yes |
|
Assigned Access |
No |
Yes |
|
Dynamic Provisioning |
No |
Yes |
|
Windows Update for Business |
No |
Yes |
|
Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) |
No |
Yes |
|
Windows Autopilot |
No |
Yes |
|
Kiosk mode |
No |
Yes |
|
Maximum RAM |
128GB |
2TB |
|
Maximum no. of CPUs |
1 |
2 |
|
Maximum no. of CPU cores |
64 |
128 |
Setting up
Windows 11 Pro can (kind of) be used without a Microsoft account
With the initial release of Windows 11, the first major difference between the Home and Pro editions was that Windows 11 Home didn't let you set up the PC with a local account, while Windows 11 Pro did. However, Microsoft has since changed this so that a Microsoft account is still required when setting up a Windows 11 Pro device for home use. You can forgo a Microsoft account when setting the device up for work or school use, which assumes you're using an account from your school or organization. Alternatively, you can use a workaround to bypass a Microsoft account on both Home and Pro editions.
Another difference that will be noticeable for business users is that Windows 11 Home PCs can't be joined to Active Directory. Active Directory solutions are necessary for managing business devices, such as configuring access to certain resources, deploying apps, etc. That also includes Windows 11 features like Group Policy. Those are all professional tools, so they don't make sense for most Windows 11 Home users.
Virtualization and remote desktop
Hyper-V and Remote Desktop Protocol aren't available on Windows 11 Home
The next major difference between Home and Pro editions of Windows 11 is support for virtualization features in Windows. Windows 11 Home doesn't support Hyper-V (at least not officially, though you can enable it) or Windows Sandbox. Plus, while it can be used as a Remote Desktop client, it can't be a host, so you can't access a Windows 11 Home PC remotely using Microsoft Remote Desktop. However, you can use third-party tools like TeamViewer for similar purposes.
Meanwhile, Windows 11 Pro supports all of these features. Hyper-V is a virtualization tool built into Windows, which means you can create virtual machines with it. If you want to try a different operating system like Linux, or you need to use an older version of Windows, you can do it using Hyper-V. Virtual machines don't make changes to your host PC, so you can do it all risk-free. Again, there are third-party apps, such as VMware Workstation Player, that let you do this on Home editions.
Windows Sandbox is an extension of this idea, but instead of running other operating systems, it just creates a clean copy of the OS you're running. With Windows Sandbox, you can quickly install and try a potentially risky app and see if it's dangerous before actually installing it on your machine. Windows Sandbox resets every time you open it, so it's always a fresh start for testing. While Hyper-V can be enabled on Windows 11 Home with a workaround, Windows Sandbox is completely excluisive to the Pro edition.
Security
Both versions are secure, but Windows 11 Pro has some extra features
As business users often deal with especially sensitive information, there are also some extra security features in Windows 11 Pro. First, there's support for BitLocker encryption. This feature encrypts data stored on your hard drive so no one else can access it. Even if your computer is stolen, your files are protected from users other than yourself. While Windows 11 Home comes with generic device encryption powered by BitLocker technology, Windows 11 Pro lets you encrypt or decrypt specific drives, and it has more options when encrypting a drive.
Windows 11 Pro also comes with Windows Information Protection, or WIP. This is a data loss prevention tool, which can help prevent data from leaking from within a company. Using WIP policies, companies can prevent users from forwarding content outside of the company, for example. Since it's built right into Windows, WIP offers a more hassle-free experience compared to third-party solutions. WIP can also separate personal and business data on a device, so if the PC is lost or stolen, business data can be deleted remotely without affecting personal data on it.
Additionally, while both editions come with Microsoft Defender built-in, Windows 11 Pro also has a feature called Microsoft Defender Application Guard, which forces untrusted apps to run in a contained Hyper-V environment so they can't harm the rest of the system.
CPU and RAM support
Windows 11 Pro can handle more power
Windows 11 Home and Pro share the same minimum system requirements, so they will mostly work on the same PCs. However, Windows 11 Home actually has different upper limits compared to Windows 11 Pro. For example, Windows 11 Home PCs can only have one CPU socket, and thus only one CPU, while the Pro edition supports two. Similarly, Windows 11 Home only supports up to 64 CPU cores, while Windows 11 Pro can have up to 128. This isn't a limitation that will matter for most people, as even the most powerful desktop processors usually have no more than 32 cores.
Windows 11 Home is also limited to "just" 128GB of RAM. Of course, that's going to be enough for just about any regular user — even the most advanced gaming PCs don't need this much RAM. However, Windows 11 Pro takes that up to 2TB, and that's mostly going to be useful if you want to create lots of virtual machines with plenty of RAM assigned to them.
There's also Windows 11 Pro for Workstations, which supports even more powerful PCs, but only a very small subset of users will ever consider buying this option.
Enterprise management features
The big reasons for Windows 11 Pro to exist
Of course, the bulk of the differences between Home and Pro editions of Windows 11 are for businesses. Most device management capabilities aren't available in Windows 11 Home at all. Windows 11 Pro, however, supports things like the Group Policy Editor, which lets IT admins configure certain policies for groups of devices in one go. Even if you're not in a managed environment, this tool can be really useful for disabling features you might not be able to configure in Home editions. There's also Windows Update for Business, which lets companies control how updates are rolled out to their users to avoid unexpected issues.
Features exclusive to Windows 11 Pro include:
- Mobile device management
- Group Policy Editor
- Enterprise State Roaming
- Assigned Access
- Dynamic Provisioning
- Windows Update for Business
- Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)
- Kiosk mode
- Active Directory/Azure AD
In Windows 10, there was also the Microsoft Store for Business, but Windows 11 no longer uses it, and instead relies on a new Microsoft Store experience with Microsoft Intune policies for specific management. All of these tools are made for IT administrators inside companies to be able to control company-owned devices to ensure they're secure and functional.
Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
For super-powerful PCs
While we've covered all the differences between Windows 11 Home and Pro, there is one additional SKU that you might see pop up, called Windows 11 Pro for Workstations. This takes the capabilities of Windows 11 Pro even further, and it's made for a much smaller subset of users.
Windows 11 Pro for Workstations has some additional benefits, starting with support for more CPUs (up to four) and RAM (up to 6TB), so it goes even further in terms of performance compared to the Pro edition. On top of that, this edition also includes the ReFS file system, offering additional resilience against data loss.
Another benefit is support for Remote Direct Memory Access, allowing you to access the memory on one computer from another without having to go through the CPU. This gives you even faster access to files to speed up your workloads.
Windows 11 Pro for Workstations can come preinstalled on some computers, but only very specific machines that have incredibly high specs. You won't find this edition on a regular laptop, nor should you upgrade to it unless you have a very powerful PC that really needs this kind of power. This will mostly be made for desktop workstations, and you're not going to find those at your local Best Buy or any retailer, really. If you have one of these machines, you're probably well aware of that fact.
Should you upgrade to Windows 11 Pro or stick with Home?
As we've mentioned at the top, Windows 11 Home is a solution that works well enough for the vast majority of people. If there's anything you need it to do that's exclusive to Windows 11 Pro, there's a good chance a third-party can provide at least some of that functionality for free, so you don't have to rush to spend your hard-earned money.
How to upgrade from Windows 11 Home to Pro
Need more from your Windows 11 machine? Here's how upgrade to Windows 11 Pro if the Home edition is too limiting for you.
However, if you have a PC with Windows 11 Home and you need Pro, you can always upgrade, and the process is relatively painless. The hardest part will be shelling out the $99.99 that the upgrade costs.
-
Windows 11 Home
The base edition of Windows 11 contains all the features most users are likely to need, but it misses out on some advanced management features for businesses.
-
Windows 11 Pro
Windows 11 Pro packs everything the Home edition has, but it has additional capabilities like the Group Policy Editor, Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, and more.
