Windows 10 hit end of support in October 2025. Millions of people are upgrading right now, and most of them are overthinking the Home vs Pro question. Here’s the answer — with a free adviser tool if you want it personalised.
The Answer
Most people need Home. Get Pro if you need any of the following: BitLocker, Remote Desktop host access, Hyper-V, Group Policy, or Azure AD join. That’s the whole decision tree.
The price gap is £4. If you’re genuinely unsure whether you’ll need Pro features in the next few years, just get Pro. The upgrade path from Home to Pro is clean — no reinstall, no data loss, enter a key in Settings and you’re done — but it’s still an extra purchase you could have avoided.
What’s Actually Different
The interface, performance, gaming, Microsoft Store, and all mainstream applications are identical across both editions. Pro adds a security and management layer on top. That’s it.
| Feature | Home | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday use, gaming, streaming | ✓ | ✓ |
| Microsoft Store & standard apps | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows Security (antivirus, firewall) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows Hello biometric login | ✓ | ✓ |
| WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pro-only features below | ||
| BitLocker Drive Encryption | ✗ | ✓ |
| Remote Desktop (as host) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Hyper-V Virtualisation | ✗ | ✓ |
| Group Policy (gpedit.msc) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Windows Sandbox | ✗ | ✓ |
| Azure AD / Entra ID Join | ✗ | ✓ |
| Active Directory domain join | ✗ | ✓ |
| Maximum RAM | 128 GB | 2 TB |
For a full feature-by-feature breakdown, see our Windows 11 Home vs Pro comparison guide.
Edition by Use Case
Home User
Home. No caveats. Everything you need for browsing, streaming, gaming, Office, and family use is there. Device Encryption is enabled by default on supported hardware. You’re covered.
Student
Home for essays, research, creative work, and most coding. Get Pro if your course involves running VMs, or if you’re carrying a laptop between accommodation and campus — BitLocker genuinely matters when your machine is in a rucksack on public transport.
Working from Home
Home handles email, Office, video calls, and a browser. One common point of confusion: connecting to another PC via Remote Desktop works on Home. Being the machine that receives connections requires Pro. If you’re setting up a home office that others will remote into, that machine needs Pro.
Small Business
Pro. Any machine that leaves the building needs BitLocker — that’s not a recommendation, it’s a data protection baseline. Azure AD join and Intune management require Pro. If you’re deploying machines via an IT provider, they’ll specify Pro anyway.
Developer / IT Pro
Pro. WSL2 works on Home, but Hyper-V Manager does not. Group Policy is absent from Home entirely — gpedit.msc simply doesn’t exist — which breaks a surprising number of dev setup guides and enterprise configuration scripts. Windows Sandbox for testing untrusted packages is Pro-only too. If you’re doing anything beyond basic web development, Home will frustrate you.
Gamer
Home. Game Mode, DirectStorage, Auto HDR, Xbox Game Bar — all identical between editions. Pro adds nothing to gaming performance. If you also stream and run encoding in a VM, Pro is justified for the VM work, not the gaming.
Upgrading from Windows 10: Which Edition to Buy
Before buying anything — check whether the free upgrade is still available. Go to Settings → Windows Update. If your hardware passes requirements, the Windows 11 upgrade will appear there. Many users are still getting it for free through Windows Update well past the official July 2023 deadline.
If you do need to buy, match it to what you actually need — not what you previously had:
- Had Windows 10 Home and used it for general tasks? Buy Windows 11 Home.
- Had Windows 10 Pro and used BitLocker, Remote Desktop, or domain join? Buy Windows 11 Pro.
- Had Windows 10 Pro but never opened Group Policy or enabled BitLocker? Windows 11 Home is fine — you were paying for Pro features you weren’t using.
- Business device that leaves the office? Windows 11 Pro, regardless of what was on it before.
Buy a Genuine Windows 11 Licence
Genuine Microsoft retail product keys. In your inbox within minutes. Both licences are perpetual — one purchase, no subscription, no renewal.
Windows 11 Home
- ✓ Genuine Microsoft retail key
- ✓ Instant email delivery
- ✓ Lifetime licence — no renewal
- ✓ Full Windows Update support
- ✓ UK-based support included
Home users · Students · Gamers · WFH
Buy Windows 11 Home — £34Windows 11 Pro
- ✓ Everything in Home, plus:
- ✓ BitLocker Drive Encryption
- ✓ Remote Desktop (host)
- ✓ Hyper-V & Windows Sandbox
- ✓ Group Policy (gpedit.msc)
- ✓ Azure AD / domain join
Businesses · Developers · IT Admins · Professionals
Buy Windows 11 Pro — £38Not Sure? Get a Personal Recommendation
Answer four quick questions and the tool below will tell you exactly which edition you need — and why.
Frequently Asked Questions
Match it to what you actually use, not what was on the machine before. Most home users upgrading from Windows 10 Home need Windows 11 Home. If you were actively using BitLocker, Remote Desktop host, or domain join in Windows 10 Pro, buy Windows 11 Pro. If you had Pro but never opened Group Policy or enabled BitLocker, Home is sufficient.
Yes, and it’s seamless. Go to Settings → System → Activation, enter a Windows 11 Pro product key, and the Pro features unlock immediately. No reinstall, no data loss. The upgrade path is clean enough that starting with Home is a reasonable choice if you’re genuinely unsure.
For the vast majority of people working from home — email, Office, video calls, browser — Home is absolutely fine. The edge case: if other people need to connect to your PC remotely (IT support, a colleague remoting in), that machine needs Pro to receive those connections. Connecting out to an office PC works on Home without issue.
WSL2 works on Home. So does VS Code, Git, Node, Python, Docker Desktop, and most everyday development tooling. What Home is missing is Hyper-V Manager for full virtual machines, Windows Sandbox, and Group Policy — which matters if you follow setup guides that call gpedit.msc, or if you need isolated test environments.
From Software Supplies: Windows 11 Home is £34, Windows 11 Pro is £38. The £4 gap is small enough that if you’re on the fence, Pro is the lower-risk choice. Both are genuine perpetual licences with instant email delivery and UK-based support.
Yes. Joining an Active Directory domain or Azure AD / Microsoft Entra ID requires Pro. Home cannot be enrolled into a corporate domain — there’s no workaround. If your business uses Intune, SCCM, or any other MDM platform, the managed device needs Pro.
Gary Walsh is the Head of Tech Support at Software Supplies, with more than 20 years in the IT industry. Fully Microsoft-certified and experienced across the full business software stack — from Windows and Office to cloud infrastructure and device management — Gary delivers practical, no-nonsense advice that helps users and businesses get the most from their technology.
