Retail vs OEM vs volume licences: what are you actually buying?
Last updated October 15, 2026
A retail licence is bought by an individual, can be moved to another computer later, and gets support from Microsoft. An OEM licence is tied to the first computer it activates on and cannot be moved. A volume licence is sold to organisations under an agreement and is administered by them.
How do the three types compare?
The practical questions are: can it move to my next PC, who supports it, and who is allowed to buy it.
| Retail | OEM | Volume | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bought by | Anyone | Usually bundled with a new PC by the builder | Organisations under an agreement |
| Moves to another PC | Yes, within the licence's device allowance | No — tied to the first device | Governed by the agreement |
| Microsoft support | Yes, for the supported life of the product | Support comes from the PC builder | Support from the licensing organisation |
| Typical giveaway | Full retail packaging or a plain key from a reseller | Pre-installed on a new machine, sticker or firmware-embedded key | MAK or KMS activation, not a consumer key |
| Good fit for | An individual buying a licence to keep | A machine that will never be rebuilt with different parts | Companies managing many machines centrally |
Why does 'can it move?' matter so much?
Because it decides what happens the next time you replace a computer. A retail licence activates on the new machine after you remove it from the old one. An OEM licence is bound to the hardware it first activated on; when that machine is retired, the licence goes with it.
This is also why an OEM key is usually much cheaper. You are not getting a worse copy of Windows — you are buying the version that cannot follow you.
How can I tell which type a key is?
The packaging and the wording of the offer are the practical signals. Volume licensing is not sold to individuals at all, so a consumer purchase is either retail or OEM.
- •Retail: described as a full licence, transferable, with the product name and no mention of a specific PC.
- •OEM: described as tied to one machine, often alongside a system builder, and priced noticeably lower.
- •Volume: mentions MAK, KMS or an organisation's agreement, and usually a minimum quantity.
If an offer does not say which type it is, that is the question to ask before paying — not after activation fails.
Does the store sell volume licences?
The catalogue includes Microsoft titles that are volume-licensing editions, such as Windows Server, SQL Server and Office LTSC. Those are sold here as licence keys for a single installation; they are not a Microsoft volume agreement, and they do not come with centralised administration.
If your organisation needs to manage many machines under one agreement, that is procured through Microsoft's licensing programme rather than a retail store.
What about activation limits, then?
Every licence type has a limit, they are just measured differently. Retail counts devices in use and can be reset by removing an installation. OEM counts the machine. Volume counts against the organisation's agreement.
If activation is refused because of a count, the cause is almost always an installation that was never removed, not a faulty key.
Frequently asked questions
▸Is an OEM licence legal to use?
Yes, when it is activated on the machine it was licensed for — which is how OEM licences are normally used, pre-installed by the PC builder. It stops being legitimate when it is moved to different hardware.
▸Can I upgrade an OEM licence to retail?
You can buy a retail licence and activate it instead, which changes the machine's edition and makes it transferable. There is no conversion of the OEM licence itself.
▸Why is a retail licence more expensive?
Because it can be moved to another computer and carries Microsoft support. An OEM licence is cheaper precisely because it is bound to one machine for life.
▸Do I need a volume licence for a small office?
Not necessarily. Several retail licences, one per machine, work fine for a small number of PCs. Volume licensing starts to make sense when central deployment and administration are worth the agreement overhead.
