The free Windows 10 upgrade offer has ended for over 4 years, plus the Windows 7’s end-of-support in early 2020, more obstinate old Windows users consider to do system upgrade, finally, if they don’t pay much attention to the upcoming new-generation of Windows. If your budget is tight but still want an official Windows 10 Pro or Home, is Cheap Windows 10 key reliable to purchase….
Since the release of Windows 10 six years ago, Microsoft has done much efforts to motivate elder Windows 8, 7 or even Vista and XP users to move on to the newest one. However, according to the most recent Windows market share data in May 2021, about 22% Windows users still don’t go forward to Windows 10, the majority of which are unquestionable Windows 7 users.
No matter you are running Windows 7 or other niche system currently, when you make your minds to do system upgrade, you are bound to encounter problems like:
– Where to purchase the Windows 10 license/activation/product key?
– How to purchase cheap Windows 10 key?
– What’s the cheapest way to get Windows 10?
– Is the cheap Windows 10 Pro/Home key legit?
Go on this article to find the helpful answers!
Windows 10 Key: Official vs. Cheap “Non-official”, What’s the Difference?
From several to nearly two-hundred dollars, the essential reason why there there various price tags for Windows 10 key lies in the key’s type. Simply put, besides the official purchase of Windows 10 series, other cheaper Windows 10 keys sold online are mainly OEM key, retail key, and volume key.
Then compared to the key from Microsoft store, are the other cheap Windows 10 keys legit and safe to use? Definitions first.
Windows 10 Retail Key – You can obtain this key when buying a Windows copy from the retail store on the web, and it’s able to work on other PCs as well only if you deactivate it in the last device.
Windows 10 OEM Key – Every new PC is bought with a key pre-installed by the computer manufacture and this kind of key is called OEM key. OEM license keys are theoretically one-time keys and is not transferable to any other machine like the retail key does.
Windows 10 Volume Key – More often such keys are purchased and utilized in large businesses, government and educational institutions. Only those organization-associated PCs can accept them.
Definitely, these three keys are all official, legal, safe-to-use and own the same functionality as that of Microsoft official ones. The only dispute on them is whether it’s legal to sell them because according to their terms of use, they should be used under Microsoft rule only and are unable to re-sale for profit purpose. But all of these things are tightly connected with those key sellers. If Microsoft delivers a warn to them, unblock their selling keys, or even indict them, only the sellers bear the legal liability. General retail/OEM/Volume key buyers possibly cannot enjoy the official Windows 10 any more if their keys become invalid.
What’s the General Price of a Windows OEM/Retail Key?
Even as the same key type, the price varies from places. Below I’ve rounded up multiple top-ranked search results (data in June, 2021) for you to have a brief idea on their price gaps.
| Product | Brand | Price |
| Windows 10 Pro OEM Key Global | URcdkeys | $ 20.05 |
| G2A | $ 29.86 | |
| KINGUIN | $ 28.19 | |
| GVGmall | $ 19.39 | |
| Windows 10 Home OEM Key Global | URcdkeys | $ 19.09 |
| G2A | $ 29.86 | |
| KINGUIN | $ 27.62 | |
| GVGmall | $ 16.29 | |
| Windows 10 Pro Retail Key Global | GAMERS OUTLET | $ 2.95 |
| SftKey | $19.99 | |
| RoyalKey | $2.68 | |
| Vip-scdkey | $61.02 (for 3-5 PCs) | |
| Windows 10 Home Retail Key Global | GAMERS OUTLET | / |
| SftKey | $19.99 | |
| RoyalKey | $3.04 | |
| Vip-scdkey | $74.34 (for 3-5 PCs) |
There are countless online stores who sell the same Windows 10 Pro/Home keys at different types. From my experience, these keys belong to what they are claimed to be.
However, different price tags are just the outcomes of store owner’s marketing plan. Whether you can get such a key from them at the lowest risk lies in their customer service, which you can judge by yourself according to the real talk test before the purchase, as well as the various online feedback on forum, review sites and so on. If many users claim the keys from one store brand are invalid or the seller doesn’t handle such kind of problems after purchase, you are suggested to remove the brand our of your list.
Through the investigation of Windows 10 cdkey sellers’ promotion posts, I found they usually bundle different xx% off coupon code or say discount key to attract much attention with even cheaper price. Yep, you can buy Windows 10 OEM or Retail key at cheaper price compared to the prices listed on the table above.
Note: These online stores who sell cheap Windows 10 key usually deliver many other similar product options, such as Windows 10 Pro/Home for 2PC/5PC, Office 2016/2019/365, Project 2019/2016, Windows Server, Windows 7/8 key, Visio, SQL server etc. Check twice before you finish the order in case you missed any discount chance.
How do I Know the Key Is Official and Safe to Use？
You can somply judge that by checking through the activation manner. As long as the key is activated from the access of Windows system and done totally online, the key you input must be an official one and the usage is 100 percent secure. That means, any other activation methods are not reliable to ensure the key is official and safe to use.
If you wonder whether your key is the type you purchase, simply check it out by following the steps below:
- Press the “Windows + R” to open command box of Windows.
2. Type “cmd” and press Enter.
3. Type “slmgr -dli” on the Command Prompt right after the user address like C:\Users\xxx> and press Enter
4. A Windows Script Host window will appear and here you can easily find the license type of Windows 10.
If you still have any problem or question of cheap Windows 10 key, you can dig around on google.com and YouTube. Many big tech sites and YouTubers have done related content, some of which even have partnership with certain Windows 10 OEM key brands to promote the brand awareness and sales.
I will still update this post if there’s any new trend, especially when new Windows sytem will be announced this month and released this autumn.
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