Forum Discussion

Brass Contributor

Oct 11, 2023

Business Central on premise subscription vs Business Central Cloud

If BC on-prem subscription provides dual use rights, why would customer buy BC cloud when they can abuy BC on prem subscription for less and use it for cloud? Or am I missing something.

dynamics 365

MartijnElfers

Bronze Contributor

Sep 01, 2026

I think the important part here now, with regards to this question: "why would customer buy BC cloud when they can abuy BC on prem subscription for less and use it for cloud?" = as of February 2027 customers will not be able to purchase on-premises subscriptions anymore and the only way to get a BC on-premises subscription is thru BC Cloud with DUR.

So it's not a question about 'why' anymore, but it's a 'must'.

And indeed, DUR is only applicable in one-way. Buy Cloud, get on-premises for free. It does not work the other way around. Buy on-premises, only get on-premises.

rajeshgan

MCT

Sep 03, 2026

Thanks Martijn, that's a very useful additional point, particularly regarding the February 2027 change.

Agreed — the key distinction is that Dual Use Rights work in one direction: Business Central Cloud can provide rights to the corresponding on-premises deployment, but an on-premises subscription does not provide entitlement to Business Central Online.

The upcoming change you mentioned makes that distinction even more relevant going forward. Thanks for adding the clarification.