A cheap box can sit on an expensive system. Honest per-seat cost means dividing the server, its licences and the network by the number of desks - then comparing fairly with PCs. Here is the full bill, including the lines sales pages leave out.
Every thin client proposal opens with the box price, because it is the smallest number in the project. The real per-seat cost has five lines, and only one of them is the box. Do this maths before quoting a number to anyone - it is also the maths that shows where thin clients genuinely win.
👆 If a proposal shows only line one, it is a sales page, not a budget. Ask for all five lines before signing anything.
The thin client itself is a one-time, per-desk cost - the number in every advertisement and in the video's comparison. Keep it in the budget, but refuse to let it stand alone. The four lines below are what separate a project that delights from one that gets questioned in the first review meeting.
All desks ride on one host, and that host must be sized for everyone at once - processor, RAM, fast storage, and a build quality a single desktop never needs. Take the server's full cost and divide by the seats it serves. Notice the leverage: at five seats the share is heavy; at twenty it becomes the cheapest line in the project. Thin client economics are scale economics.
Multiple people working simultaneously on centrally hosted Windows desktops is a licensed scenario, not a free one. The legitimate route is Windows Server with Remote Desktop Services, plus an RDS CAL for each user or device, on top of the server licence itself. A single ordinary desktop Windows licence is not designed or licensed for many simultaneous remote users. Exact requirements depend on your setup - confirm them with a Microsoft licensing partner before purchase, and never rely on the hardware seller for this answer.
Each desk needs a gigabit switch port and a cable run; the server needs a serious UPS, because when it stops, everyone stops. Add the server's backup storage here too - with all work concentrated on one machine, its backup is part of the system's price, not an optional extra to be trimmed in negotiation.
Put honest numbers on these for your office - they are the payback column, and they are usually what wins the argument in year two.
Structure only, so you can drop your own quotes in: 10 seats. Boxes: 10 times your chosen class price. Server: one properly sized host, divided by 10. Licensing: server licence plus 10 RDS CALs, quoted by a licensing partner. Network and UPS: 10 switch ports, cabling, one server-grade UPS. Then compare against 10 mid-range PCs with their own three-year upkeep. In most offices the thin client column wins from roughly the 8 to 10 seat mark upward - below that, the server share can make honest PCs the cheaper answer, which is exactly why this maths must be done per office and not copied from a brochure.
Price the box side properly first - the video compares four models at their real street positions, which is line one of this maths done for you.
▶️ Watch Full VideoIf users connect to a Windows Server, each user or device typically needs an RDS CAL in addition to the server licence. Exact requirements depend on your setup - confirm with a Microsoft licensing partner before purchase, not with the hardware seller.
Usually yes beyond roughly eight to ten seats, because one server replaces many mid-range PCs and the desks last longer on far less power. Below a few seats, used PCs can honestly win - that crossover is why the maths is done per office.
The server's backup and UPS. A thin client office concentrates all work on one machine, so its power protection and backup are core system costs - the projects that skip them are the ones that learn about it during the first long power cut.