Due to inadequate performance on new servers, I decided to leave my MS Hyper-V infrastructure and adopt Proxmox. I run a small business and would like to reduce the risk of system instability (PVE and PBS) by purchasing subscriptions to access the controlled update channel provided by Proxmox.

However, there is an issue I would like to highlight: the basic subscriptions (called COMMUNITY) come with no support. I believe that €530 per year for PBS, without support, is simply too expensive. I understand that Proxmox has done its calculations, but no software vendor sells a subscription without support, especially not at this price.

I have been using Altaro VM Backup for 12 years: I can't make direct comparisons yet, but for €270 per year, I renew the full-featured version with unlimited support tickets.

For PVE, the prices seem slightly lower, but there is another frustrating issue: the per-CPU pricing model. I was hoping they wouldn’t imitate Microsoft’s questionable pricing strategies.

For PBS, the price of the BASIC subscription is simply too high. It may be acceptable as an initial cost, though barely, but not as a recurring cost.

I see private users using the word "enterprise" as if companies had money growing on trees – but that's not the reality. I sincerely hope Proxmox revises its pricing policies, especially now that their excellent product is gaining significant traction in the enterprise market. But please, don’t imitate VMware, for the love of God!

Since this post is being read by both Proxmox and its users, I would like to ask this question as well:
Leaving aside the fact that I would personally prefer to stick with KVM/QEMU because I believe it has more future potential, at this point, I wonder if I should switch to XCP-NG with Xen Orchestra instead.

The price of the Xen Orchestra ESSENTIAL subscription is €2000 for up to 3 hosts, without any traps related to the number of CPUs, 6 tickets/year with 24h response time when severity 1.

Is it true that Xen Orchestra provides a backup service? Because if that were the case, given Xen's legendary robustness, I would have to reconsider my choice. Unfortunately, IT costs are becoming too high. In the end, every infrastructure decision comes down to ROI. The same principle applies to services such as Kadam Ad, where businesses evaluate pricing, scalability, and long-term performance before committing to a platform.

Thank you.