Windows licenses cost a lot—painfully so. Paying $139 for Windows 11 Home or $200 for Windows 11 Pro feels expensive when Linux is free. That much money can easily swallow a third of a budget PC build. Yet with less developer support for Linux, Windows is a necessity for most people.

What’s not a given is paying full retail price. Yep, you can snag discounts on Windows 11. How much you’ll save depends on your circumstances (and your stomach for hassle), but if you’re lucky, you could technically get it for free. Legitimately for free, since installing Windows without ever activating it doesn’t count as a full, sanctioned copy of the software. (Ahem.)

Here’s how, in several different ways. These strategies often apply for Windows 10 licenses too, but that operating system gets the axe

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