Ubuntu Pro
Operating system subscription in Privacy & security
Free for personal use on up to 5 machines; extends Ubuntu LTS security updates and adds kernel live patching. Critics dislike the price and withheld updates.
Free for personal use on up to 5 machines; extends Ubuntu LTS security updates and adds kernel live patching. Critics dislike the price and withheld updates.
33 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 14
- criticize it
- 19
- approval share
- 42%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 14 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Free for personal use
“free for up to 5 personal devices you can even get kernel live patching”
Comment from 14 Oct 2026 in “Bitwarden Dual License Model” “Ubuntu Pro is still free for personal use on up to 5 physical machines”
Comment from 2 Dec 2025 in “Last Week on My Mac: Losing confidence” “free for personal use and it extends the LTS support of 5 years”
Comment from 22 May 2026 in “Blog ran on Ubuntu 16.04 for 10 years. I migrated it to FreeBSD” - Comment from 8 May 2026 in “Maybe you shouldn't install new software for a bit”
- Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “CVE-2026-3888: Important Snap Flaw Enables Local Privilege Escalation to Root”
Extends LTS security updates
“The ESM program has been a provider of peace of mind when still leaving that SDR machine connected to the internet and running javascript.”
Comment from 23 Nov 2025 in “Ubuntu LTS releases to 15 years with Legacy add-on” “the availability of 15 years LTS is also a good argument for Linux in some corporate decision making”
Comment from 23 Nov 2025 in “Ubuntu LTS releases to 15 years with Legacy add-on” “Without Ubuntu Pro, your LTS system can sit in a very insecure state for a long time”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “Homebrew 6.0.0” - Comment from 22 May 2026 in “Blog ran on Ubuntu 16.04 for 10 years. I migrated it to FreeBSD”
Comprehensive security and compliance features
“The ESM program has been a provider of peace of mind when still leaving that SDR machine connected to the internet and running javascript.”
Comment from 23 Nov 2025 in “Ubuntu LTS releases to 15 years with Legacy add-on” “delivers the most comprehensive open source security and compliance features”
Comment from 26 May 2026 in “Stop Advertising in Your Commits”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Subscription price seen as steep
“Unfortunately the per server price is $500/yr, which maybe competitive with some of the competition, but still seems steep to me.”
Comment from 26 Jan 2026 in “Ubuntu Pro subscription – should you pay to use Linux?” “This is a nonstarter for me simply because I don't do software subscriptions, and especially not for operating systems.”
Comment from 26 Jan 2026 in “Ubuntu Pro subscription – should you pay to use Linux?” “balk at the yearly subscription price of Ubuntu Pro”
Comment from 23 Nov 2025 in “Ubuntu LTS releases to 15 years with Legacy add-on” Some updates gated behind subscription
“There are additional patches they are releasing that aren't contributed upstream for either security or compliance features.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Ubuntu 26.10 (Stonking Stingray) released” “its Pro subscription isn't showing up as active, so I couldn't get the update even if they do release it”
Comment from 21 Oct 2026 in “PHP 8.2.35” “Ubuntu (including Ubuntu Pro) still doesn't have a CVE-2026-99999 patch”
Comment from 22 Oct 2026 in “CVE-2026-111943: Compromised Intermediate Certificate Authority” - Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Ubuntu 26.10 (Stonking Stingray) released”
- Comment from 10 Jan 2026 in “I replaced Windows with Linux and everything's going great”
Upsells, nagware and snap
“Ubuntu only tries to upsell you via Ubuntu Pro, I guess it's not as aggressive though.”
Comment from 2 Dec 2025 in “Last Week on My Mac: Losing confidence” “I installed a dummy package that displaces the nagware about the pro version too”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it” “it force-reinstalled snapd. ... I was very annoyed, though.”
Comment from 24 Apr 2026 in “Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Released” - Comment from 13 Jan 2026 in “I replaced Windows with Linux and everything's going great”
Distrust of Canonical
“They're on my list of enshittifiers, who by definition should never be given any money in any form.”
Comment from 26 Jan 2026 in “Ubuntu Pro subscription – should you pay to use Linux?” “I blame that one solely on canonical, not on Linux in general”
Comment from 10 Jan 2026 in “I replaced Windows with Linux and everything's going great”
What people said
All 34 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“even Pro doesn't get timely patches”
“Ubuntu (including Ubuntu Pro) still doesn't have a CVE-2026-99999 patch”
“its Pro subscription isn't showing up as active, so I couldn't get the update even if they do release it”
“There are additional patches they are releasing that aren't contributed upstream for either security or compliance features.”
“They withhold Ubuntu patches in the Universe repo without Ubuntu Pro.”
“free for up to 5 personal devices you can even get kernel live patching”
“Canonical is on my deny list.”
“Over time it's becoming this way.”
“I just get '502 Bad Gateway.”
“Without Ubuntu Pro, your LTS system can sit in a very insecure state for a long time”
“Ubuntu Pro / ESM subscription will make your machine safer!”
“delivers the most comprehensive open source security and compliance features”
“Ubuntu pro, rhel and suse too, but they are commercial options”
“free for personal use and it extends the LTS support of 5 years”
“it gives access to updates and is free for personal use”
“the prv lts is not patched yet”
“it force-reinstalled snapd. ... I was very annoyed, though.”
“you still get up to 5 licenses for personal use”
“has an ordinary-user-affordable support option where $150 a year gets you what they call "full support"”
“Unfortunately the per server price is $500/yr, which maybe competitive with some of the competition, but still seems steep to me.”
“They're on my list of enshittifiers, who by definition should never be given any money in any form.”
“Paying to have rust slop and systemd-something shoved down my throat? No way.”
“This is a nonstarter for me simply because I don't do software subscriptions, and especially not for operating systems.”
“Otherwise don't whine when projects die.”
“Ubuntu pro and snap sure are obnoxious.”
“paywalling some package updates behind Ubuntu Pro”
“I blame that one solely on canonical, not on Linux in general”
“I installed a dummy package that displaces the nagware about the pro version too”
“Ubuntu Pro is still free for personal use on up to 5 physical machines”
“Ubuntu only tries to upsell you via Ubuntu Pro, I guess it's not as aggressive though.”
“the availability of 15 years LTS is also a good argument for Linux in some corporate decision making”
“balk at the yearly subscription price of Ubuntu Pro”
“it worked but nothing else did”
“The ESM program has been a provider of peace of mind when still leaving that SDR machine connected to the internet and running javascript.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.