Can I Use Windows Server Licenses for Azure Hybrid Benefits Without an Enterprise Agreement?

If you really need to stick with Windows VMs, you’ll have to pay for the licenses. However, you might offset some of that cost with VM reservations, which can offer substantial savings.

Have you considered going through a Cloud Solution Provider? They might be able to set you up and bill you directly for the subscription.

I’m not sure if there's a way to do that. Have you thought about switching your workloads to Linux? Most modern programming languages work well on it.

Unfortunately, hybrid benefits don't apply under a Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA). You can get some discounts, but usually, that requires a pledge of several million. Your best bet is to reach out to your Licensing Solution Partner (LSP) to get software assurance—which would allow you to use hybrid benefits. Just keep in mind that LSPs add service charges, and it might not be cheaper than pay-as-you-go licenses. Hybrid benefits work on a trust system, so you simply enable it, but you'll have to check back with Microsoft if you get audited. It’s worth noting that hybrid benefits don’t really save you money in the long run since you're just shifting the cost from Azure to your LSP. For actual savings, you’ll want to look at reducing your vCores—if your utilization is under 50%, you could cut costs significantly. Also, consider other operating systems that don’t come with the same licensing fees, if you can convince your team to switch to a Linux distro! Sounds like it’s time to tighten up your cost controls as well.