Pricing

IBM i Tier Economics

P05 through P50 IBM i software tier pricing, and why the Power generation you choose changes how many cores you need to license, not the tier's sticker price.

IBM i is licensed by software tier, from P05 at the entry end through P50 at the enterprise end, tied to the processor feature code your partition runs on. The tier's per-core price is set by IBM and does not change based on Power generation -- what changes is how many cores a given generation needs to clear a tier's performance ceiling.

The real lever

A newer Power generation delivers more CPW per core than an older one. That means the same workload may need fewer licensed cores on Power11 than it needed on Power9 -- or may stay inside a cheaper tier altogether instead of tripping into the next one up. See our full breakdown in The Hidden Cost Lever in IBM i Tier Pricing.

This page covers tier pricing as it relates to hardware generation choice. For a full deep-dive on IBM i software licensing itself -- perpetual vs. subscription breakeven, HA/DR and backup licensing, implementation and modernization cost, and IBM i vs. SAP/Oracle/cloud ERP total cost -- see our sibling site, the IBM i Software Economics Hub at pricing.as400software.com.

IBM i software tier pricing (P05-P50) is set by IBM per core, independent of which Power generation the core runs on. The generation you buy changes how much CPW you get per core in a given tier, not the tier's sticker price -- so a newer generation reaching a performance target with fewer licensed cores is the real lever on software cost. Figures below are IBM i-only, as reported by IT Jungle's coverage of IBM's 2024-2025 pricing changes; confirm current pricing with IBM or a business partner before budgeting.

IBM i software tier pricing by licensing model

TierSubscription ($/core/year)Perpetual ($/core)Per-User FeeTypical Hardware Fit
P05$2,356/core/year$3,315/core$318/user (or unlimited-user bundle)Entry scale-out: S1112-class single-socket systems
P10included in Standard/Enterprise bundle pricing$8,925/core (P10-tier license cost basis)$80/user, blocks of 10; $16,000/yr unlimitedSmall-to-mid scale-out: S1112 (10-core option) through low-end S1122
P20$14,500 - $16,000/core/year (Standard Edition bundle)quote-basedNo per-user feeMid-range scale-out: S1122/S1124-class multi-core systems
P30Enterprise Edition bundle, quote-basedquote-basedNo per-user feeLarger scale-out and entry enterprise-class systems
P50same schedule as P30 on current hardwarequote-basedNo per-user feeEnterprise-class systems (E-series)

P40 has been retired; P50 pricing has been collapsed to match P30 on current-generation hardware. Figures reflect IT Jungle's reporting on IBM's 2024-2025 subscription and perpetual pricing changes, not an IBM price list.

Why generation matters inside a fixed tier

This is the core insight behind the Software Economics input of the Power Value Index: the same P10 or P20 tier sticker price buys more effective throughput on a newer generation, because you need fewer licensed cores to clear the tier's performance ceiling.

GenerationCores Typically Needed for a Mid-Size P10 WorkloadEffective Software Cost Direction
Power8More cores needed for the same throughputHigher effective $/CPW-year -- you are licensing more cores to do the same work
Power9Fewer cores than Power8 for the same throughputMeaningfully better than Power8
Power10Fewer cores than Power9 for the same throughputStrong -- most of the software-economics gain in the whole line-up shows up here
Power11Marginally fewer cores than Power10Best in absolute terms, but diminishing returns vs. Power10 since tier core-count breakpoints do not scale linearly with the small per-core CPW gain

Sources