Reliance Jio has opened its cloud PC service, JioPC, to any internet user in India, offering it as a stand-alone subscription that streams a virtual PC from Jio’s cloud to an existing computer.

The move aims to give aging computers access to modern AI applications without hardware upgrades.

Plans start at ₹1,000 (about $11) for two months, with higher tiers offering up to eight virtual CPUs, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage.

A 12-month subscription costs ₹4,000 (around $42) for 8GB of RAM and 500GB of storage, or ₹5,000 (about $53) for 16GB and 1TB.

JioPC was originally launched in July 2025 but was limited to Jio broadband subscribers.

The expansion comes amid widening PC replacement cycles in India, where consumers and small businesses now replace PCs every five to six years (up from four to five years in 2022), and enterprises stretch machines to about four years (up from three).

IDC estimates India had over 65 million PCs in use in 2025, approaching 69 million by end of 2026.

CyberMedia Research vice president Prabhu Ram told TechCrunch that JioPC could create a market where consumers pay for computing capability rather than repeatedly buying hardware, but he does not expect it to replace conventional PCs.

The service could become a parallel, price-sensitive tier for households and students who could not previously afford a new AI-capable PC.

However, JioPC requires a stable internet connection, unlike a conventional PC, making it vulnerable to disruptions.

Additionally, it faces competition from refurbished PCs, which allow ownership without connectivity dependence.

Jio has not disclosed the underlying hardware, and the provided specifications do not mention dedicated AI accelerators for on-device generative AI workloads.

IDC senior market analyst Bharath Shenoy noted that Indians traditionally prefer owning hardware over paying for services, so Jio must convince users that a recurring subscription is worth giving up offline capabilities.

The real test, Ram said, is whether people see cloud computing as a daily utility rather than an opportunistic workaround, and are willing to pay for computing power instead of new hardware.