VMware Licensing Changes: Everything You Need to Know
- Dec 26, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: 19 hours ago
VMware’s licensing model has changed significantly following its acquisition by Broadcom. For many IT departments, this is not just a pricing update — it affects budgeting, infrastructure strategy, and long-term planning.
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If you manage on-prem virtualization, it is important to understand what actually changed and what it means in practice.
What Changed: VMware Licensing
For years, VMware products such as vSphere were sold primarily as perpetual licenses. You purchased the license once and paid separately for Support and Subscription (SnS) to receive updates and support.
Under the new model:
Most perpetual licenses are no longer available.
VMware products are now sold primarily as subscription licenses.
Licensing is largely based on per-core subscription.
Product editions have been consolidated into bundled offerings.
The main subscription bundles now include:
VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF)
VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF)
Standalone product options have been reduced, and customers are encouraged to move toward bundled solutions.
Per-Core Licensing: VMware Licensing
The move to per-core subscription licensing is one of the biggest operational changes.
Key considerations:
Licensing is calculated per physical CPU core.
There is typically a minimum core requirement per CPU (for example, 16 cores per processor).
High-core-density servers can significantly increase licensing costs.
Consolidation strategies must be re-evaluated carefully.
For organizations running modern dual-socket servers with 24, 32, or 48 cores per CPU, subscription pricing can materially change total cost of ownership. This is why many IT leaders are now re-calculating virtualization costs host by host.
End of Perpetual Licenses: VMware Licensing
VMware has ended availability of most perpetual licenses and related support renewals. Customers are being transitioned toward subscription-based bundles such as VCF and VVF.
This affects:
Budget planning
Long-term license ownership strategy
Hardware refresh decisions
Cluster expansion planning
Organizations that previously mixed perpetual and subscription environments may now need to standardize under a new licensing structure.
Market Reaction: VMware Licensing
Feedback across the enterprise IT community has been mixed.
Common concerns include:
Increased annual operating costs
Reduced flexibility in product selection
Less transparency in pricing structure
Pressure to adopt bundled solutions even if not all components are required
Some organizations report moderate increases. Others report substantial changes depending on their previous agreements and hardware configurations.
The impact is highly dependent on:
Core count per host
Number of hosts
vSAN usage
Enterprise agreements
Previous discount levels
There is no universal outcome. Each environment must be analyzed individually.
What You Should Do Now: VMware Licensing
Recalculate licensing per host: Review physical CPU core counts across all clusters. Model subscription cost under the new structure.
Evaluate hardware strategy: Higher core density does not always mean better value under per-core licensing. Balance performance and licensing efficiency.
Review consolidation plans: Host consolidation may reduce hardware footprint but increase licensing exposure if core counts are high.
Compare alternatives carefully: Alternatives such as Microsoft Hyper-V, Proxmox, or other hypervisors may reduce licensing cost, but migration risk and operational complexity must be evaluated realistically.
Strengthen vendor communication: Engage directly with resellers or partners. Enterprise agreements may offer negotiation flexibility depending on scale.
Strategic Considerations for Infrastructure Planning: VMware Licensing
The VMware licensing shift is not just a software change. It directly influences:
Hardware lifecycle strategy
Refurbished server investment decisions
On-prem vs hybrid cloud planning
Capital expenditure vs operational expenditure balance
Organizations should extend stable virtualization hardware where possible, calculate real per-core subscription costs early, and align their infrastructure strategy carefully, as VMware’s move to subscription licensing affects total cost of ownership differently in every environment.
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Sources: VMware Licensing
Broadcom announcement on VMware product and licensing changes: https://www.broadcom.com/company/news/product-releases/58551
VMware Knowledge Base – Licensing and subscription transition details: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/94743
The Register – Broadcom partner and licensing restructuring analysis: https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/11/broadcom_vmware_partner_changes/
CRN – Coverage of VMware ending perpetual licenses: https://www.crn.com/news/cloud/broadcom-ends-vmware-perpetual-licenses
The Register – Customer reactions to VMware subscription pricing changes: https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/10/vmware_customers_subscription_pricing/