VMware Licensing

Understanding VMware Licensing 2025

Introduction

This article outlines the recent changes to VMware licensing following Broadcom's acquisition of VMware and highlights the key information you need to know.

Previous Licensing model

As we all know, Broadcom has made the move to push VMware licensing from perpetual to subscription based. Previously, VMware licensing consisted of a vSphere standard licence for the vCenter and a vSphere Enterprise licence for the ESXi hosts.

Since 2024, Broadcom have now moved to subscription based licensing and also pushing all customers to use their full suite of VMware products, which brings us to the two main types of licensing that are used:

VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF)

VVF is vCenter and ESXi with some additional features and products. See below:

• vSphere Enterprise Plus (ESXi license)

• vCenter Server Standard (vCenter license)

• vSphere with Tanzu (includes TKG Runtime) 

• vSAN Enterprise (*includes 250GiB per CPU Core per host)

• Aria Suite Standard

• Aria Suite Lifecycle

• Aria Automation Orchestrator (Basic)

• Aria Operations

• Aria Operations for Logs

• *Please note, NSX is NOT included with VVF and you cannot purchase it as an add-on to VVF. You must purchase the VCF license.

There are certain restrictions on the types of organisations this licence is available to. Reach out to our experts to understand what options are available for you.

VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF)

VCF is Broadcom's flagship licensing model which includes all products that fall under the VCF category. See below:

• SDDC Manager

• vSphere Enterprise Plus (ESXi license)

  • vCenter Server Standard  (vCenter license)

  • vSphere with Tanzu (includes TKG Runtime)

• vSAN Enterprise (includes 1TiB per CPU Core)

• NSX Enterprise Plus

• Aria Suite Enterprise

  • Aria Automation

  • Aria Automation Orchestrator

  • Aria Operations

  • Aria Operations for Logs

• Aria Operations for Networks Enterprise

• HCX Enterprise

• VMware Data Services Manager (DSM)
  
  

Add-on features:

• VMware Firewall

  • Sold as per CPU Core

  • Distributed Firewall

  • Gateway Firewall

  • Security Intelligence

  • Container Security with Antrea

• VMware Firewall + Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

  • Sold as per CPU Core

  • Distributed Firewall

  • Gateway Firewall

  • Security Intelligence

  • Container Security with Antrea

  • Distributed and Gateway Intrusion Detection and Prevention Service (IDS/IPS)

  • Malware Prevention

  • Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) and Network Detection and Response (NDR)

• VMware Private AI Foundation

Minimum Requirements for VCF

• Node minimums: You need at least 4 nodes to deploy VCF.

• Expansion: Adding nodes later? You must buy matching VCF licenses.

• Upgrades: Moving from Standard to Enterprise? You need to purchase an upgrade SKU, not just add Aria components.

Reach out to our experts to understand what options are available for your organisation with VCF and add-ons for it.

Those are the two main licensing options that Broadcom provide. There are a few other options that are available to some organisations, these are:

VMware vSphere Standard (VVS)

This option provides you with basic vCenter and ESXi without any add-ons available.

• vSphere Standard

  • vCenter Server Standard

  • vSphere ESXi

VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus (VVEP)

This option provides you with basic vCenter and ESXi Enterprise without any add-ons available.

• vSphere Standard

  • vCenter Server Standard

  • vSphere ESXi

Final Thoughts

Licensing VMware Cloud Foundation is not just about counting CPUs; it’s about understanding the edition, the features you need, and how they align with your business goals. With careful planning, you can avoid surprises and set your organization up for a successful private or hybrid cloud journey.

Partner with Virtually Cloud for expert support and strategic solutions. Our VMware-certified professionals are ready to help you manage licensing complexities and streamline your IT operations for maximum efficiency.

Reach out to us today to explore how we can align our expertise with your unique business needs. Contact Us