During those years post Broadcom acquisition of VMware, the VMware vSphere product has become more and more unfriendly for the SMB market.

The product editions and pricing have totally changed: no more the Free vSphere Hypervisor, no more Essential and Essential+ bundles, no more perpetual licenses…

Note that, in April 2025, Broadcom has reintroduced again an edition of ESXi free!

Also download the products will become more “complicated”.

According with the actual VMware vSphere Product Line Comparison, VMware vSphere is available in three different editions:

• VMware vSphere Standard
• VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus
• VMware vSphere Foundation

And, of course, the VCF bundle, that include more products!

But starting from April 10, 2025, VMware customers will need to purchase a minimum of 72 cores all editions. This is due to updated policies from Broadcom. This change could lead to higher costs and force smaller businesses to use solutions that are not needed.

There is an update… the minimum 72 cores rule does not apply to all Countries…

Also, in Asia-Pacific and Japan, the vSphere Standard subscription will no longer be available for purchase after April 10, 2025.  Customers will be required to upgrade to vSphere Foundation. 

This change does not impact the enterprise and corporate customers, but can really damaging small businesses that currently use or intend to use VMware. 

VMware has advised that all remaining orders should be processed by March 31, 2025 to ensure availability. Beyond this, businesses will have no choice but to transition to the new licensing model.